“What are you doing here?” I demand, looking at the man who killed my father in distaste. Colton instantly picks up on my tone and I’m sure that he’s reminded of the state I was in when I first arrived at the hospital and is currently putting the puzzle pieces together. Sensing my unease, Colton discreetly puts himself in front of me.
“You and I haven't finished our conversation.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “We’re more than finished. In fact, I’m pretty certain that there won’t be a damn thing left for us to ever discuss.”
Nic’s face drops and anger flashes in his eyes. “Don’t fucking say shit that you don’t mean. You’re a lot of things, O, but you’re not a fucking liar.”
“Sorry,” I laugh. “I must have learned that trait from you.”
His eyes narrow, pushing off Colton’s car and striding toward us. Colton moves with him, always keeping himself between me and Nic’s gun, and from the look on Nic’s face, he’s more than aware of what’s going on.
He stops a few feet from us and glares at Colton. “Do you mind fucking off now? I’m trying to have a conversation with my girl.”
“You see, that’s just the thing. She’s my girl and judging from the way she’s shrinking away from you, she doesn’t want a damn thing to do with you.”
The gun spins around his finger again, making me more nervous than I should ever have to be around a man who claims to love me. For fuck’s sake, it was less than twelve hours ago that he was trying to convince me to marry him, and now he shows up here with a fucking gun?
Where are the boys? They should have a leash on their fearless leader.
“Get out of here, Nic,” I say, continuing on from Colton’s statement, not denying it in the least. “I’ll talk to you when you’re not trying to intimidate me with your fucking gun.”
“What? This?” he laughs, holding up the gun and making a show of studying the barrel then looking over the revolver and making a point to show that it’s fully loaded. “This ain’t for you, baby.”
I read him like a fucking book and reach for Colton, pulling him back a step before putting myself in front of him. Nic might be a fucking cold murderer, but he’d never risk shooting Colton with me standing so damn close … at least, I think. Apparently, I really don’t know him half as well as I thought I did. Hell, he admitted himself that he killed Charles so he wouldn’t share his little secret. What’s to stop him from doing the same to me? What’s he going to do if he thinks that I’ve told Colton? I can’t have these two at war, though if Colton knew everything that Nic had done, he’d have already been dead.
Colton takes my waist and leans into me. “You have two fucking seconds to get your sweet ass behind me before I put you there.”
“Not a fucking chance, Carrington,” I tell him. “Now shut the fuck up and let me handle my business.”
Colton groans and I feel the rumble from his chest vibrate against my back, but he knows better than to try to change my mind. Besides, if he thought there was any way in hell that Nic would ever try to shoot me, I’d already be out of here. Clearly, he doesn’t know what I know, otherwise this night would have turned out very differently. I won’t be holding back though. If Nic wants to go there, then fuck it, we’ll go there, and I won’t just air a bit of his dirty laundry, I’ll tip out the whole fucking basket and watch it scatter all over the floor.
All this time I thought Kian was the bad one. It turns out that Nic is just as bad. I guess the saying, like father like son, has never been so true. The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. Charles and Colton are proof of that. I just hope that Colton fell a little further than what Nic did.
No wonder Kian was so willing to have Nic as his replacement. He molded him just the way he wanted. He’s a manipulator, a murderer, and my biggest mistake.
I keep my gaze locked on Nic as he spins the chamber, making me sick with that familiar clicking. Nic used to do it all the time. It was like some kind of sick habit. Some people drum their fingernails against tables, others like to whistle, Nic plays with guns. In hindsight, I should have picked up on the signs.
“Nic,” I say in a calming tone, trying to get this situation under control. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m going to need you to get in my car. You’re coming home with me and we're sorting this shit out once and for all.”
Colton scoffs under his breath as I raise a brow, knowing damn well that is never going to happen, not after he showed his fucking crazy and then went ahead and proved that he could never be trusted again. Hell, at this point, if I were to go anywhere with him, I’d probably be gagged and bound before someone found me lying in a ditch.
“You know that’s not going to happen,” I tell him, wondering if maybe Kian accidentally dropped him on the head as a baby because there’s no way in hell that this shit is normal.
Nic takes a step toward us, lifting his lips into a wicked smirk. “I
