Page 162 of The Hunter's Empire

"I didn't uncover the truth until after Marcus died. By then, the man responsible was already beyond my reach." A bitter laugh escapes him. "I couldn't make Marcus pay for what he'd done."

For the first time since I know him, I truly see the grief beneath his composure. It isn't fresh, but it has never healed either. It has simply been carried for so long that it became part of him.

His eyes finally meet mine. "So I convinced myself I'd make his legacy pay instead."

A chill runs through me.

"I swore I'd destroy everything he left behind. The Krogen Empire. The fortune he built. The name he spent his life protecting." He hesitates. "And the person who inherited it."

My chest tightens before the answer even comes.

"You." The single word lands harder than everything that came before.

The room feels unnaturally quiet.

"I was the one who went to Stefano." He admits. "I asked him to bring you into the Keegan operation because it gave me exactly what I needed." His expression hardens. Not with anger, but with shame. "A way into your life."

I can only stare at him, my thoughts hopelessly tangled. Part of me wants to be horrified by what he's admitting. Another part can't stop picturing the little boy who lost his father because of mine.

"When we first met, protecting you was never part of the plan." He lowers his gaze.

"I wanted you to trust me. I wanted to get close enough that, when the time came..." His voice almost fails him. "...I could destroy you along with everything Marcus left behind."

The confession hangs between us, draining every trace of warmth from the room. I stare at him, my mind racing through every memory we've shared over the past several weeks. They all blur together beneath one terrifying question.

How much of it was real?

Tears blur my vision before I even realize they have started falling. I quickly wipe them away, but they are replaced almostimmediately by more. My chest feels painfully tight, as though every word he has spoken has settled there all at once. I want to believe the man sitting in front of me is the Nico I have come to know, yet I cannot silence the voice reminding me that he entered my life with the intention of destroying it and somehow he succeeded.

"You..." My voice breaks before I can finish the sentence. I lower my eyes, taking a slow breath before forcing myself to meet his gaze again. "You planned all of this?"

Nico doesn't answer right away. He doesn't defend himself or try to soften the truth. After a long, painful silence, he gives a single nod.

"At the beginning... yes." The admission hurts far more than I expect.

I let out a shaky breath, another tear slipping down my cheek as dozens of questions race through my mind at once. None of them seem important except one. One question frightens me more than all the others.

I swallow hard before asking it. "Were you the one who leaked the footage of us kissing to the media?"

Nico's head lifts instantly. "No." The answer comes so quickly that it catches me off guard. "I had nothing to do with that."

His voice remains calm, but there is an urgency behind it that I have rarely heard from him. "I swear to you, Zora."

He leans forward slightly, his eyes never leaving mine. "I won't lie to you again. Not after everything I've just told you."

I search his face, looking for even the slightest hesitation. There isn't any.

"I wanted revenge." He admits quietly. "I wanted to destroy the empire Marcus left behind because I couldn't destroy the man himself. I won't pretend otherwise. But leaking that footage..." He slowly shakes his head. "That wasn't me. I would've never humiliated you like that."

Silence settles between us again.

He looks down at the coffee growing cold in front of him before speaking once more.

"The truth is..." A faint, almost bitter smile crosses his face. "I genuinely couldn't stand you when we first met."

I let out a quiet, tearful laugh. "Is that why you were constantly trying to get on my nerves?"

"The opportunity was usually too good to pass up."