Page 18 of Brandishing Betrayals (Devil’s Psychos MC #2)

Nico

I ran my hand down the zipper of my leather cut, wondering—not for the first time that day—if I should take it off and meet my cousin in plain clothes. I haven’t seen my cousin Leonardo in ten years, but I knew for a fact that Leonardo would be dressed in a suit, the made-men always wore suits.

I looked around the outside of the fancy as fuck restaurant where I was told to wait and narrowed my eyes.

This wasn’t my scene. I steeled my spine and walked into the building, holding the door open for an older Italian couple, as they walked out with their boxed-up leftovers in hand.

Murmuring a brief greeting, I headed into the restaurant after they passed.

The restaurant was busy inside. The hostess looked up with a cheery smile that immediately froze in place as she took in my attire. “Can I help you?”

“Nicolai Gage, I have an appointment.”

The woman immediately looked down at her podium and frowned. She pulled a yellow sticky note off the reservation book and looked up. “Yes. I see. Right this way.” She nodded once, then turned toward the dining room, not bothering to grab a menu.

It didn’t matter, I didn’t think I’d be eating anyways.

I followed her as she wound her way through the busy restaurant, ignoring the eyes of the diners as they passed by.

She led me through the main dining room to a hallway in the back.

We walked down the hall, past the bathrooms and the kitchen and two private dining rooms, to an office tucked around a corner.

The woman knocked on the closed door and waited. It was a moment before a gruff male voice said, “Come in.”

“I’ve got it from here, darling,” I murmured to the girl.

She jumped, startled and nodded, before she walked away quickly.

I took a deep breath and pushed open the office door, finding the room exactly as I expected. Dark wood covering the walls, a deep red carpet on the floor, and in the center of room, seated behind a massive mahogany desk, sat my cousin Leonardo Seratelli.

Dressed in a sharp three-piece suit that probably cost more than what I paid monthly on my condo; Leonardo Seratelli looked every bit the mafia Don he was.

Tall and broad shouldered, with tanned olive skin and black hair that was fucking coiffed back away from his handsome as fuck face, but he had the same fucking blue eyes that I had.

All and all, Leonardo was a formidable man, even if he looked like a damn pretty boy. Not that I had much room to talk, I just covered myself in leather and blood, and didn’t front with a suit.

“Cousin,” I greeted as I walked in the office and shut the door behind me.

Leo looked up from the cell phone in his hand and narrowed his gaze on me. “Not sure you still hold that title, Nico.” Leo’s deep voice was as commanding and every bit authoritative as the rest of him, cutting me to the bone, with one simple sentence.

“Alright, I deserved that,” I admitted.

It might have been ten years since we saw each other, but clearly the animosity was still there. “What do you want, Nicolai?”

“Full name, damn,” I joked, cracking a smile.

Leo stared at me with a hard gaze, his bright blue eyes icy. He rose slowly to his feet and buttoned his suit jacket closed. “I haven’t seen you since you turned your back on the family ten years ago and you want to waste my time with jokes?”

I swallowed thickly. “No, of course not.”

“Then hurry up and speak, Nicolai.” Leo’s slightly accented voice grew thicker with the pronunciation of my full name, rolling off the tongue and sounding almost musical. The bastard always sounded so damn sophisticated.

God, it grated on my nerves. But I was here for the club, so I needed to get over whatever insecurities my cousin made me feel by just standing there. “Look, I’m sorry, alright? I walked out ten years ago and I’m sorry.”

Leo narrowed his eyes. “You’re fucking ‘ sorry’ ?

” He leaned forward, placing both hands on the desk in front of him.

“I needed you, and you fucking turned your back on me.” His voice was a low menacing growl that I was sure put the fear of God into Leo’s adversaries, but it had the opposite effect on me.

No.

Instead, it ripped out my soul to hear my cousin’s utter contempt. I had done that, put that divide between us. We had once been the best of friends growing up, but life had dragged us separate ways, and in the end we fell apart.

“You’re right,” I admitted.

Leo’s eyes narrowed again, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Why are you here, Nicolai?”

“Can I not just want to see family?” I asked sagely, knowing I was toeing the line.

