Page 29 of Kill Shot

Hour of Judgment

Nico

Nico really, really wished that he’d brought a gun and his men. If he had, then everything would have been so much simpler. He could have whipped it out, put one right between this piece of shit’s eyes, and then gone on his merry way back to Mexico.

There was just one little problem with that train of thought. He didn’t want to kill Pablo Altamirano for the sake of lifelong revenge right now. He wanted to kill him so that he would shut the fuck up and stop breaking Seb’s heart.

Nico couldn’t even bring himself to look at his boyfriend’s face. He knew exactly what he’d find there, and he couldn’t bear to see that innocent face twisted by betrayal and confusion.

And so he instead kept glaring right at Pablo’s face, locked in a contest of wills and oblivious to everyone else in the room. Except, unfortunately, Seb.

No matter how much he stared at the granite-faced Pablo, no matter how much Nico toyed with the idea of grabbing his dinner knife and going for the man’s throat, he could not distract himself from Seb’s tortured gaze.

But then there was a sudden clatter, and before Nico could even blink, Seb had turned around and fled.

He’d barely gotten a single glimpse of his back before he was completely out the door, and maybe even out of Nico’s reach forever.

He saw a guard, the one Seb called Frederick, follow suit after Seb.

Suddenly, he very much regretted not staring into the eyes of the man he loved and confessing all his sins to him.

Hell, even lying and denying everything would have been better than this.

That way, even if his soul was racked with guilt for the rest of his life and beyond, he could have shared one last look with Seb, even if all he saw in Sebastian’s eyes was pain or confusion.

Even if it was the beginning of the end.

But no, he had instead glared daggers at the man who should have been the only thing on his mind.

Seb was gone. There was nothing Nico could do about that now. But he could still carry out his mission.

“Ladies, gentlemen, sorry for this disturbance,” Pablo called out, looking away from Nico for the first time.

In an instant, he was back to the smiling, warm man that he must be when it was just him and Seb.

“Just some old business I’ve got to take care of, nothing to worry yourselves over.

However, it does look like the dinner is postponed until Seb returns. Again, you have my deepest apologies.”

Nico dared a look around the table, likewise taking his eyes off his target for the first time since everything had come to a head.

Seb’s classmates were wide-eyed, but he could tell that they were positively giddy on the inside. They clearly thought this was some run-of-the-mill drama, not an exchange that could turn murderous in the blink of an eye.

An exchange that would turn murderous if Nico had his way, but he had to wait for the right moment.

“Come, let’s talk somewhere a little more private,” Pablo said with a jerk of his head towards one of the doors.

Nico rose to his feet, ready for anything, but Altamirano’s guards were consummate professionals. They all had their hands on their weapons without being so obvious as to alarm the guests.

No, he couldn’t pounce on Pablo now. He’d get shot before he could guarantee the kill.

And, if he was being honest with himself, his hand was partially stayed by the thought of Seb learning that the two most important men in his life had just killed each other.

Three months ago, Nico wouldn’t have thought twice about lunging for the kill and gambling, but things had changed since then. One more thing to blame Seb for.

Nico followed Pablo out of the room, but there was another pair of guards waiting in the hallway as well, their weapons held at the ready, but not aimed at Nico quite yet. However, their flinty eyes suggested that that could be easily rectified in a single instant.

Altamirano didn’t say a single word as he led the way deeper and deeper down the hallways. Nico waited for the opportunity to pounce, but nothing presented himself. Or maybe that’s just what he kept telling himself while the real reason was that he didn’t want to do even more to hurt Seb.

At last, he was led into what could only be Pablo’s office. It was the private sanctum from which he’d conducted business for years, going about life without a care in the world while Nico had been robbed of his family. Pablo had a son, and Nico had nothing .

“Now I think you and I are gonna have a nice, long chat,” Pablo said as he moved around behind his desk and took his seat.

Guards gripped both of Nico’s arms, and he allowed himself to be forced down into a chair before the desk.

Next came the ropes, and there was a bit of a scuffle as Nico tried to fight them off from binding him, but that was a fruitless struggle.They had his wrists strapped to the arms of the chair in no time.

“What about Seb?” Nico asked, not even realizing that he was going to say the words before they were out of his mouth.

“Yes, what about Seb?” Pablo said softly, a dangerous note in his voice that almost made Nico shiver.

Yes, this was the monstrous man that he’d come to take revenge on.

Playing the doting father made everything so much harder, but if Pablo was going to let his true colors show, then everything would be so much easier.