Dr. Nicca James Alfarone

"I'm sorry, Nicca." I turned my head in confusion to see Jose standing there with a conflicted look on his face as he sighed, covering his face with his hands. "I didn't mean anything I said to you. I just was so upset that they hurt you like that. You had no idea that that was going to happen, honestly and I shouldn't have brought it down on you like that." He confessed, walking over to me. "God knows how you feel." He sat down on my bed and I reached for his hand.

"I'm a little shocked, honestly, but don't feel bad Jose." I looked him deep in his eyes, noticing that he wanted to cry. "I've made lots of dumb decisions, many more than I can count and it was all on you because you kept me out of trouble." I sighed, looking down at the bed. "I have no idea what to do now. I mean, Mikhail is doing all that he can." I smiled softly at the mention of my bodyguard. He was more angry than I was when he found out that I had been raped by three guys at once. He looked like he was ready to kill.

"I know he is. He has his reasons." Jose smiled knowingly but it looked as if he had something to hide from me too. Just what was it that he was keeping a secret from me? He looked really scared, like he wanted to tell me but he couldn't. "Jose, you good?" He nodded, looking away from me. "Jose Luca Grazi, what's the matter with you?" I folded my arms in annoyance and he turned to me. "Nothing. I just want you to be safe, alright?" He muttered and I knew he was lying to me. I knew my best friend like the back of my hand and I knew at this moment, he was telling me a damn lie.

"I'll be right back. Kaiden has to go over some information with me before we tell you." He finished and he got up with a pat to my head as he walked out of my room. I could walk but I had a boot on my left leg. I had injured part of my shin in the wreck and I managed to fracture it since I've been home so I was rendered to a boot on my foot. "MIKHAIL!" I screeched, dying from boredom. Since Steve was no longer available, I relied on Mikhail to entertain me. 

"Yes,люблю?" He asked as he opened the door to my room, file in hand and a grey Giorgio Armani suit intact on his body (love). My mouth watered at the sight of him. He always looked so mysterious, which made him look so hot to me. "Entertain me, Mr. Baranov." I bit my lip and I watched as his eyes darkened, his nostrils flaring. "Mr. Alfarone..." He trailed off, clenching the file in his hands. "Don't call me that, Mikhail." I whispered his name in a sultry tone, not knowing where it came from. It was as if I had this raging thirst for Mikhail and he was the only one that could quench it, if it could even be quenched to start with.

"Nicca," He gulped and I motioned for him to come closer. I had a burning need inside of me, calling for him and I knew he heard it too. The tattoo on my wrist was a bright green, almost a teal. I had long since figured out that it only was green in the presence of Mikhail but I didn't know why. "Не стреляйте огнем." He warned, his eyes flickering a dark shade of red and I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or what (Do not fight fire with fire.) Somehow, I understood what he said it made me want to play even more. "Eh, you're hotter than the fire I feel." He came and stood right by me and I reached a hand out, touching his forearm. "Вы обязательно сожжете." He bit his lip as if he was trying to fight temptation (You will surely get burned.) I grinned up at him, licking my lips as his eyes zeroed in on the action. 

"Then that's a risk I'm willing to take." I reached up, yanking on his tie as I pulled him down, sighing as his lips met mine in a fiery clash. This was a passionate, yet teeth smashing kiss. It was a kiss of ownership. My mind was electrified, my heart beating fast on cloud nine, the butterflies in my stomach fluttering around as I clutched his tie, pulling him closer to me. He opened his mouth, our tongues intertwining in a moment of intensity. Tingles were sent throughout my body and it felt as if a magnet was pulling me towards him. "Mikhail..." I whispered against his lips, feeling many things I had never felt before. What was he doing to me? Just what was it?

"To answer your question," He panted softly, his cerulean blue eyes peering into mine with so much emotions, I felt them running through my veins. "I'm trying to figure out who Felix Denisov is." I smirked as I let his tie go. "I KNOW!" Kaiden and Jose busted through the door, papers in their hands as they stared at us with frantic looks. "We've figured it out." Jose stated and Mikhail nodded. "I know."

"Steve Bardlow is not who you think he is, Nicca." Kaiden looked at me with a stern look and I noticed his eyes changing colors subtlety. Was this really happening or was I imagining things? "He goes by R, which I'm sure we've all heard of by now. He is the head of the Deathrow gang." He stated and I tilted my head, many emotions running through my mind. The person I was with, the person I thought I saw my entire life with was someone who wanted to kill me. Someone who had a vendetta against me and I had no idea why. "What's his real name?" I muttered in a soft tone, not knowing what I or anyone for that matter, could possibly say to make this situation better. Mikhail turned to me, placing a file in my lap as he looked at me, fire in his eyes.

"His name is Raymond DiCaprio."

