Nicklas: The Vendetta Brotherhood Book One: Social Rejects Syndicate

by CR Robertson

  My ankle decided to finally give up as I approached the bottom of the stairs. I stumbled forward and just when I thought I was about to hit the floor nose first, strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me up.

  “Need a hand?” A deep, masculine voice asked in my ear.

  My mouth went dry, and I pursed my lips together, shaking my head. “Just twisted my ankle on my run.”

  His chuckle washed over me, and my tummy flipped at the sound. My mouth fell open and my eyes widened when the stranger easily swung me up in his arms. My gaze flew to the deep blue eyes of the man holding me as he easily strode upstairs, carrying my weight.

  Holy shitballs—a man was actually carrying me.

  My sisters were all tall and sylph-like. I, on the other hand, had too many curves no matter how little I ate or how much I tried to run my rotund ass off.

  “Which room is yours?” he demanded at the top of the stairs.

  The power of speech evaded me, so I pointed to the room at the end of the corridor beside the window seat. His spicy scent invaded my senses, and I felt flushed and breathless by the encounter. My hand landed on his chest briefly and was met with ridges of hard muscles.

  “There you go, Princess.” He dropped me on the bed, and I bounced, lying on my back to stare up at the stranger.

  He possessed messy black hair and dark blue eyes set in a ruggedly handsome face. The smirk playing on his lips said he enjoyed watching me at a disadvantage. My pride stretched from my core through my body to make me straighten and sit up.

  “Thank you for the lift, but I could have made it by myself. I did walk over two miles home.”

  He rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. I tried not to notice the fact that his black T-shirt stretched over his chest or that his biceps bulged in sexy, muscular perfection. “Your dad would have killed my men if they watched your lycra covered ass crawling up those stairs, and no offence, Princess, but I don’t need to lose any of my crew right now.”

  My eyebrow shot up. “Well, my lycra covered ass is upstairs and out of sight, so you can go now.”

  He smirked down at me and my heart beat faster when he bent down so we were eye level with each other. “Stay safe, Princess.” He pressed the tip of his finger to the end of my nose before he straightened and strode out the door.

  Part of me wanted to follow him, and part of me wanted to curl up on the bed and forget the entire embarrassing episode ever happened. Papa would have cut most men’s hands off for touching me, but this man was brazen enough to carry me to my bedroom.

  Who the hell was he and why had I never seen him before?

  I flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, my heart still pounding rapidly in my chest, butterflies beat against my stomach as if enticing him to come back.

  Whoever he was, he just blew every fantasy that I had created about Mario out of the water with one encounter. My skin still prickled where he’d touched me and my panties were wet, and not from the sweat I received on my run. That man was a sinful fantasy with a wicked smile. The fact that he was an associate of Papa’s made me forbidden fruit, and I was ready for him to pick me from the branch I was sitting on and take a bite. All the warnings about the garden of Eden be damned.

  ***

  Chapter Three

  Nicklas

  “Have you finished manhandling my daughter?” Lucas Black demanded, his eyes narrowing on me. He’d always been the scariest fucker in our organisation, the crazy badass who would put a hole in your head and ask questions later.

  I cocked an eyebrow, even as I held my hands up in fake defence. “Someone had to help her, considering she was trying to fall on the floor.”

  Lucas’ attention snapped to the security patrol who’d trailed in behind her. “Did you have to let Sofia walk home?” he snapped.

  Sofia—it suited her. She was a little fireball of anger with claws that could either gouge your eyes out or dig deep into your back as you thrust balls deep into her.

  “She didn’t want any help,” the guard muttered under his breath. His eyes had followed me the entire way upstairs, his jaw tightening when I sauntered back down again. The guy had it bad for the little heiress, but her dad would personally cut his balls off if he went anywhere near her.

  It would be worth the risk.

  For a moment, when she laid back on that bed, I was tempted to peel those ridiculously tight leggings down and…

  “Nic!”

  My eyes flew to the angry man watching me. “What? You summoned us all here, so here we are, Lucas. You don’t get to be all snarly because I helped your daughter.”

  If his jaw tightened any further, he’d crack a molar. “My daughters are off limits.”

  I gave him my best shit-eating grin. We all heard his threats referring to the infamous Black daughters, I even caught sight of one or two of them over the years, but that one had definitely been well hidden. Those curves were not designed for a life of celibacy, but to be debauched hard and often.

  The meeting retired to his ‘office’, which was a huge library with a round mahogany table in the centre. His beloved nephew Xavier was already present with his two goons that he dragged behind him. Pretty little rich boys who thought they were tough. Just because you wielded a gun and could kill a man with your bare hands, did not mean that you belonged in our ranks. I was born on the streets, raised in the alleys, and educated in the school of criminology. If you fucked with me, I’d flay your flesh from your bones and piss on your corpse. I learned a long time ago that you only needed to cultivate your reputation and people left you alone.

  “Why are we here?” I asked, my fingers steepled in front of me.

  “The era of the Council is coming to an end,” Lucas replied. “I’m calling in all my allies.”

  My eyes slowly came up to meet his. “You have heard of a phone?”

