Nico (Ruin & Revenge #1)(101)

“We know who killed my uncle and Don Falzone.” Nico folded his arms. “Dante was responsible for the massacre at Vincenzo’s. He had Rev—you knew him as Gabe—drive him back to the restaurant that night after they dropped off Mia and her father. From what Rev told Mikey Muscles before the cops came to take him away, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Dante told Rev he was just going to take out Don Toscani and Don Falzone so the Cordanos could take control of the city. But Rev knew him pretty well. Gambling was an escape for him because he felt trapped in the mob. He said Dante cared about Mia and couldn’t stand the thought of her being married to Tony Crackers. He figured Dante thought that if he whacked everyone—his father, Tony, Don Toscani and all the witnesses—he could save Mia and be free. That’s why Mia wasn’t harmed and how the murder weapon wound up so far away. Rev said they wiped it down and tossed it from the car.”

“It’s a fucking hard life you chose to live,” Big Joe said.

“It’s a life I love.” And it was a life that was going to see new challenges. After losing the capos’ vote to Tony by a margin of three to two, Nico had broken with the family and declared himself boss of a new Toscani faction, starting a vicious civil war. But it was the only way to save the Las Vegas Toscanis from the same fate as had befallen every Cosa Nostra family who had become involved in the drug trade.

It was a war he believed he could win. At Mia’s suggestion, Nico had contacted the Scozzaris with a proposal that would allow both families to save face, only to discover that Rosa’s father had been dreading the day Nico called on him to honor the agreement. Rosa Scozzari was not, in fact, interested in coming over to America to marry him, and her father didn’t want to lose her. Overjoyed by the termination of the agreement, the Scozzaris offered Nico their support in the form of soldiers and connections as he sought to establish his new faction in Las Vegas.

Big Joe gave a bitter laugh. “It’s crazy, but I loved the life, too.”

“Fuck.” Frankie’s head jerked around. “Someone’s coming down the highway. Kill the light.”

Mikey Muscles turned off the flashlight, and they watched a lone pair of headlights speed down the main road in the distance. But instead of continuing down the highway, the lights turned down the gravel road and headed toward them.

“Cristo mio. Someone knows we’re here.” Frankie and Mikey Muscles crouched behind the open doors of the vehicle, weapons drawn. Nico directed Big Joe to put his hands behind his head and lie facedown in the sand while he waited with his weapon on the other side of the vehicle.

The car pulled to a stop on the road, and the driver stepped out, a slender shadow in the glare of the headlights.

“Stop. Stop. Don’t do this.” Waving her hands, Kat ran toward them, almost unrecognizable in tight jeans, black boots, and a leather jacket. “Please. Please.” She stopped short when she saw Big Joe lying in the sand. “Oh. My. God. No. Nico. How could you?”

“I didn’t,” Nico said, bemused as he rounded the vehicle. “Not yet.”

Kat crouched beside Big Joe as he pushed to kneeling in the sand. “Are you okay?”

“Kat, sweetheart.” Big Joe stroked her cheek. “What are you doing here?”

“Saving you. Mia hacked Nico’s phone so it wasn’t hard to find him.”

“Christ.” Nico pulled out his phone and glared at it in disgust. “That’s what I get for marrying a hacker.”

“There is no saving me,” Big Joe said.

“Don’t do this.” Kat stood in front of Big Joe, and for a moment Nico was back in Luigi’s Restaurant ten years ago when another dark-haired girl begged for another man’s life.

“Please. He’s a good man, Nico. He has a daughter. He was just doing his job. Let him go.”

Nico sighed. He had done this to himself. He had married into a family of strong women. The pain was just beginning.

“You don’t need to beg for him.” Nico motioned for Big Joe to stand. “I’m giving him a pass. He saved my life and the life of one of my men. I owe him a debt.” He turned to Big Joe. “Consider it paid.”

Big Joe stood, his brow creased in a frown. “Then what’s all this?”

“I couldn’t let you just walk away without sweating a little.” Nico grinned. “I have a reputation to protect. But I wasn’t expecting you to be so stoic about it. We were hoping for a bit of a show. Maybe a few tears, begging, calling for your mama.”

“Jesus Christ, you’re a bastard.” Big Joe leaned against the vehicle and took a deep breath. “I almost pissed myself.”

“That would have been entertaining.” Nico kicked at the sand beneath his feet. “I might embellish it a bit for Luca when he gets out of hospital. Especially since you’re going to have to hitch a ride out of Nevada and it would make him laugh to think of you sitting in your piss in some trucker’s cab.” His voice dropped low with regret. He’d miss Big Joe. Couldn’t imagine the crew without him. “You know you can’t come back.”

“He doesn’t have to hitch a ride. He has me.” Kat’s hands found her hips and she glared at Nico. He couldn’t believe how much she’d changed in such a short period of time. Gone was the soft, gentle kitten and in its place was a lioness just learning to use her claws. He hadn’t told Mia about his plans for Big Joe, but now that Kat had got wind of them, he could just imagine her reaction.