[1] A War of Blood and Hearts | ✔️

CHAPTER TWO

NICHOLAS

Nicholas crawls on the floor of his balcony as he stares at the dark sky. For the first time in seven years, he feels scared, terrified even. His parents have not been the best, in fact, they can easily win a raze award not for a movie, but for their abhorrent method of parenting.
He lets out a huge breath before leaning on the wall behind him. He has not been able to sleep ever since Crystal came to his house three days ago. He assured her that everything will be okay, but now as he is sitting all alone in the middle of the night, he is having his doubts. So many things can go wrong in the plan he had put to protect his baby sister. Almost everything depends on a big 'if'.
Nicholas's train of thoughts is crashed by a knock at his bedroom door.
"It is unlocked" He calls out. The only person who lives in this house with him is Lucas; therefore, it has to be him. If not, then it must be Crystal.
Nicholas waits patiently as he hears footsteps roam the room, then gradually becoming louder indicating that the person is walking towards him.
"Something told me you are awake." Nicholas turns his gaze to the doorframe that separates his room from the balcony to find his best friend looking down at him. Lucas gets a seat on the floor relaxing his long legs against the cold floor.
"I am glad my intuition was right because I cannot sleep either." Lucas sighs rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands .
"What is on your mind Lucas?"
"Quick question, am I the only one who has been having a bad feeling ever since Crystal knocked on our door on Monday?" If they were not best friends and technically were raised together, Nicholas would have interpreted his peer's question in the wrong way.
"No. No you are not." A few silent moments are shared before the mafia leader speaks again.
"I do not know why something feels off. After all, we have assisted Crystal so many times regarding countless of things, so why is this time different?"
"Maybe because your parents are involved?"
"I do not know; this is like the millionth time they invade her life demanding something. She is not a mafia leader, so she does not have the luxury of her parents fearing her." Nicholas can feel his guts tighten from hearing himself talk about his parents. If it was not for his morals and the possibility of Crystal asking questions, he would have murdered them in the most brutal way he can think of, then serve them for dinner to his guards.
"What did they ask for by the way? I did not ask Crystal because I know she would not have answered." Nicholas could hear the frustration in his best friend's voice. Crystal trusts Lucas more than her own brother, but the one topic she will not talk to him about is their parents.
"Well, we know how cliché they are, so try and guess."
"They want the money you put in her bank account?"
"No"
"They want her to seduce a drug dealer?"
"No"
"They want her to give them her eggs?"
"No"
"They want her to go through an arranged marriage?"
"Nope"
"They want her to work as a stripper?"
"No"
"They want her to move in with them so they can use her body into getting some deal?"
"No, dude you already said that!" Nicholas weirdly finds himself laughing. He never thought he would laugh when his friend recalls every single thing that was done to Crystal the former Brazilian mafia leader and his wife trying to find out what want they want from their daughter now.
"Come on dude that is all that came to my mind. The only other thing I can think of is them having the balls to sell her to someone, but we know they would nev..." Lucas gets cut mid-sentence by Nicholas's grim expression.
"They did not..." Lucas mutters to himself as he tries to let everything sink in.
"They did, and that is not the worst part." Nicholas pulls his knees to his chest.
"What can be worse than that?" Lucas's ire is gradually making an appearance, and in his own twisted way, Nicholas is glad that it is. This means that he will not be the only one fighting for Crystal. He has never suspected his friend's love for his sister. No, he never felt concerned because of their shatterproof friendship because that is all that it is, a friendship.
Nicholas trusts his best friend and sister not to betray him like that. If it happens and things do develop between them, he trusts that they will believe in him enough to tell him.
"They already made the deal. Which means whoever she was sold to, they are expecting her arrival. Thus, she is in real danger this time."
Crystal is the only actual family Nicholas would risk his life for, and the notion of not being able to save her haunts him the same way clowns used to. The only difference is that his fear of clowns was and still is irrational. The fear of Crystal coming into harms ways is very much serious and real.
"Wait, what did they tell her? I mean did they tell her about the mafia thing?"
"No. According to Crystal, they told her that she is to move in with a very rich man. It did not take me more than a few seconds to put the pieces together when she said that the man is Russian."
"Wait... did you just say Russian? Because that would mean..."
"They sold her to Ivan." Saying the words aloud make it all feel so real that Nicholas can literally feel his heart fighting to get out of his chest.
"How did you know that they sold her? It is possible that it is just another arranged marriage." Nicholas can tell that his best friend is trying to find a way to convince himself that what he just heard is not the truth, and deep down Nicholas has the same wish, but he knows better than to allow himself to hope.
"Ivan is already married Lucas. Besides, do you really think Ivan would swallow his pride and marry my sister?" Nicholas buries his face in his hands trying to find a way of making this situation make sense.
