CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

BELLA

I watch the two men closely. If he tries to hurt Nico, I’ll lose it and kill him myself. No one will take him from me, I will not allow it.

Melissa grabs my arm. “We have to get out of here.”

The room is large, with a massive booth to the left of the door, and a bar to the right, with two bartenders that are watching Nico closely. I’ll have to ask him about the three stripper poles at the back later, but now is definitely not the time.

Nico watches Abruzzo with a look I’ve seen before. It’s the one he had in the kitchen that terrified me, but this time it’s not aimed at me. His eyes are black as coal, his stance wide and threatening, and I can almost see the tingling in his neck he told me about, and when his murderous tendencies aren’t aimed at me, it’s hot. Really fucking hot.

He points in the direction of the bar.

“Get out.”

His staff do not need to be told twice. I’m assuming they’ve been through a similar situation before. They quickly leave and close the door behind them. Melissa decides she’s had enough, and runs toward the door the staff left through, and I go after her, and drag her head back and slam it into the door. The thud is loud, as is her wail, as she falls to the floor.

I glance at Nico, and he grins at me and mouths, ‘good girl’.

Abruzzo takes advantage of his attention being on me, and pulls back and cocks Nico in the jaw. The man known to the world as Reaper wraps both hands around his throat, and squeezes with crushing force.

“Wrong move, asshole. ”

Melissa sits on the floor, holding her hand to her bloody head, while she trembles from obvious fear. I’m close enough that she knows running is pointless. I will catch her.

It becomes clear how much stronger Nico is than me, because the man slumps to the ground within minutes. The second I witness him being safe, I push Melissa so that she’s laying down, and climb on top of her, placing my hands around her throat.

Nico groans in the background, but this isn’t enough for me. This is how he likes to kill, but I want blood, which has never happened before.

“Nico?”

“Yes, baby,” he says as he steps beside me.

“Do you always do it this way? Don’t you think her blood would be so beautiful?”

She whimpers as I squeeze her throat. Her eyes are wide, and the loveliest shade of green. I watch the pure terror in her expression, and Nico is right, it’s fucking beautiful. Tears stream down her face and, while I know I should feel bad, I don’t. Instead, every sense feels heightened. My hearing is crisp, my sight is sharper than ever before, and the feeling of her trembling body in my hands does things to me I don’t recognize. It’s different with him here. Or is it because she’s a woman? I’m not sure, but it’s powerful.

Nico holds a knife out for me.

“It’ll make a mess.”

He nods slowly. “Yes, living dead girl, it will. We have people to clean up such messes here now. Do whatever feels right. Let the darkness in. Let it consume you, guide you.”

I take it from him, happy that he even trusts me with a blade after what happened. When I take my hand from her throat, she tries to scramble free, but screams loudly when I stab her in the chest, then the stomach, and finally I tilt her head back, and drag the blade across her throat. The blood pours from her neck. There’s also blood coming from her other wounds, but not like this. Her green eyes quickly go from vibrant to dull, appearing glazed, cloudy, and it’s beautiful. Nico was right. About everything.

Climbing off her, I turn to him and brush my hair out of my face with my free hand. He stares at the knife in my other hand and chuckles softly.

“I’m going to need you to put the blade on top of the bar, living dead girl.”

“You don’t trust me?” I ask because that feels like a gut punch, although I should understand, given what happened before.

He smirks at me before it turns to a grin.

“I trust you, Bella, but I don’t think you understand what you did to me. I’m going to fuck you so hard, your head is going to spin, so please put the knife down, so I don’t have to worry about hurting you.”

Walking over to the bar, I place the knife down and glance at my fingers, which are covered in blood. I sniff at it and Nico growls at me.

“Don’t even think about it, living dead girl. You want to be a sexy little vampire? You can taste mine. No one else’s.”

Stepping over to me, he grabs the side of my skirt and unzips it.

“I have a shirt you can change into, but not bottoms, so I don’t want to get blood on it.”

He moves back and I allow my gaze to travel down his body, and I smile when I see his hard cock pressing against his pants. Nico watches me, as he reaches behind his neck and pulls his shirt over his head. Why is that so hot?

I press my thighs closed, and he notices because he doesn’t miss much.

“Is my pussy wet for me already?”

Returning my gaze to his, I admit, “Yes.”

Kicking off his shoes, he doesn’t take his eyes from mine as he undoes his jeans and removes them, before tossing them to the side of the room with the t-shirt .

He places his hand on my face and gently tilts my head back.

“You are fucking it for me, Bella. The most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. A dark soul that matches mine. Dangerous, yet dainty. Almost everything can be broken, but I don’t think you can be. Believe me, I tried. I’ll never morph into a good man, but fuck, I’ll be good to you. Only you. Like me, you’re a killer. You have taken lives, but far more than that, you kill pain. You take the pain away, and make living not only bearable, but something I look forward to. I have never been afraid of death, but I am now, because I don’t ever want to not feel this with you.”

“Nico,” I gasp.

He slides his hands in my hair, and tilts my head back, and runs his tongue up the length of my throat. Moving my head to the side, he bites my neck hard and growls.

“Mine. Forever.”

“Yours,” I gasp, as he licks and sucks his way all over my neck.

Grabbing my shirt at the sides, he rips it from my body. Taking my bra straps between his fingers, he pulls it down until my breasts are exposed, and he groans.

“So stunning. You take my breath away.”

He hooks his thumbs into either side of my panties, and lowers them to the floor, and I step out of them.

Looking up at me, he has a serious expression on his face.

“I need you to be a good girl, and do exactly as you’re told so you don’t get hurt.”

Running my hand through his hair, I say, “If you kiss me, I’ll do anything you want me to, Nico. There are no limits. There is nothing I won’t do for you.”

He rises to his full height and takes my face in his hands.

“What I want is for you to join me in everything in life. I want you to join my family business with me. I need you by my side in all things.”

“I’m not family. ”

He growls and slams his lips to mine, kissing me, biting at my lips, and digging his fingers into my scalp like he simply can’t get enough.

Staring at me with heat, he says, “You are my family. You’re my everything. If the requirement is for you to have the Bonetti name, you’ve got it. I’ll marry you, the second I’m done fucking you.”

I blink fast as I try to make sense of his words, but I’m sure I’m confused, because there’s simply no way.

“You want to marry me? Is that what you’re saying, Nico?”