  He stared back at me until his lips twitched in the semblance of a smile. “I told you that you’d like, Nic,” he said to his nephew. “He’s a grumpy bastard, but if you need someone to protect your back, he’s the first man on my list.”

  I rolled my eyes at his comment. Lucas Black was well known for taking lost causes and turning them into warriors. The boy he met back then was feral. The man he helped create still had a beast pacing inside him, but the exterior was what made people believe he was civilised.

  “What has the Council got to do with my setup?”

  His nephew sat forward. “We have fingers in organisations all over the world. We’ve tracked one of the Council spies to Havana and Uncle Lucas says that’s your domain.”

  I moved to Cuba when local authorities became very interested in my businesses. The climate and way of life agreed with me, so I stayed, my crew following me. No one bothered us, and who didn’t like rum with every meal?

  “The airport has routes arriving from all over the world,” I pointed out to him like a dick.

  “We don’t have time to track down every single lead, so we’re hoping you can help us out. My wife is pregnant, and I don’t want to leave her,” Xavier said.

  I knew I was being difficult, but I was sick of cleaning up other people’s messes. “Is she here with you?”

  “No.” He shot Lucas a weary look. “She’s back in England.”

  I shrugged. “Then you can leave her.”

  “You owe me a blood oath,” Lucas said slowly, enunciating every word. “I’m calling it in.”

  This was the reason I hated owing anyone anything. They always used it against you when you least expected it. “Fine,” I grated out. “Give the details to Sam and we’ll catch your rat for you. Any instructions on what you want done with him?”

  One of the nephew’s goons smiled a creepy-ass smile that made my sphincter muscles tighten. “I can help with some ideas if you don’t know how to dispose of someone.”

  That was just insulting.

  “No offence, but I’ve been eliminating risks long before you left boarding school. Y
ou want him dead, say the word. You want him gift-wrapped and decorated in tinsel, then I’ll happily wish you a Merry Christmas.”

  The friend studied me, finally speaking to Xavier. “I like him, Zee. I have no issues letting him deal with this loose end. We have plenty of others to sort out.”

  I ignored the friend and turned my attention to Lucas. “You sure you want to cash in a blood oath for some little punk that’s hiding out in my world?”

  Suddenly Lucas Black looked his age, the weight of the world finally coming to rest on his shoulders. “We’re stretched, Nic. The Council has tendrils stretching across the globe. You could be walking in to deal with one guy and find an entire viper’s nest.”

  We both knew I’d dealt with worse. “We can’t claim the moral high ground, Lucas.”

  “No,” he sighed, “but there are some things that both you and I oppose and abhor.”

  He was talking about the skin trade. I was a thief and a liar, but I drew the line in the same place as Lucas. There was a certain amount of honour between thieves. I merely nodded and returned to staring at his bookshelves.

  “You told me to let you know when certain individuals became legitimate targets,” Lucas said in a low tone.

  He had my full attention. It felt like a lifetime ago that my foster family had been collateral damage to some high-ranking officials who were untouchable. They were the only people who’d ever given a damn about me. He didn’t need to cash in that blood oath, I would happily give my services for free if they allowed me to be the person who dealt with that sanctimonious asshole who thought he ruled the world.

  “Fine, I’ll catch your rat for free, but you know the price.”

  Silas had been a walking dead man for years; he just didn’t know it. Those graves in Edinburgh were reminders of his sins. Lucas had given them a proper funeral on my behalf, and every year on the anniversary of their death I had a wreath of white lilies delivered. They would never be forgotten. Their only crime had been caring for someone who wasn’t worth their love.

  Lucas nodded slowly. “He has always been yours to kill.”

  Xavier sat back and rubbed his eyes. “Do I want to know?”

  “Are you related to Silas?” I asked, watching the reaction of the three men.

  “No, he has nothing to do with any of us.”

  I shrugged lazily. “Then you have nothing to worry about.”

  Lucas stood abruptly. “Enough business for one day. Let us go outside and drink the scotch I had shipped over from my distillery in Scotland.”

  He lived in Tuscany because his late wife was from here, but his heart always remained in the country where he was born and raised. I was lucky he was home and found me that fateful night ten years ago. Lucas clapped me on the back as we all walked outside to his elaborate patio that he loved. “Tell me you brought some cigars.”

  I grinned at him. “You were going to cut my balls off an hour ago for helping your daughter upstairs, and now you want my Cuban cigars?”

  “One day, you will have daughters and understand the need to keep them safe. My nephew Xavier is expecting his first child, then he will know what it’s like.”

  His nephew rolled his eyes and held out his hand to me. “We weren’t introduced. Most people call me Zee, that’s Ash over there with the blond hair and the psychopath is Jordan, but we call him Jay. If you need any help with Silas, Jay has containment units and disposal facilities on secluded sites.”

  My eyebrow raised as I looked in Jay’s direction. Maybe these goons weren’t just a pretty face after all. Who the hell had their own torture chamber and crematorium? Well, technically I did, but I was an asshole and not a playboy billionaire.