“Then why haven’t you seen your mother in six months?” Leo shot back. He straightened and shook his head. “I don’t have time for your bullshit, Nicolai. Get out of my sight.” He dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

“Leo—shit—I’m sorry, ok? I’m sorry I walked out. I’m sorry I left when you needed me. I’ve recently discovered just how badly I fucked up back then.”

Leo hit me with a hard stare and for a moment I thought I was staring at my Uncle Augustino—Leo’s father—a man I hadn’t seen I’d been arrested and framed by Hillcrest. Augustino had come to visit me in county after someone had tipped him off that I had been picked up.

Augustino had basically said that I was on my own—not that I had expected the family to get involved anyways. There wasn’t any love lost between me and my uncle. We had said our words several times over the years, but my arrest had been a deciding point for Augustino.

I was no longer welcome within the family, the family would honor the coke deal with the Psychos, but contact would remain between leadership, and I was not welcomed.

I had agreed.

While I had been in jail, though, Maya had left us and my Uncle Augustino had been murdered. It had been a tumultuous time. While I had only been locked up for less than twenty-four hours, it had been the most monumental twenty-four hours of my life.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when Augustino died,” I said. I ran a hand through my blond hair and sighed, looking down at my scuffed boots. I wondered how the fuck I was going to right this wrong with my family.

“What do you want, Nico?” Leo sounded tired.

I looked up to find my cousin sitting back down in his desk chair. Leaning back, Leo rested his elbows on the arms of the chairs and steepled his fingers in front him, his hard blue eyes watching me warily. There was a quiet resolution set on his face. “The coke trade with—”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Leo snapped.

I immediately stopped talking, knowing I had already lost any ground to stand on with my cousin.

“The coke trade was given to the Knights. End of story. I brokered the deal with Mac Taylor. It’s done.”

“And if Johnny Taylor doesn’t want to move coke anymore?” I hedged carefully.

Leo shook his head, reaching out for his phone off the desk. He sent a quick text and stood up. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Nicolai. The Knights have the coke. It’s done. Get out of my sight. Go see your mother.”

The office door opened behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to see two muscled goons in tailored suits walk in the office.

Sighing, I knew when I was beat. “I’m sorry about Uncle Augustino.

When I found out about him, my girl had just left and my head wasn’t in the right place.

Not that it’s an excuse to not be there for family, but I thought you should know.

I’m sorry.” I turned to the door, without waiting for the men to escort me out.

“Your girl,” Leo said when I reached the door. “What happened to her?”

I paused in the door, wondering just how to answer that question. “I did,” I answered grimly.

Leo gave me a nod, and I left the office, a heavy feeling sinking in my gut.

Nico

I took my cousin’s advice after I left the restaurant and headed west, to my mom’s house.

The neighborhood my mother lived in was nothing but McMansions set back on massive lots.

It was a gated golf course community and boasted its riches and manicured lawns.

The house my mother lived in—and I had grown up in—was no different.

It was a world away from the nitty gritty life that I had carved out for myself with the Devil’s Psychos.

I may have grown up here, but I found myself—and Marcos and Jason—when I was in high school running the streets of Creekton.

It had been an act of rebellion after my father was killed, to go against the family and get myself into trouble in Creekton, but instead I had found my own family in Marcos and Jason and had never looked back.

This time, I removed my cut and draped it over my handlebars before I headed up to the front door of my mother’s house.

It was a point of contention between us, and as I was already going to be in deep enough shit with my mother for not showing up for six months, I would try not to add any fuel to the fire if I could help it.

The front door opened before I could knock on it. The older woman that answered it had been with the family since I was a child. “Nicolai!” Guilia greeted me with a bright smile. “It’s so good to see you,” she said, before switching to rapid fire Italian as she pulled me into a tight hug.

I answered her back, slipping into Italian, a genuine smile lighting up my face.

Guilia was just pulling away from me when I heard my mother’s heels clicking on the marble floors. I had to steel my spine before I saw her.

Teresa Seratelli-Gage was still as beautiful as ever.

In her early sixties, with blond hair pinned back into an elegant chignon, her bright blue eyes sparkled, even as they narrowed into a glare as she took me in.

Her bright red lipstick accented her lips as they pursed while she slowly surveyed me from head to toe.

“Nicolai.” She finally greeted and moved closer, opening her arms to me.