Her Last Night in the City Chapter 04
“But she’s taking out loans now,” Elena pressed on. “She must’ve blown through the money herself instead of spending it on Luca.”
Nico hesitated. “Did you take that gold? Was it really you?”
“I didn’t take anything,” I said, exhausted to my bones. “I didn’t even know the combination.”
“Steals a ring, cracks a safe,” Elena said coldly. “You’re so clever. Just admit it. For Luca’s sake.”
She was using Luca as leverage.
“Let go of my mom!” Luca bit down on Elena’s arm.
Elena screamed and shoved him. Luca flew backward.
I lunged and caught him before he hit the floor. The impact knocked the air out of me and everything went
black.
“Mom! Wake up!” Luca sobbed, shaking me. He crawled over to Nico. “Mister, please help her!”
Nico’s face went dark. “Get her to the hospital. Now.”
He scooped Luca up and held him tight. “I’ve got you. Dad’s here.”
Luca pushed him away. “You’re not my dad!”
“My dad’s a hero,” Luca cried. “He’s out saving the world. He’s not a bad person like you.”
Nico went very still. Was that how Natalie had described his father to Luca? She’d never turned the boy
against him?
“Baby…” Elena moved in close again.
“Who gave you the right to touch my son?” Nico backhanded her and roared, “Get out!”
Elena froze, one hand pressed to her face.
Nico walked out carrying Luca.
Elena watched them go. Then she took out her phone.
“Take care of a mother and her kid for me,” she said quietly. “Make it look like an accident.”
In the car, Luca kept crying and thrashing. “Don’t touch me! Where’s my mom?”
“Hey,” Nico said, his voice thick. “We’re going to see her. I promise.”
After the ER light went out, Nico stepped forward and stopped the doctor. “How is she?”
“Stable. Mild concussion. But she’s severely malnourished with multiple old scars on her body.”
“And…” the doctor hesitated. “We checked her records. She’s been selling plasma on a regular basis. Her
body is shutting down.”
Nico’s mind went blank. He staggered back two steps.
He called the family attorney.
“Why couldn’t you find her?” he demanded. “Eight years. Why?”
“Don,” the attorney stammered. “Ms. Volkov said you told us not to bother. To just do a half-hearted search.”
“I never said that!”
“But Ms. Volkov said-”
“Enough,” Nico said, feeling sick. “The gold. Did Natalie take it?”
“Actually, Ms. Volkov handled everything. We never got a look at the security footage.”
Nico closed his eyes.
He already knew what had happened. He didn’t even have to think about it.
“Pull the footage from three years ago,” he said quietly. “And find out everything Natalie’s been doing this
whole time.”
He hung up and walked into the room. Luca was slumped against the bed, watching over her with worried
eyes.
“Mom’s going to be okay, right?” Luca looked up.
“She will,” Nico said softly. He reached out to touch Luca’s hair.
Luca flinched back.
Nico let his hand fall. The ache in his chest was unbearable.
This was his fault. All of it.