“Shut up before I do the same to you,” Antonis snapped.
“Fuck!” Theo yelled, but that was the last Nikos heard of his cousin as he lay on the floor getting beaten. It felt like it was going on for an eternity, and Nikos wondered if his uncle really planned on having him beaten to death until finally, it was over. Nikos lay on the ground, barely able to move. It felt like his rib had been cracked open, and the only thing he could do was cough up blood.
Nikos chuckled.
Fuck his life. Only he would get beaten for falling for a beautiful woman. Clearly, it was his destiny.
“I don’t care if you’re the son of someone who is like a brother to me. You shouldn’t have touched what’s mine,” Antonis said as he looked down on him.
“Nikos would never, uncle! Tell him, Nikos,” Theo exclaimed, looking to Nikos for help, but when their eyes connected, Theo stared at him for a moment in disbelief before he closed his eyes.
“How did you find out?” Nikos asked curiously. He thought he had been doing a good job of keeping his relationship a secret from everyone. He had made sure to lose the men that his uncle had tailing him every night. He also knew that Christos wouldn’t have said anything to Antonis because he was loyal and was his friend.
“One of your girlfriends told me,” Antonis said frowning, and instantly, Nikos knew it was Rheagan. Besides Christos, she was the only other person at the club who had suspected he had a deeper relationship with Honey. Plus, she was an impulsive brat and probably wanted to take revenge on him, and even thoughNikos lay on the ground right now feeling closer to death than he had ever before, he couldn’t blame her.
If he hadn’t used her as a tool for revenge, she wouldn’t be all alone now without her family. She thought he would be that for her when he never had any intention of doing so. His karma was finally catching up to him as Antonis cocked his gun at him.
Theo looked like he wanted to do something, his eyes flickering back and forth between them both, but when Nikos caught his eye again, he shook his head. He didn’t want his cousin to get caught up in this. He knew that right now his uncle was capable of doing anything, and that threat he had given Theo earlier was just that— a promise to act on if Theo got in his way.
“You made a mistake touching what’s mine,” Antonis said, and Nikos chuckled, even if it made more blood spill from his mouth.
“You’re crazy,” Nikos said. “Even if I’m dead, Honey will never want you.”
And Antonis knew that.
Honey was disgusted by him and hated everything about him. She would never be with Antonis, never see him, never want him, never love him. It didn’t matter how much wealth and power Antonis possessed. Honey would never want him, and everyone in this room knew that as they watched the exchange with unease. After all, this wasn’t just some random man that Antonis was punishing for looking at Honey the wrong way. It was Giannis Drakos’s son. Nikos must admit that his uncle was crazier than he thought to try something like this.
“She’ll have me, whether she wants me or not,” Antonis said before he pulled the trigger. The first bullet hit him in his chest, knocking the wind out of him, and Nikos felt that he couldn’tbreathe. The second bullet pierced him in the leg, causing his body to jerk, and a third bullet hit him in his stomach.
As Nikos lay in excruciating pain, he wondered how many more bullets his uncle would put in him. Wasn’t it enough that he was already killing him with three? But Antonis looked murderous, like after having him beaten to near death and shot three times just simply wasn’t enough for having his woman. He was ready to pull the trigger again until one of his men barreled into the room.
“They’re finishing up over there now, and they’re getting ready to come over here.”
Nikos realized then what his uncle’s plan was and why he was being so bold to kill him like this. His uncle had planned this raid against Melvin Cook to make it seem like their enemy had killed him. All of the men here, besides Theo, had pledged their allegiance to Antonis. None of them would speak a word about what truly happened here, and none of the men that Nikos had on his side would know or have proof that he hadn’t been shot to death by the enemy.
It was a smart move, one that he hadn’t anticipated because if he had, he would have come more prepared. He was already regretting not being smart enough to have seen through this. He felt like the world was spinning off its axis and no matter how much he tried to blink, his mind would not focus.
He knew he had been playing with fire the moment he started his relationship with Honey, and now he was burnt.
Nikos felt consciousness slip away from him as he blearily saw his uncle stand over him and snatch Honey’s necklace off his neck. Nikos watched as his uncle pulled out his phone and could hear him speaking in Greek. He heard the words sorry, son, dead, and thought he heard his father’s voice.
“What about his body?” someone asked.
“Throw him in the ocean,” Antonis said scornfully.
It was the last thing Nikos heard before everything faded away.
C H A P T E R
44
WHEN NIKOS’S PHONE WENT TO VOICEMAIL AGAIN FOR THE THIRD TIME, Honey sighed as she looked out of her peephole to see Antonis still standing outside her door. After what happened the last time when she had an unwanted visitor, Honey made sure to check her peephole every time someone knocked on her door. But even though she knew who was behind her door this time, she wasn’t in a position where she could ignore them. She desperately wanted to pretend she wasn’t there, but she had a feeling that the person behind the door already knew she was there.
Honey sighed before shooting a text to Nikos. He was probably doing something important, and that was why hehadn’t responded. She wanted his input on what she should do in this situation, but she had a feeling if she waited any longer, her door would be rammed open. She would just keep this conversation short and to the point, and hopefully, he would leave. Honey opened the door and greeted Antonis with a blank stare. She couldn’t even pretend to be cordial with him. She never liked it when he came uninvited to her apartment as if they were more than employer and employee. She doubted the other girls were getting these home visits.
“Can I help you?” Honey asked.
Antonis merely stared at her, looking her in the eye, and Honey arched a brow, wondering what his problem was.