  Sam went out and grabbed the box of cigars we brought with us and passed them around. Nothing soothed my soul like watching the sky while inhaling the deep sensual smoke from the best quality cigars from our plantation. My business in Cuba was legitimate, even if there were some aspects of it that were grey in the eyes of the law.

  Movement on the balcony at the corner of the first floor drew my attention, and I watched Sofia move around her room. My sunglasses hid my eyes from the rest of the group as idle conversation surrounded me. Where the hell had she been hiding the past few times I was here? I inhaled deeply when she tugged that bright pink top off and her breasts bounced free. Sofia Black was the type of woman who could worm her way into a man’s soul and carve her name inside of him.

  I looked away when she disappeared from view and met the furious gaze of her security patrol. The guy had it bad and was doing a horrendous job of keeping his feelings hidden.

  The asshole in me wanted to fuck with his head and take what my dick demanded. What little remained of my humanity said that I owed Lucas Black my life and my vengeance. I wouldn’t risk that for a hot piece of ass—even one with pouty red lips, legs that were built to wrap around my waist, and a figure that could bring a grown man to his knees in submission. Sofia Black was a siren created to tempt men to sin and lure them to their demise. I needed to stay as far away from her as possible.

  ***

  Chapter Four

  Sofia

  The winter nights were closing in around me—the chill in the air making my breath come out in huffs of white smoke. I’d been in the library studying late for my final exams until I lost track of time.

  Mario had been huffing with me for the past few weeks since I injured my ankle. I tended to avoid him when on the university’s campus, since no one knew who I was, and nothing had happened in the past few years. We came to that arrangement a few years ago when I first started here. What Papa didn’t know wouldn’t upset him, since I wanted some independence. Sofia Lucas didn’t attend Aberdeen University to study architecture. Sofia Robertson, the granddaughter of Mary Robertson, was registered as a student. Papa made me take the maiden name of his mother since it was a common Scottish surname.

  A few other students wandered around campus, with their heads down and shoulders hunched against the cold. I loved and embraced the freedom I had here at the university, but the top corner of Scotland was freezing cold, and at moments like this, I craved the warm evenings of Tuscany when you could lie outside and watch the stars for hours. Even in the summer, it was cold and temperamental in this part of the world.

  My apartment was situated close enough to campus to enjoy university life, but far enough away that Mario could create a safety perimeter without drawing attention. He lived in the apartment next to mine so that the world only saw us as neighbours who’d become friends over the years. Some students believed we were having an illicit relationship. Yeah, that worked well since he rejected me.

  The heat warmed my face in welcomed relief, and I took the staircase to the third floor. I hated enclosed spaces since childhood and avoided elevators when possible. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I reached the doorway leading to my apartment. Technically, my lease said I was in room eleven, but Mario had made us swap so that I was in twelve as an added precaution.

  His door sat slightly open, and when I peeked inside, the apartment was trashed. Blood smears decorated the walls and broken furniture littered the floor. I didn’t dare enter any further. That much blood meant that someone was seriously injured or dead. My throat burned with nausea at the sight of the apartment that was supposed to be mine.

  Security protocols had been instilled in me from an early age. A safe was hidden in my apartment, but I left the folder with my escape route in an anonymous locker inside the university, where no one would find it.

  Turning on my heel, I retraced my footsteps back to the stairwell. Two male figures emerged from the shadows at the other end of the corridor. Adrenalin kicked in and I tried to appear nonchalant. They moved rapidly down the corridor and I slid down the railing to the first landing and then sprinted the rest of the way.

  Several shadows moved outside. One man grabbed my arm to spin me around. “Sofia Lucas?” he asked.

  I gave him a confused smi
le, shaking my head. “Sorry, you have the wrong person.” I shook his hand off my arm. “Maybe you should check with the guy in apartment one, he is the son of the owner.”

  A cold and sadistic sneer formed on his lips. “Your father asked us to bring you home. Your sister was in an accident.”

  Using my sister had been a big mistake. There was no way Papa would send a stranger to tell me something had happened to Catarina or Lucrezia. He would have sent one of his personal guards or our housekeeper.

  “I’m sorry, you have the wrong person,” I muttered, stepping back a few paces. “Excuse me.”

  Right now, I couldn’t afford to let myself think about Mario. I was pissed at him because I was embarrassed, but he’d been a friend to me for years. The fact that he wasn’t here right now in these guys' faces told me something was very wrong.

  My first year at university, Mario had insisted I learn the layout of the area around our apartment block. Every escape route was drilled into my head until it became instinct, every tiny crevice I could fit myself into to avoid detection was mapped.

  A hand clamped on my arm. “You need to come with us.”

  My fight training kicked in. My foot stomped into his ankle as I twisted out of his grasp. His hand slapped me across the face and made my head snap back and ears start to sing. I fell back onto the cold ground. None of Papa’s men would ever lift their hand to any of his daughters. He dragged me onto my feet, and I used the momentum to knee him in the balls. The man grunted, his hand grabbing my hair when I tried to escape, using it to drag me to the ground beside him.

  One of the other men laughed. “Bloody hell, Ben, fucking grab her. She’s only a little thing.”