GENEVA

The estate erupted in pandemonium as five security guys carried Nico's destroyed body into the house. Levi kept barking into his phone reassigning people to cover the outer wall. The whole security force exploded in chaos now that someone had attacked Nico right on our doorstep.


Charles kept his arm around my shoulder and held me out of the way while they lugged Nico up the steps. Levi revolved around them talking fast. 'Take him upstairs to the last guest room on the third floor. The medical team is coming in now."

'Who is that guy?" Charles murmured in my ear.

'He's my bodyguard. You saw him at the funeral. He was the one who stopped Ryder Navaro from coming near me."


Charles stared down at the mass of pulp that was Nico's face. 'Jesus! I didn't recognize him."

We followed the security guys and Levi upstairs. They put Nico on the big bed in the guest room. He instantly left a massive blood stain on the expensive bedspread, but no one cared.


Levi came over to me and Charles. 'What happened? Did you see anything out there?"

Charles shook his head. 'We didn't see anything. We were standing under the trees, and we heard him moaning. I looked over and saw him like this. It must have happened long before we got there. God only knows how long he was out there."

Levi gazed down at Nico. Levi spoke in a low murmur like he was talking to himself. 'How could this happen? He covered every angle. He made sure of it."

'Maybe not," I suggested. 'There were a few spots along the wall where no one could see us… between the guard towers. Whoever did this did it outside the wall. We found him at the midpoint between the guard posts. There must have been a spot there that was out of sight."

'This is bad," Levi breathed. 'We can't lose Nico. He's the best we have."

The medical team rushed in, and Levi, Charles, and I got pushed even farther away from the bed. The five security guys worked their way out of the room, and the medical people took over.

God, Nico looked awful! Charles was right. No one could have recognized him. The medical team cut his ruined suit off him, and the doctors started barking orders to the nurses and paramedics.

I gulped down a lump in my throat. Nico always seemed so impervious to any pain or injury. I always thought he was some kind of Terminator who just kept going no matter what anyone threw at him. He sure acted like an unfeeling machine sometimes.

I really started to hate Nico these last few months. The way he'd been acting since my father died only made me hate him even more, but I couldn't hate him now.

One of the medics started to examine the damage to his head, and he exploded out of unconsciousness. He gave a massive bellow like a wounded rhino and lunged off the bed.

His powerful, muscular chest and shoulders looked even bigger and more ferocious with cuts, bruises, and blood everywhere. He swung his brutal fists and clubbed the medic away.

Levi rushed into the gap and grabbed Nico's arm. 'Easy, man. Take it easy. You're okay. You're in the estate house. Understand? You're among friends. Take it easy."

Nico's wild eyes raced around the room and then locked on Levi. One of Nico's eyes had been bruised bright red, and the other was swollen shut. The light of understanding came back on. 'L… Levi…"

'Yeah," Levi panted. 'Take it easy, man. The medical team is here to fix you up."

Nico started to relax and then groaned.

Levi pushed him down. 'You got hurt guarding the estate. Try to take it easy while we figure out what's wrong with you."

'The Navaros…" Nico croaked. 'The Navaros… were outside… the wall…"

Levi froze, and Charles tensed, his grip tightening around my shoulders. "The Navaros!" Levi exclaimed. "The Navaros did this?"

Nico nodded through grimacing pain. "Ryder... he was talking about..." Nico's gaze flicked towards me, his expression troubled. "He was planning to... get into Geneva's bedroom... They were discussing it when I..."

I struggled to contain my rising panic, not just from Nico's revelation, but from the fact that he had been injured trying to protect me.

Levi had been right about Nico. He truly was a good person, fiercely loyal to the family. He just seemed awkward around women—or perhaps he held some personal grudge against me.

He always defended me, unwavering in his loyalty. He was the ideal choice as my bodyguard. I should have valued him more, and now this had happened.

What if Nico had been killed out there? What if the Navaros silenced him to prevent him from revealing their plans?

Nico bore the marks of a vicious attack. They had beaten him severely enough to kill a lesser man. They probably hadn't anticipated how resilient he was.

Levi placed a bloody hand on Nico's shoulder. "Easy now, son. You've done your part. I'll take it from here."

"You can't! The security guards... They're incompetent!"

Levi smiled down at him, but there was no mirth or joy in that smile. 'Everyone's pathetic compared to you, man. Just lie still, and let these people fix you up. You did your job. I'm grateful."

Nico opened his mouth to say something else and shut it when he saw me watching. He turned his head away, but he kept wincing every time the medical team did something to him.

A different medic tried to touch his head again, and he exploded the same way. He roared at them and tried to surge off the bed before he collapsed, howling in pain. Man, he must really be hurting!

Levi came over to us and held out his arm. 'Come on. We should get out of here. I have some serious work to do on the security situation."

'I'll help you." Charles stepped forward to join him, but I couldn't move.

I couldn't stop staring at Nico. He never showed any emotion around me—ever. He always stayed impassive and cold. I always thought he was angry at the whole world, especially at me, but I must have been wrong about that too.

He did feel. He felt a lot. Thinking someone could hurt him this bad made it all so obvious. I kicked myself for not seeing it before.

Maybe he was mad at the world for threatening me. Maybe he was just doing his job by always staying alert and defensive. Maybe I misunderstood all his side comments. Maybe he never really meant to make me hate him at all.

I didn't really know anything about him except what everyone knew. He grew up on the streets in some of the worst neighborhoods in New York. He came to work for my father when Nico was only twelve. He'd been working his way up the ranks ever since.

Everybody said Nico was the best. My father said it. Levi said it. Everybody said it. Why did I think he could ever be something bad? That was impossible if he earned the respect of everyone in the mob world.

Charles came back and took my arm. 'Come on, Geneva. You don't want to stick around in here. This is going to get messy…"

I broke away from him. I couldn't keep this in a second longer.

I rushed the bed. A puddle of blood soaked into the bedspread around Nico. I grabbed his hand and got his blood on my fingers. 'Thank you, Nico. Thank you."

He stared up at me like I just slapped his face. Did he hate me for letting this happen to him?

Those were the first words I'd spoken to him in… I couldn't even remember when I actually said anything to him. God, how did this happen? How did I let this happen?

Charles came up behind me and clasped my shoulders. He pulled me out of the room. Nico didn't stop staring at me until I got out into the hall.

I couldn't relax. I glanced behind me toward the door. He was still in there. What was wrong with him? Did the Navaros break his ribs? Did they break his skull? Did they do any organ damage? This was all my fault.

'You should go home," Levi was saying. 'It isn't safe for you here."

'No way," Charles replied. 'I'm here to get to know Geneva better. I don't want to run out on that."

'I never should have asked your father to let you come stay here," Levi replied. 'I knew we had a security problem. I shouldn't have put you in danger by getting you involved. Nico was the one handling security. Now, without him, I don't want to take any chances with your safety. We can arrange another time for you to visit Geneva."

'What are you going to do?" Charles asked.