Suddenly, I was taken back to some years ago when my father was going through the murder of his father, trying to figure out who had done it. "Dad," I whispered, watching him sift through file after file. "What are you doing?" I tilted my head, noticing that he had several tabs open on his computer. "I just figured out that the person who killed my father was apart or had some affiliations with the Deathrow." At the time, I had no idea who those people were. "How do you figure that?" I had to ask because so many people from so many places were targeting my mother father so I was a little curious as to how he managed to figure that out. 

"You know how I always told you that murderers often in times leave a trademark so that people know that it was them who did it?" He chuckled but there was no humor in his voice and so, I nodded in reply. "Look at this." He threw a photo at me and I caught it. It was a picture of my grandfather Nicolai Alfarone I laying on the ground, his throat slashed as well as a straight line cut from his collarbone all the way to his pelvis. It was a lot of blood and they took the time of gouging his eyes out. "What the hell?" I muttered, stifling a shock at the sight of my family member brutally murdered. "I know son. I know." My father sighed, looking at his wits end. "Never mind that." He motioned to the splatter of blood next to his body. "You see that?" I nodded. "Do you notice anything unusual about it?" I shook my head but then I got a better look.

It looked as if the blood was arranged in some unique, as if someone took the time to paint the blood into a letter. "R?" I questioned, recognizing the big letter next to the body. "What does the letter R have to do with this?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "That letter is the epithet of the person who killed or of the person who was connected to the person that killed him." My father explained and I was still so confused. "R is a person that has always been our enemy." He stated, a firm seated look in his eyes. "Before R, there was no one."

I had no idea what that meant until now.

"Nicca, you must always be careful, son." My father placed his hands on my shoulders, gripping them tightly. "We always have enemies in this world. Many know of our true identity." He said and I tilted my head. "How is that possible when you do everything to keep it hidden?" I questioned and he sighed. "Some of our enemies follow us from the past to the present and to our future. Our enemies will always be the same." He stated. "We can't get rid of them because they are far more powerful than we are. Much more." He finished and I waved a hand in his face. "Who is the enemy that you speak of, then?" I asked and he stared at me. "I'm supposing you know his or her name." He nodded in reply. "I figured it out a long time ago. He had slipped up and it was easy for me to guess it." He looked away, his aura dulling. "It's Raymond."

My dad knew and it was easy for me to put together the reasons why Steve would never want to meet my parents. He always claimed that it was too early for such preposterous actions. 

"And he knows we're on to him."

* * *

I had no idea why I was here, even after Mikhail warned me not to come. I had to because I had several questions that were in need of answering. I was still in shock because I had not come to terms yet with the situation. I was still surprised at how easy it was for Steve to lie to me. No, I shouldn't call him that anymore. After all, he was Raymond DiCaprio, the head of the Deathrow.

I looked down at my phone to see that I had an impending text from him. On my way. Should be there in 5. I scoffed as I snorted, looking out of the window of the cafe. He still tries to play it off like I don't know anything when in reality, I knew it all. I had to be smart about this because I still didn't understand his motives for doing the things that he did. Did he want money? My father had plenty of it. Did he want freedom from the police and authority? They already had that, seeing as how many authority figures were afraid to approach them. What did they want?

I couldn't even begin to put it all together. How Mikhail did, was beyond me. He was able to come up with Steve's real identity in less time than Kaiden was given. It made me wonder just how much he knew about Steve. It made me wonder just why was he putting so much effort into figuring this out when all he had to do was keep me safe from danger. He has done such a great job at that but I can't help but wonder if there's something deeper than that.

"I hadn't realized it was you, моя любовь." 

He had whispered that to me so tenderly, it made me want to cry and the look in his eyes as if he had just been told the greatest thing of his life. "Hey, Nic." I felt a pat on my shoulder before my cheek was met with a kiss. "Oh, hey, Steve." I waved awkwardly as he took a seat in front of me, smiling at me. "How have you been?" He asked and I grimaced internally. I couldn't let him what I knew even if everyone else did. He was after me, not anyone else.

"I've been good. Just missing you." I nodded, not wanting to scream out in disgust. "Yeah, I missed you too. I was just busy with things." He waved me away as he pulled out his phone and I couldn't take it anymore. The blatant disrespect. "You have some nerve, Steve." I narrowed my eyes at him and he looked up from his phone to me. "First, you come into my life, pretending to be someone that loved me but it turns out that you raped me when you clearly told me we never had sex!" I growled out and I noticed his eyes widened. "You lied to me and now I'm questioning what other things you lied about." I stood abruptly, pressure on my leg from the boot. "Are you even who you say you are?" I shook my head, sending a sneer his way as I turned on my heel to walk out of the empty cafe. 

Then I blacked out.