Omerta

Chapter 82

In that silent moment everything changed. Nicolas Luciano is truly the boss now. I witnessed the true shift of power in that single breath.

        "Jesus christ, Nico, come on man" I heard Dom out of breath himself as he tried taking Nick's arm to help get him off his father. Zio Tony looked about ready to pass out, but he still bent slightly to offer his hand to Giuseppe. 

I watched as the vein in Giuseppe's forehead throbbed in alignment with his rapid chest. He had blood on his face and up the side of his hand, but I think the hand had a cut from the glass the way my feet do.

My beautiful hardwood floors were smeared with blood and glass. Our shirts were stretched, our hair was disheveled, all of us all for different reasons.

        When Nick finally stood he came directly to me. I tried to stand from where Dom had sat me down on the sofa, but he didn't let me. He knelt in front of me even with him sweating in the face and still with semi distant eyes. 

"Did he hurt you?" He asked me. I don't think he saw the blood on my feet yet, but I didn't wanna set him off again. I just wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. I took the gun from his hand just to be sure, and I hugged him tightly.

I heard movement behind me but I ignored it. I just held Nick and let the tremble in my body run its course. The adrenaline that'd been coursing through the room, through all of us, it somehow left me exhausted. After that moment of comfort in Nick's arms I heard a deep, unsettled voice.

       "Just remember what you've done here, Nicolas. Who you've chosen to betray here. Let the Russian's find you out and rid me of the both of you. I no longer care" Giuseppe said. And after he said his piece he shoved my uncle and cousin's helping hands off of him and he bounded for the front door without looking back.

Zio Tony and Dom rushed over to me, but Nick was overly protective right now. He kept in their way so they couldn't fully get to me. 

        "Gia, are you okay?" Dom was the first to verbally ask out of the two. My Zio held a guilty expression. I hadn't realized my eyes watered enough to have me wipe a stray tear, but then I smoothed my expression over and held my head up high. 

"Nicolas and I are dating. Do you have anything to say to that?" I looked between both of them. They shared glances before looking back at me.

"Bambina, we just want you safe. That's all" My Zio took another step closer, but good luck getting through Nick right now. I was still seated and he was kneeling by my feet. He'd just taken one in his hand and was cursing the little cuts. 

"We need to be sure you have no glass in there" he told me, which brought my eyes down to him instead of my family. "We'll keep your secret Gia, just be really smart about it" Dom was the next to say something.

"Nicolas...we should talk about your father" my Zio Tony turned his attention to Nick who still had his attention on my feet.

        "Dom, go run a bath so your cousin can soak her feet. And see if there is any hydrogen peroxide, that should pull any tiny shards of glass from these little cuts. It doesn't look too bad" Nick ignored my uncle. Dom nodded but glanced at his father in silent question. 

"Sure, yeah, I'll do that. But, uh, Nico...your dad" Dom tried again to gain his attention.

Nick slowly stood to his full height and looked between both men. He looked incredibly sexy right now with his untucked shirt, his gun still half peeking out from where he'd stored it behind his back after defending me. His hair fell softly on his head, but that's just about the only soft thing about him.