"Nicholas, no one knows that Crystal is your sister, remember? She was given a different surname than yours for a reason. I am completely certain that no person on this Earth will unravel this secret unless we permit it."
Nicholas takes a few moments to digest Lucas's words to find them utterly logical. Once Crystal decided to move into the Unites States, he spent about three months to persuade her to change her surname into something that would fit the country she is to live in. He also remembers the joy he felt when she finally gave in claiming that it would be a perfect method to mislead their parents.
"Listen man, the way I see it, your parents used Crystal's alias to trick Ivan into falling into their trap, after all, everyone knows how obsessed is Ivan is when it comes to owning slaves. The sole thing I cannot figure out is why? Why would they do such a thing?" Lucas allows the silence to consume them f=before he talks again.
"And all of that is based on the assumption that she has been sold to Ivan. For all we know the man is not Ivan, and she has not been sold like a piece of furniture." Despite his better judgment and will, Nicholas finds himself drowning in a world where his baby sister is indeed safe and sound. Alas, reality is so harsh that it throws him back into the real world within five seconds. He is not allowed a moment of tranquility, even if it was nothing but bogus.
"These are no assumptions bro" When Nicholas sees the look of confusion on his friend's face he sighs before clarifying his point.
"Need I remind you that I have people watching my parents day and night seven days a week?" Nicholas looks at his friend for the first time since they sat on the balcony floor to notice that Lucas has his arms wrapped around his legs close to his chest, with his head leaning on the wall.
"Our men confirmed your suspiciousness." Lucas hit the back of his head into the wall behind him causing the mafia leader to let out a breath as he refocuses on the stars above.
"Did they figure out your parents' motives?" Nicholas hopes his silence will answer the question. He does not wish to talk about this subject anymore. Every time he thinks about it, he feels as if a fist is clutching his heart.
"On a lighter note, why did she say you are pregnant?" a smile appears on his face as he recalls his little sister's childish behavior. Nicholas has always been envious of Crystal. Unlike him, she still has her innocence, she lives her life the way she wants –almost always,- and she is not obligated to calculate her every move fearing the consequences of every action she commits. He on the other hand, he has to maintain a certain façade for the sake of his title, he has to be cruel and brutal when needed even if it is against innocents, and he has to detain his soft emotions.
"I have no idea man. I mean why does Crystal do anything?" Lucas chuckles. He is right; no one knows why this crazy woman does anything! Nicholas thinks to himself with a chuckle of his own.
"I think we should go to sleep. If what you said about Ivan is actually true, then we should be saving up our energy, not exploit it." Lucas gets off the floor and makes his way to the doorframe, but stops just before he enters the room.
"After all, everyone knows how stubborn Ivan is. He will come for her. If, and when he eventually learns her true name, he will become more determined to get to her. It would be the perfect leverage against his number one foe." Nicholas imagines himself pulling Lucas's eyes with a spoon for bringing up another problem to their enormously tall tower of issues regarding protecting Crystal.
"Yeah, I am definitely going to have a good night's sleep with these thoughts in my mind." Nicholas mutters as he watches his friend leave, and then hears his door room being opened and then instantly being shut.
He considers his peer's advice to go asleep, but he does not find it in him to relax with his only family has a target on her back. He rashly pulls his phone out of his pocket and calls a number that he has not seen on his phone screen for almost five months. He impatiently waits as he hears the phone dings until finally the person on the other end answers.
"Hello?" Nicholas's heartbeat accelerates at hearing his old friend's voice.
"How are you doing Alonso?" The mafia leader is aware that what he is about to ask is not much, but he cannot help but feel guilty to ask for the favor. If things are to go bad in the future, Alonso DiFronzo will be dragged in this mess.
"I'm good stranger. You have not talked to me in months Nick. So, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Sarcasm is lucid in his voice.
"Very funny DiFronzo. Why do you assume I need something, can't I call my dear friend to ask him how he is?" Nicholas replies with sarcasm. He hears the man huffs from the end of the line, giving him a gesture that he does not buy his pathetic claim.
"Okay fine! I need a favor." Alonso chuckles from the end of the line. Nicholas has always been amused by the man's ability to be cruel and soft at the same time. Moreover, he masters separating these two sides of him, which is something Nicholas has always resented.
"What kind of assistance do you wish for Mr. Nicholas Moreno?"
"Be warned though, if it goes bad we will get into some serious trouble." He feels the necessity to at least giving a hint of the potential consequences of getting involved in the Brazilian Mafia matters.
"I would have been disappointed if you had not said that." Nicholas does not need to see him to know the smirk growing on Alonso's face.
"I need you to keep an eye on someone who I deeply care about."