Fat lot of good that did.
The Forget Me Not killer was still able to access the building. But he didn’t kill Lydia.
That bothered Nico hours after the attack. Every media outlet in the city covered the story. And they showed Arturo raving at the NYPD for not yet finding the killer.
Nico was exhausted. He’d been at the scene to find out how Lydia was, then talked with the others in the Big Three. Now, he just wanted to sleep.
He needed to find out if Autumn was okay. He wasn’t able to call her because of this mess.
And she hadn’t called him either.
His phone rang. He glanced at the number to see it was Luna. “Come stai. How is she doing?”
“You haven’t heard from her yet? She left a while ago. Gregorio took her back,” Luna continued in her rapid Italian.
“Luna!” Nico snapped and rubbed his aching temples. Wait, Autumn wasn’t there? “Autumn left with Greg. Why?”
“Her sister was in the hospital. She said she had to leave, so I had him bring her there.”
Nico frowned and put the TV on. He was only half listening to Luna. It was the news with a cover story about a woman in the hospital attacked by the Forget Me Not Killer. It wasn’t about Lydia. And the newscaster mentioned something about the victim as also the killer’s accomplice.
“Sonofabitch…”
“Nico, what is it?”
“I have to go.Ciao.”
Grabbing his jacket, he was about to go to the door when Autumn burst through.
There were tear stains down her pale face and bloodshot eyes. She looked like a drowned rabbit with her hair dripping on her jacket as she sagged against the wall.
“Autumn!”
Nico ran to her before she collapsed. He pulled the soggy covering off her shoulders and carried her to the couch.
“Everybody lies to me,” she mumbled against his chest. “Everyone lies, no matter what. They kept the truth from me. Why? Am I that horrible?”
Nico tilted her chin and looked into her eyes. They were dilated as if she were high or drunk, but he saw nothing other than the white color of her cheeks and sunken face.
“What happened? Are you alright?”
She reached out and touched his face. She traced his eyebrows, down his nose, then around his lips, and down his chin. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you, Nico?” Her words slurred. “You wouldn’t keep anything from me, right?”
There was no alcohol on her breath. There was a trace of it on her breath, but not enough to make her like this.
“What’s going on, baby?” He stroked his hands through her wet hair. He had to get her out of these clothes before she got sick.
“Scarlett happened.”
“Her sister was in the hospital.”
He closed his eyes, then opened them. He looked Autumn in the eye. They were glassy, and a couple of tears spilled. “I just talked to Luna. Was Scarlett in the hospital?”
“Elijah took her eye.” There was a faraway look in Autumn’s gaze. “And she’s not really my sister.” She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “She’s my cousin.”
Nico held her against him. She whimpered against his neck as he rubbed her back. Kissing the top of her head, he let her cry.
Nico had wanted to tell her the truth about her family, and she shouldn’t have found out this way.
