Chapter 2 - NICO LEARNED HIS BROTHER FRAMED ME, STOLE THREE YEARS FROM OUR SON, AND KIDNAPPED MY MOTHER—BUT I REFUSED TO LET HIM TURN REVENGE INTO LOVE
Nico's first instinct was exactly what I feared.
“I’m going to kill him.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
I had forgotten how frightening his anger could be.
Then I remembered I had survived Marcus, kidney surgery, childbirth, and three years of raising Eli alone.
I wasn't twenty-six anymore.
“No.”
“He has your mother.”
“And killing him before we find her helps how?”
“He threatened Eli.”
“I know.”
“You don't understand what—”
I laughed.
It wasn't pleasant.
“Do not finish that sentence.”
He stopped.
“I understand exactly what Marcus is capable of.”
“He threatened my unborn child while I was recovering from donating you a kidney.”
“He arranged an attack that nearly killed you.”
“He framed me.”
“He stole three years from Eli.”
“And now he has my mother.”
“So don't stand there and explain Marcus Moretti to me.”
Nico stared.
Then slowly nodded.
“You're right.”
The old Nico would have argued.
That surprised me.
Rebecca took control.
She had spent three years building a case quietly.
Marcus had grown careless.
Shell companies.
Payments to Viktor Dane.
Hospital-system access.
A security officer who had finally agreed to testify.
The kidnapping changed everything.
Federal agents could move openly.
Nico hated it.
Good.
He needed to experience what trusting other people felt like.
We moved Eli to a secure location with Rebecca's sister.
He refused to go.
“I just found Daddy.”
Nico closed his eyes.
I knelt.
“Sweetheart.”
“Is he leaving again?”
“No.”
I looked at Nico.
“He's coming back.”
The promise frightened me.
Not because I doubted Nico's intentions.
Because life had taught me promises could be murdered by circumstances.
Nico crouched beside Eli.
“I need to help your grandma.”
“Are bad guys there?”
“Yes.”
Eli considered.
“Mommy says calling people bad guys is lazy.”
Rebecca coughed to hide a laugh.
I looked away.
Nico asked:
“What does Mommy call them?”
“People making dangerous choices.”
Nico looked at me.
“Of course she does.”
Eli grabbed his hand.
“You come back.”
Nico's face broke.
“I'll do everything I can.”
That was better than a false promise.
Eli hugged him.
Nico didn't move for half a second.
Then his arms closed around our son.
His son.
For the first time.
I watched him breathe in the smell of Eli's hair.
Watched his eyes close.
Three birthdays.
First steps.
First words.
Fevers.
Nightmares.
Christmas mornings.
All gone.
Marcus had stolen them.
But Nico had helped him.
Not intentionally.
Still.
When I tried to tell Nico the truth, he refused my calls.
He trusted forged evidence over the woman who had literally given him part of her body.
That truth would have to be faced.
Later.
My mother came first.
Marcus wanted the river house.
The place Nico had been shot.
Symbolic.
He wanted Willa and Eli.
He wasn't getting Eli.
Rebecca arranged a tracker.
Federal teams surrounded the property from a distance.
Nico and I would enter.
“You're not going,” Nico said.
I stared.
He corrected himself immediately.
“I don't want you to go.”
“Better.”
“You don't have to prove anything.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because that's my mother.”
“And because Marcus wants me.”
“If you arrive alone, he may kill her before negotiating.”
Nico's jaw tightened.
“Then we go together.”
Sophia had disappeared from the hotel during the chaos.
I finally asked:
“Who is she?”
Nico looked confused.
“Sophia?”
“Yes.”
“My date.”
“Girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Fiancée?”
His expression almost became offended.
“No.”
“Why was she holding your arm?”
“Because photographers were outside.”
“So?”
“So she was pretending.”
I stared.
“You brought a fake girlfriend to a hotel?”
“Business event.”
“You're still ridiculous.”
For one second, the tension broke.
Then he said:
“I never married.”
I didn't answer.
“I couldn't.”
“Nico.”
“I’m not saying that to pressure you.”
“Good.”
“I’m telling you because there wasn't another woman.”
I looked at him.
“There was another life.”
“Yes.”
“And we don't get to skip from the hotel lobby to pretending none of this happened.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He absorbed that.
Then nodded.
“I hope to.”
The river house appeared after midnight.
I hadn't seen it since before the shooting.
The kitchen window had been replaced.
The floor where Nico bled was new.
Marcus waited in the living room.
My mother sat tied to a chair.
Alive.
“Mama.”
Her head lifted.
“Willa.”
Marcus smiled.
“Nicholas.”
Nico's face became blank.
“Brother.”
“You look healthy.”
“Kidney's excellent.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Still generous, Willa?”
I hated him.
Not theatrically.
Quietly.
Deeply.
“What do you want?”
“Control.”
Nico laughed.
“You lost it.”
“Not yet.”
Marcus held up documents.
Transfer agreements.
Nico's remaining interests in Moretti Logistics.
