It’s hard to push the words out, but I say, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Though it’s for Hendrix, not you. Jesus, handsome. So full of yourself.”
I breathe a laugh, bumping his shoulder.
Nico steps closer to me, his fingers brushing mine. I look over at him, and he smiles when our eyes meet. I return it, though it feels shaky.
“Hendrix was my best friend,” I whisper. “Just like you were paired with Kai early, he was paired with me after Mom died. Dad thought it would help me come out of my shell.”
“Did it work?”
I laugh, though I really just want to sit and cry. “Kinda. For the first year or so, I didn’t really talk to Hen. I didn’t talk to anyone. But since he had to be around, he sat with me. I don’t think he cared. It was better than being around his dad, who was an asshole. After a while, I got tired of him being there and told him to leave. The first words I’d spoken in months.” I laugh at the memory. “That asshole looked at me like I was shit on the bottom of his shoe and just said, ‘No.’ I liked him immediately.”
Nico chuckles as well. “Kinda like me and Kai. He tried tosay he didn’t need me around, and I told him to suck that shit up. I guess we had to get through to you assholes somehow. What better way than to make y’all feel like you were beneath us?”
“It worked. From there, we stuck together. Where I went, he went. It was only natural that he started collecting a salary to guard me. He kept my secrets, kept me safe. He was what made me an almost bearable person.”
“Would have hated to see you before,” Nico says with humor.
“Yeah, I wasn’t the most personable child after Mom died. But Hen made me better.”
“Didn’t keep you out of trouble.”
“Hen was always down with my bullshit. If he were here, he would have wanted all of Cliff’s guys thrown overboard. He would have thought it was funny.”
Nico glances over at me. “Terrible sense of humor.”
“Nah, he was perfect.”
We’re silent for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. It’s nice to have someone here that knew Hen. I never invite Austin and Donny here to guard me. My time with Hendrix is usually private.
Now I can share it with Nico.
“Was your dad like Charlie?” I ask.
“He tried to be. Had to keep up that front that he was a hard-ass. But it didn’t really work. We didn’t have a great relationship, but it wasn’t bad. It got better before he died. I never apologized for liking men and women, something this life doesn’t really allow. But if I’m going to die for someone, I want to die as myself, not hiding. I think my Poppa respected that. A lot more than Charlie. I offered to kill that piece of shit pretty much every week.”
Even though I don’t like Kai—I dislike him less than I used to now that I know he’s trustworthy—I never liked howCharlie treated him. If I were Kai, I would have slit his throat and told everyone I did it.
“Your dad knew you were pan?” I ask incredulously. “And didn’t say anything?”
Nico laughs. “Oh, he had a lot to say. Doesn’t mean I gave a fuck. I wasn’t living under his roof, and I was working for his boss’s son. He had no hold over me.”
I grunt. “Well, the last big mafia boss left is a man that doesn’t care who his sons love, as long as they’re happy. Guess that counts for something.”
“Guess so.”
I sigh and rub my hands together, looking at Hendrix’s headstone. “I’ll be back in a week or so,” I say, peeking over at Nico. “Alone.”
Nico shrugs and smiles widely. “I’ll come on my own days. I’ve been coming since he was buried and this is the first time we’ve run into each other. I think I can manage to avoid you.”
I turn around and head to my car. “You’re a dick.”
“So you’ve said.” He catches up to me. “What do you have planned tonight?”
“I’m going to get started on Hendrix’s room. Pack some things up.”
“You want help? I can come over when Kai and Carter go to bed.”
