It was Angelo’s. He carried the assassin’s knife everywhere with him, even Luis Caddel couldn’t make him leave it behind.
He pulled away from the kiss reluctantly, Angelo’s wide, trusting eyes staring up at him, salty tears tracking through tangy blood.
"I said kill, not fucking kiss, you fucking whore." Luis Caddel’s enraged voice came from behind them.
Nikolai just tuned him out, cupping Angelo’s face with his injured hand, unconsciously smearing more blood. "You know what to do, Angelo, you know how to save your mom, you always have."
Angelo glanced down at the two completely different weapons in his hands. It was the truth... he always knew. He always knew, even from when he was a child watching his mom protect him from blows meant for him. He always knew, even when his dad came back to his mom’s dead body and just kicked it over. He always knew, even when he had mustered up the courage to run away like he always thought his mom should have done.
But he had met Silvia out of sheer luck, and her choosing to keep him had been nothing short of a miracle. Anyone else and his dad would have found him right away and killed them all, his mom always knew that.
He looked up at Nikolai again, and for a moment, the fog cleared up, and with the new information he had learned, he was more than upset.
He held up the combat knife to the Mafia King’s neck, nicking the tan skin, "And you have a lot of explaining to do, wait right here for me."
Nikolai’s smile was saccharine sweet and completely sappy, despite the bright red blood staining his collar, but he didn’t stay back, calmly walking behind Angelo, not because he didn’t trust the Omega, but because he didn’t trust Luis Caddel.
Luis slowly rose to his feet, rage twisting his features. "What are you fucking doing?" He demanded, striding forward.
He had only threatened Silvia to twist the knife, he hadn’t at all felt like he needed the threat to order Angelo around, confident about how well he had raised his son, he had apparently been fucking wrong.
He stormed over and whipped Angelo across his face, reaching out to grab him by his hair. "I always have to do everything by my fucking se-"
The rest of his words cut off because Angelo had returned the favor, hitting him across the face while still holding the pink dagger, leaving a bloody gash across his face.
Nikolai didn’t intervene, prowling around like a beast that brought a prey animal for a cub to play around with, dark blue eyes focused on Luis Caddel at all times.
Angelo let out a shaky breath, his eyes alight. "I’ve always wanted to do that."
Luis reached for his belt, "You seem to have forgotten your place. Let me remind you." He threatened, too angry to process the level of danger he was in.
Angelo’s shoulders relaxed, he flipped both daggers in his hands and caught them with ease. "Sure you want your dick out when I’ve got knives?" He handed back, but the tremble in his voice was evident.
Nikolai hadn’t intervened or spoken the entire time, but then he moved in with a right hook, right on the side of Luis Caddel’s head. He reluctantly held back, he hadn’t even broken a single knuckle on the dog’s head.
Dazing him had been his goal, he wouldn’t trust himself not to kill Luis Caddel himself if the fucker laid his hands on Angelo one more time.
Luis Caddel stumbled a bit, shaken out of his righteous rage a little too late. Before he could recover and put out the signal for his men to show up, Angelo whipped him hard across the other side of his face.
Bleeding and dazed, he stumbled backward, Nikolai giving him a wide berth to better meet the dusty carpet.
Angelo lunged at him, he was usually precise with his attacks, but right then, he was sloppy, scraping his knees on the ground as he straddled his dad.
The first hit was vicious, chipping the tip of the pink dagger on the ground beneath his dad as he stabbed through his gut.
Luis Caddel was screaming in horror, pain, and disbelief, but Angelo couldn’t hear him, his own strangled screams rattling around in his head.
The knives fell one after the other in rapid succession, some catching the Alpha on his arm, his throat, an eye...
Blood went up like a fountain, covering the previous stain underneath them on the dusty carpet.
Luis Caddel had stopped screaming, gurgling as blood filled his lungs, a knife going into his heart.
Angelo’s voice was scratchy, blood had dyed his hair red, and he could taste metal on his tongue. He didn’t stop until his sweater was covered in his dad’s guts, leaving the knives buried in him as he scrambled off, sitting on the ground.
He threw his head back and let out a broken cry, wailing like a lost child, his voice scratchy, shoulders convulsing.
Nikolai was at his side in a heartbeat, and before he could reach out, Angelo was scrambling into his arms, bloody face hiding in his shoulder, crying so hard he nearly threw up.
"He’s gone... H-He’s... gone, Nikolai, gone forever." Angelo said through broken sobs, clutching Nikolai so hard that he ripped his dress shirt.
Nikolai held him through it, uncaring of the dusty, dirty floor, or the bloodied Omega in his arms.
He glanced over at Luis Caddel as he comforted Angelo, cold blue eyes scanning the empty house. It wouldn’t remain empty for long.
He would prefer to take Angelo somewhere safe, but he doubted they would be given that luxury. This was one of the reasons he hadn’t wanted Angelo involved in this.
When Angelo quietened down, he gently lifted the other’s head, needing to look at his face like a last breath of oxygen.
Angelo ducked instead, wiping his face on his clothes like a small animal. "There’s blood in my eyes."
"Let me see," Nikolai murmured, his voice gentle. They were still in the heart of the battleground, but he stopped to take out a handkerchief, carefully wiping the blood off Angelo’s face.
Angelo’s round lips were pouted, a smile fighting through the expression. "You still owe me an explanation." He grumbled, after the overwhelming emotions from the confrontation with his father calmed down, the happiness that came from the realization that Nikolai hadn’t gotten tired of him filled him up.
For a moment, he forgot his fatigue and the scrapes and bruises he had gotten from the fights he had been in.
"That’ll have to wait," Nikolai muttered, glancing out the open door where he could see cars pealing in. "We have company."