He keeps his eyes on the road, jaw tight. “It’s for your own good.”
What the hell does that mean?
I reach for the door and try to open the door. While jumping from a moving car isn’t going to be fun, I have no idea where he’s taking me, and I’m starting to get scared.
Nothing happens.
“What the hell are you doing, Nico?”
“Like I said before, it’s for your own good.”
“That’s what everyone says right before they do something unforgivable.”
The road narrows and trees grow denser.
“You don’t understand,” he says quietly.
I turn toward him fully now. “Then help me. Because from where I’m sitting, you just kidnapped me.”
His head bobs, but back here, I can’t see his expression. “Boss treats you like shit.”
Heat flares in my chest. Defensive, immediate. “You don’t get to say that.”
“I get to say it because I’ve watched it.” His hands tighten on the wheel. “I’ve watched him cage you and call it protection.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know enough.”
I shake my head, anger and fear tangling. “Unlock the door.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
The distinction hangs between us.
“My mother was taken once,” he says suddenly.
The words hit like a slap.
“What?”
“One of the Amante brothers,” he continues, voice flat, eyes forward. “Not Lorenzo’s father. The other one. The one nobody talks about.”
Cold slides down my spine.
“He’s dead now,” Nico adds. “But what Lorenzo’s doing to you? It’s the same.”
“That’s not—” My voice cracks, but I force it steady. “You don’t understand. He wouldn’t hurt me.”
“You sound like my mother”—Nico cuts in, not unkindly—“right before she disappeared.”
Silence crashes down.
“Take me back,” I whisper.
“No.”
