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For the first time since we’d left New York, Nicolette stirred in the backseat.

“They’re not all like that.”

The car fell silent. Gio’s gaze lifted to the rearview mirror. Neither of them looked away.

“They’re artists,” she continued quietly. “Most of them spend their entire lives sacrificing for something they’ll never get rich doing.”

For a moment I thought Gio might argue. Instead, he returned his attention to the road.

“Good. Then they shouldn’t have any problem following instructions,” Gio said.

Silence settled over the car. If Niki was offended, it was impossible to tell as her expression remained the same. I made a to-do list on my phone and got busy making the arrangements.

None of what Gio had said included Niki. What were his plans regarding her? Everyone else would be arriving later that day and we’d have everything sorted by then. For now, it was just us and her and a whole lot of silence.

“When we arrive, I need you to go to the clubs, and check in with Almando. See if there is anyone new who’s been sniffing around, and pull all the video footage, we need to see if anyone stands out.”

“Is there a problem I should know about?”

His eyes strayed once more to the backseat. “I’ll fill you in later, when I know more. For the moment, I’m just gathering intel.”

Between club business and making sure the company had what they needed, the rest of my day would be taken up. Was this his way of getting time alone with Nicolette? I wanted to ask, but with her in the backseat, that probably wasn’t a good idea.

We pulled up to our building an hour later. Niki raised herself out of her stupor and asked sharply, “Where are we?”

“Cool it, princess,” Gio said, before I could answer. “You’re at our place where we can keep an eye on you.”

She didn’t respond, only worried her bottom lip.

“Maybe I should—”

Gio’s eyes became dark, glimmering with barely concealed rage.

“What you should do, Marko, is listen to your boss and go and do what I asked.”

I glared back, not appreciating him pulling the boss vs friend card to put me in my place, despite it being his right to do so. I didn’t appreciate being talked down to by him or anyone, and I let him see how pissed off he made me. He returned my irritation with a glare of his own. Considering what I’d done would have gotten me beaten and demoted at the very least anywhere else, I guessed I should have counted myself lucky.

So, I did what I always did, let it go and changed the tone of my voice when I answered him. “Call me if you run into any issues that need to be dealt with, otherwise, I’ll see you at the club tonight.”

His dismissal of me for the rest of the day and evening only proved I was right about what he wanted: Niki to himself.

I turned in my seat and reached out, cupping Nicolette’s chin until her eyes found mine. “You’ll be safe with Gio. Be good.”

I let her go and exited the car. My driver was waiting for me, and I got in and left, not looking back.

Chapter 6

Giovanni

Complete silence filled the car after Marko left. I was so angry I could barely contain the rage coursing through me. For years I’d carried the wound Nicolette left behind and just when I thought it had finally scarred over, she turned up.

Instantly, all those nights with nameless, faceless women who were only with me to party and get treated well for a night or two before being kicked to the curb seemed too insignificant when compared with Niki, because they were already insignificant.

She opened old wounds, her beauty and spirit mocking my inability to really put the past behind me. I hadn’t moved on, I realized, only hardened my heart. Now here she was, tugging on my heartstrings once again. Damn! I’d help her, support her and even use her, but I couldn’t fall for her this time.

Unlike Marko, who casually dated when he needed to release his pent-up inner Daddy Dom, I never lost sight of Nicolette.

Now, here she sat, twelve years later, looking exactly the same, and seeming perfectly fine with the exception of the unknown threat looming over her. Huddled in the blanket, she stared out the window, unguarded, her eyes telling her story.