Omerta

Chapter 53

        Nick's cold and empty eyes stayed fixed on me as he waited for me to answer him. Instead of answering his question I asked my own. "Are you okay?" I could tell the question had caught him off guard. "Why wouldn't I be?" he crossed his arms in defense, which made his muscles bulge in both his chest and arms. He was in all black. He always looked hot in all black, but tonight it was a reminder of the Reaper. 

"Things took a dark turn tonight. I can see it in your eyes that it takes a toll on you, even if you won't admit it," I answered honestly. His face hardened further. "I've been doing this for much longer than you realize. I feel nothing," he dismissed me. "Yeah, about ten years right?" I asked him. This made him pause.

        "After I was older and I started learning about who my family was and what they did...I heard some whispers about the Grim Reaper and how elusive and deadly he was. I asked my dad once if he knew who the person was and he said just before he got locked up was the first time he'd heard the nickname. He admitted that even he didn't know who it was. You were 18 when my dad went in and you're 28 now, so about ten years," I clarified. 

He shook his head and released a breath. "You're too smart for your own good. You're going to seriously end up dead," his still deep and Reaper-like voice was present. "By you?" I asked, standing up and giving him innocent eyes. His eyes were cold.

I walked around the table until I was in front of him. Even though my heart was beating out of my chest, I was trying to look at Nick and not the man in the faceless mask. 

        "You're trying so hard, but I see the fear in your eyes," he told me. "You wouldn't kill me. You've been protecting me. Am I afraid of what you're capable of? Maybe. I would never want to see someone I love under the foot of the Reaper...but I don't think you'd kill me, Nick," I reached for him. He moved away. 

"You're naive then," he walked into the bedroom to leave me standing there. I followed. 

"Your cheeks are still stained with tears," he called me out. "It's hard to watch," I defended myself. "Which is why I told you to stay here," he gritted out. I was still by the door to the room and he was standing at the foot of the mattress.

"Get some rest. Things don't get easier from here," he told me. He went to a drawer and dropped a shirt on the bed before turning and brushing past me. I grabbed his arm. 

        "Why are you being dismissive of me? Are you ashamed of what I saw?" I asked him. Fire flickered in his eyes. "Why should I be ashamed of being the most skillful assassin in generations? I feel no shame. And I feel no pity for the man. I'm as evil as they say. I can toture a man until he's nothing more than a pile of limbs and sleep soundly at night," he spat in my face, as a big 'fuck you' to my accusation. 

"Then why are you going to the sofa instead of lying in bed with me?" I called him out. "You wanna lay next to me tonight?" he tested me, arching a brow.

"Admit it Nick. You care what I think. You told me yourself that you didn't want me to look at you differently, and now I know why. You have this whole other life no one knows about, and now that I do, you can't even look at me," I tested him right back. 

        "You're either crazy or dumb. I can't decide which. You're really testing my patience while I still have the stench of murder on me. You really wanna keep going Gia? You want me to prove to you how little all this means?" he asked, turning nasty and harsh. "It's not nothing," my voice shrank. 

"It's nothing. You're nothing. I told you what it was between us, but even that has gotten old. Go to bed. This all ends tomorrow," he snapped at me.