Page 12 of Nicoli

“Something I need to know about?” I don’t give a shit about cutting Maximo’s sentence short.

He places his hands on his hips, squaring his shoulders. “Nope. Just a regular morning briefing.”

“Awesome. Now, fuck off,” I bark at the guards, then look at Maximo. “I have something I want to discuss with you.”

Maximo rubs his forehead. “What did my sister do now?”

“How do you know it’s about Mira?”

“Because you look like you’re about to cut something, and usually that means my sister did something.”

“It’s not something she did. It’s something she thinks she’s going to do, but hell will freeze over before I allow her to do that something because that something she wants to do is reckless and stupid, and she’s not fucking doing it.”

Maximo lifts a brow, blinking once, twice… “Can you say that again? I didn’t get the first part.”

“Your little sister wants to go to After Dark for her birthday.”

And there it is—the instant disappearance of sarcasm and the immediate onset of a giant ‘fuck-no’ expression on his face. “That’s not happening.”

“That’s what I told her.”

“Did she stab you after you told her that?”

“I saw the glint of a knife in her eyes, yes.”

Maximo rubs the back of his neck, looking down as he kicks at the asphalt. “She won’t go.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“She won’t go alone, and where will she find someone to go with her?”

“Oh, see, this is where your little sister is really fucking smart.” I narrow my eyes, pushing my finger into my temple. “She convinced Leandra to go with her.”

Maximo shrugs. “Problem solved, then. There’s no way Alexius will let Leandra go.”

I press my lips into a thin line, staring at him, deadpan, and realization punches him right in the face.

“Fuck. Goddammit!”

“Yup. My twin brother seems to love having his balls tied up.”

“He knows After Dark is run by the Ferrero family.”

“He does. Mirabella and Leandra don’t. And even if they do, they won’t know what it means. Not like us.”

Maximo curses, then turns and stares at the sky like the answer to our problem is about to drop out of the sky. “We can’t make an issue about this.” He faces me again. “My sister is like a fucking bloodhound. If we blow this shit up and refuse to let them go, Mira will be up our asses and push every goddamn button for answers.”

I scoff. “Yeah. Your sister has a real talent for pushing all the wrong buttons.”

“She’ll ask questions and demand answers. Answers we can’t give her.”

I kick at the ground and swing to the side, clutching my forehead, nostrils flaring and veins searing. “Fuck.”

“You know what this means, right?”

I glance at him. “We’re going to After Dark?”

“Looks like it, yeah.”

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