Page 262 of The One
I step onto the dock first, the wooden planks slick beneath my boots. My muscles stay coiled, ready. I reach back, offering my hand to Mari. She grips it immediately, her fingers cold and damp, and I don’t let go right away, not even when she’s standing beside me.
All along, Nico’s eyes are on me. Watching. Measuring.
I don’t know how this is going to play out.
Tension coils tight in my gut. Slowly, deliberately, I shift Mari behind me. This time, she doesn’t argue. But I sense her hesitation, the way her breath hitches, the way she stays unnaturally still. She doesn’t trust Nico any more than I do.
The storm might be dying, but something about this night still crackles, unpredictable and sharp.
Without a word, I pull the two necklaces from around my neck. The chains sway, catching what little light breaks through the thinning clouds. The roaring lion of the De Marco crest glints, fierce and unyielding under the moon.
I exhale slowly.
I’m sorry, great-great-grandfather, but your legacy is safer in the hands of this great-great-half-grandson.
My gaze locks onto my younger brother’s. For a beat, neither of us moves. The wind howls low, the sea restless against the pylons. Then, I extend my arm and drop the necklaces into his waiting palm.
His fingers curl around them. “And the third piece?”
“Hidden in a cave on Tiero’s island,” I say, my voice even. “The path is marked by stars carved into the rock. They lead to an alcove and there’s a hollow in the rock wall. A box is inside.”
I don’t mention the code. If he wants it, he’ll have to ask. He’s smart. He’ll figure something out.
Nico’s lips curl, his eyes gleaming with something that puts me on edge.
He rubs his hands together. “Sweet. A treasure hunt.”
Water drips from the jetty. The sea slaps against the timber, no longer violent but never truly calm.
Every instinct in me screams to get Mari off this deck, to put as much distance as possible between us and Nico. But I don’t move. Not yet.
I don’t trust him enough to turn my back.
Mari shifts behind me, and in the half-second I glance at her—
Click.
The unmistakable sound of a safety being switched off.
I whip my head back around.
Nico is aiming a gun at my chest.
Mari stiffens behind me, her fingers digging into my arm, but I can’t take my eyes off my half-brother.
My mind races, every escape route closing before I can even consider it.
I knew this moment was coming. I should have known better than to believe he’d let me walk away.
My pulse pounds as Nico cocks his head, studying me like I’m something to be solved.
“Thank you, brother,” he says lightly, almost amused. “Now, you did say earlier that all you want is a quiet life with your wife.”
He draws out the wordquiet, and every hair on my neck stands on end.
A low chuckle rumbles from the man beside him. The bastard knows exactly how this is going to end.
Sadly, so do I.
