Nico
"We are safe."
Blade said it calmly, almost casually, noticing the way my gaze kept shifting around the dining hall with quiet wariness while he simply continued eating his steak like there wasn't a possibility that betrayal was already festering inside his own mansion.
I didn't relax.
Couldn't.
Blade had been the head of the Gallias Cartel for too long. Decades at the top without anyone truly daring to challenge him openly. Men feared him too much. Respected him too much.
And power like that eventually made people comfortable whether they realized it or not.
I couldn't even blame him entirely.
That same complacency was the reason I was sitting here alive today.
Years ago, after Castilo sent me out of his house with nothing to my name, Blade crossed paths with me and instead of killing me like most cartel leaders would have done, he took me under his wing.
Fed me.
Protected me.
Gave me power.