Warehouses.
Real estate.
Accounts.
“Sign.”
“And?”
“I release the old woman.”
“My mother has a name.”
Marcus smiled.
“Still brave.”
“No.”
I looked directly at him.
“Just done being afraid of you.”
His smile disappeared.
Nico asked:
“Where's Viktor Dane?”
“Dead.”
“You killed him.”
“He became inconvenient.”
There.
Rebecca was listening through the wire.
Marcus continued.
“You always were sentimental, Nicholas.”
“Father knew it.”
“He said you'd destroy the family eventually.”
“You almost did.”
“You started closing profitable routes.”
“You stopped collections.”
“You wanted politicians off payroll.”
“All because you wanted to become the kind of man Willa could marry.”
Nico looked at me.
Marcus laughed.
“That's why she had to go.”
I asked:
“Why not kill me?”
Nico turned sharply.
Marcus smiled.
“Because dead martyrs create questions.”
“A traitor was cleaner.”
“I needed Nicholas to hate you.”
“And he did.”
Nico flinched.
Marcus enjoyed it.
“He made it easy.”
That was cruel.
Also true.
Nico said:
“Release Diane.”
My mother's name.
Marcus lifted the gun.
“Sign.”
Nico reached for the papers.
I said:
“No.”
Both brothers looked at me.
“Willa.”
“If you sign, what stops him from shooting us afterward?”
Marcus smiled.
“Nothing.”
“Thank you.”
Nico almost laughed.
Marcus's eyes hardened.
I continued.
“You're not leaving this house.”
“You think federal agents are outside?”
“I know they are.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
Enough.
He raised the gun.
My mother moved.
She threw herself sideways with the chair.
The gun fired.
Nico hit Marcus.
I dropped.
Second shot.
Glass shattered.
Federal agents stormed the house.
Marcus and Nico crashed into the kitchen.
The same kitchen where Nico had nearly died three years earlier.
Marcus grabbed a knife.
Nico had a gun within reach.
He reached.
Then stopped.
Marcus lunged.
Nico disarmed him.
Pinned him.
His hand closed around Marcus's throat.
I saw it.
The choice.
Nico could kill him.
Part of him wanted to.
Marcus whispered:
“Do it.”
Nico looked at me.
I said nothing.
This had to be his choice.
He released his brother.
Stood.
Rebecca entered with agents.
“Marcus Moretti, you're under arrest.”
Marcus laughed from the floor.
“Soft.”
Nico looked down.
“No.”
He took my hand.
“Finished.”
My mother was alive.
The bullet had missed.
By sunrise, Marcus Moretti was in federal custody.
By noon, news networks had the story.
By evening, Nico had discovered that the brother he trusted had ordered the attack that nearly killed him.
And framed the woman who saved his life.
I expected satisfaction.
Instead, I felt tired.
At the hospital, my mother slept.
Nico sat beside me.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Then he said:
“I’m sorry.”
I stared at the floor.
“I know.”
“No.”
He swallowed.
“I need to say this correctly.”
I looked at him.
“I believed evidence.”
“That part isn't wrong.”
“It looked real.”
“You should have questioned it.”
“Yes.”
“You should have let me speak.”
“Yes.”
“You should have wondered why the woman who volunteered to give you a kidney would sell your location ten days later.”
His eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“I called.”
“I know.”
“I wrote.”
“I know now.”
“You sent every letter back.”
“Yes.”
“I almost died giving birth to your son.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“You don't get those three years back.”
“I know.”
“And I don't owe you forgiveness because Marcus lied.”
“I know.”
That answer finally made me cry.
Nico didn't touch me.
He sat there.
Let me cry.
After several minutes, he whispered:
“What can I do?”
“Be his father.”
He looked at me.
“Even if I never become anything else to you.”
Pain crossed his face.
Then:
“Yes.”
“Learn him.”
“Don't buy him.”
“Don't overwhelm him.”
“Don't promise what you can't control.”
“Yes.”
“And Nico?”
“What?”
“Don't ever make me regret letting you into his life.”
His voice broke.
“I won't.”
I shook my head.
“Wrong answer.”
He stared.
“You can't promise that.”
He understood.
Then tried again.
“I'll work very hard not to.”
“Better.”
Three days later, Nico met Eli properly.
No hotel lobby.
No kidnappings.
No guns.
Just a park.
Eli brought two toy cars.
He handed one to Nico.
“You can have the slow one.”
Nico stared at it.
“Why?”
“Because you're new.”
I laughed.
Nico accepted the car.
They sat on the ground.
For forty minutes, the most feared man in Grayhaven made engine noises while his three-year-old son explained traffic laws incorrectly.
I watched from a bench.
Rebecca sat beside me.
“You okay?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Good answer.”
Nico looked over.
Eli climbed onto his back.
Nico froze.
Then smiled.
Not Nicholas Moretti.
Not the boss.
Not the man who had hated me.
A father.
A new one.
Terrified.
May you like
Trying.
For now, that was enough.
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