Page 27 of Brandishing Betrayals

I looked up to find my cousin sitting back down in his desk chair. Leaning back, Leo rested his elbows on the arms of the chairs and steepled his fingers in front him, his hard blue eyes watching me warily. There was a quiet resolution set on his face. “The coke trade with—”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Leo snapped.

I immediately stopped talking, knowing I had already lost any ground to stand on with my cousin.

“The coke trade was given to the Knights. End of story. I brokered the deal with Mac Taylor. It’s done.”

“And if Johnny Taylor doesn’t want to move coke anymore?” I hedged carefully.

Leo shook his head, reaching out for his phone off the desk. He sent a quick text and stood up. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Nicolai. The Knights have the coke. It’s done. Get out of my sight. Go see your mother.”

The office door opened behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to see two muscled goons in tailored suits walk in the office. Sighing, I knew when I was beat. “I’m sorry about Uncle Augustino. When I found out about him, my girl had just left and my head wasn’t in the right place. Not that it’s an excuse to not be there for family, but I thought you should know. I’m sorry.” I turned to the door, without waiting for the men to escort me out.

“Your girl,” Leo said when I reached the door. “What happened to her?”

I paused in the door, wondering just how to answer that question. “I did,” I answered grimly.

Leo gave me a nod, and I left the office, a heavy feeling sinking in my gut.

Nico

I took my cousin’s advice after I left the restaurant and headed west, to my mom’s house. The neighborhood my mother lived in was nothing but McMansions set back on massive lots. It was a gated golf course community and boasted its riches and manicured lawns. The house my mother lived in—and I had grown up in—was no different.

It was a world away from the nitty gritty life that I had carved out for myself with the Devil’s Psychos.

I may have grown up here, but I found myself—and Marcos and Jason—when I was in high school running the streets of Creekton. It had been an act of rebellion after my father was killed, to go against the family and get myself into trouble in Creekton, but instead I had found my own family in Marcos and Jason and had never looked back.

This time, I removed my cut and draped it over my handlebars before I headed up to the front door of my mother’s house. It was a point of contention between us, and as I was already going to be in deep enough shit with my mother for not showing up forsix months, I would try not to add any fuel to the fire if I could help it.

The front door opened before I could knock on it. The older woman that answered it had been with the family since I was a child. “Nicolai!” Guilia greeted me with a bright smile. “It’s so good to see you,” she said, before switching to rapid fire Italian as she pulled me into a tight hug.

I answered her back, slipping into Italian, a genuine smile lighting up my face.

Guilia was just pulling away from me when I heard my mother’s heels clicking on the marble floors. I had to steel my spine before I saw her.

Teresa Seratelli-Gage was still as beautiful as ever. In her early sixties, with blond hair pinned back into an elegant chignon, her bright blue eyes sparkled, even as they narrowed into a glare as she took me in. Her bright red lipstick accented her lips as they pursed while she slowly surveyed me from head to toe. “Nicolai.” She finally greeted and moved closer, opening her arms to me.

I flew into her embrace, trying to remind myself that she was a frail woman now, and I was no longer a little kid, but the urge to hide in her arms was strong. She may be disappointed in me, but she still loved me and still would hold me. It was because of that disappointment that I had stayed away to begin with. I hated to let her down, so I stayed away thinking it was better for her.

“Momma,” I murmured, hugging her tightly.

“My boy,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

“I’m sorry, momma.”

Thersea pulled away and shook her head. “I’m glad you’re finally here, son. Guilia, will you prepare lunch, please? We’ll take it in the sunroom.” My mother looped her arm through mine, and I got the hint to bend my elbow and guide her toward the back sunroom that overlooked the back patio and pool.

The mansion was enormous, way too big for my mother to live here all alone—except for Guilia. I had tried many times to get my mother to sell the place and downsize, but she had refused time and time again, stating it was the last piece of my father she had left, and she wouldn’t give it up.

“Talk to me, Nicolai. What’s been going on with you in the last six months?”

I took a deep breath. “Maya came back, in January.”

My mother gasped and turned to look up at me, stopping abruptly. “You’re serious?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes. She came back to take care of her parents. They were in a car accident in November, I think. And when they were released from the hospital and the rehabilitation center, they still needed a lot of help, so Maya moved back to help them.”

“Oh that’s wonderful! Not about her parents I mean, that’s horrible news. But I’m so glad she’s returned.”

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