“He will be fine.” He took hold of Autumn’s hands. Her luminescent blue-jean eyes were wild. Nico had to calm her down, otherwise she would worry every step of the way.
“Do you trust me?”
Autumn stopped and swallowed hard. She looked into his eyes and gave a small nod, “Yes, I do. If I didn’t trust you, I would already be out the door.”
Nico released the breath he didn’t realize he held. “Good,” he breathed. “And you know I wouldn’t let any harm come to those I love, either.”
She stopped and stared at him, “I’m scared, Nico. I’ve come up against other monsters, but I’m afraid I’ll fail Reagan and we’ll lose her—”
“Ssh…” He put a finger to her lips. “You will not fail, Autumn. You are a fighter, and I’ll be damned if I hear you say anything else.”
Autumn took a breath, and Nico watched her breathe it out slowly. She nodded, as if fighting against some inner battle. “Okay,” she bit her lip. “Call Luna and see how she can help.” She worried her lip again and looked at Nico. “I know we said no cops or anything, but what about Hererra?”
Nico’s eyelid twitched. He didn’t like the guy, but he would be additional help. “Do you trust him?”
Autumn nodded. She gripped his hands as if they were a lifeline. “In this, yes. I think we could use him.”
Nico sighed. “All right, call him. Just make sure he knows there is no one else who can be there.”
Autumn nodded. “One more thing.”
What else could there be? Time was of the essence. They had to get this going yesterday.
“Elijah goes to the authorities.”
Nico hadn’t seen that one coming. He wanted to kill the bastard ten times over for the pain, self-doubt, and fear that bastard put her through. But Autumn believed in the justice system. It’s who she was. Nico had seen how the system failed repeatedly. It was something they would have to agree to disagree about.
Nico already planned to make a deal with his uncle, where Winters was concerned. He just didn’t tell Autumn that.
Nico nodded. “Done. We’ll make sure the authorities get hold of Winters.”
He didn’t enjoy lying to her. There was honor among thieves in certain circumstances, and this was one of those times.
It would also be how Nico kept Arturo away from Autumn.
“Thank you, Nico.” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the lips. “I don’t think I could have done this without you.”
“I have you,mia cara, always.” He kissed her forehead and lips one more time before he tore away from her. “Call Detective Hererra and I’ll call the others.” He looked into her eyes. “We’ve got this.”
A smile tilted her lips. “Thank you, Nico.”
He watched as Autumn pulled her phone out and he went to his office to make calls.
Winters didn’t know who he was messing with.
She was here. She could do this. Nico had faith in her, and he wasn’t too far behind. She hadn’t been able to see when everyone arrived, but she knew they were all going to work together.
Let’s get this done.
She examined the house before her. It was a Cape Cod-French Country style home. It seemed as if the designer couldn’t decide what they wanted it to be. Traditional or a little bit of elegance?
Her hands jammed into her coat pockets. It wasn’t the architectural design that disturbed her. It looked almost identical to where Fox kept her. And it was also one of the more expensive towns outside of New York City.
Elijah was trying to recreate what Fox had done to her.
“You won’t succeed,” she said defiantly, staring up and then forcing her legs to move toward the stone steps.
Autumn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She would not let the past catch up to her. Nico taught her how to be stronger. She wasn’t responsible for the things Fox had done, and she wasn’t responsible for anyone’s death.
