Page 72 of Ruthless King

I just lie on the ground and feel my entire soul start to leave my body. Nico will let me stay down here and rot. That’s howhe’s going to punish me. He said he didn’t believe me when I told him I loved him.

But I’m starting to think his words of love were the lie. If he truly loved me, he wouldn’t have left me to die down here. He would have either made it quick, or he would have let me out.

Instead, I’m slowly dying.

I manage to get more sleep, and when I wake up, I know my end is near. It’s been days since I’ve seen anyone. I’m massively dehydrated and starving. At least I’ll die of dehydration faster than I will of starvation. I probably only have one more day left. My body feels so weak, I can barely lift my arms.

I try to fight what’s happening to me, but I’m only human.

I can’t fight it anymore.

Blackness starts to take over my vision, and at the last moment, the door opens, and I see Andrew, staring down at me with a smirk, not coming to my rescue.

I let the darkness take me.

Chapter

Seventeen

NICO

“What am I to do?” I ask the grave of my mother. She’s long gone now—having died when I was much younger. But she was the one person who could offer me good advice, and I’ve found myself in a position where I desperately need it.

I thought I loved Aurora. No. I know I did. Do. But she betrayed me. Lied to me from the start.

I said to her the first day we met that I expected honesty from her, and she couldn’t give it to me.

Yes, I kept things from her, too. I couldn’t tell her everything about my job or the terrible things I’ve done to people. But I was transparent about that with her.

She married me so she could kill me.

That’s not something I can just forget.

Aurora did tell me she changed her mind. That she really does love me. And, in her defense, she had a good excuse for wanting me dead. Though I wasn’t responsible for Giovanni Costa’s death.

Andrew was.

I sent Andrew to meet Giovanni in LA to secure the business deal no matter what. When Giovanni proved incapable of going through with his side, Andrew killed him.

I didn’t sign off on it, but I did have to face the consequences of it.

How can I fully blame Aurora for her actions? She told me she loved her father more than anyone. I have to assume she was telling the truth. I would kill anyone who killed my loved ones.

In fact, I did just that with my parents.

Another Mafia member killed my parents, and I got my revenge on him long ago. So long ago now I barely remember it all.

How can I judge Aurora for doing the same? She never tried to kill me. She never would have succeeded if she’d tried, but she never did. She chose me. She chose our life together.

She killed her aunt to protect me.

But can I forgive her?

“I know what you would say.” I smile down at my mother’s grave. “You would say to forgive her. That I’ve found happiness with her. But now that I know the truth, it changes everything.”

At least, I think it does.

How can Aurora and I ever go back to the way we were before I found out she only married me to kill me?