Chapter 6 - Someone Has Been Watching Nomi
The first thing Nomi did after becoming “useful” was make coffee.
The second was tell two dangerous men that their plan was stupid.
Daniel stared at her.
Octavio looked offended.
“You want to enter a private vault facility under your real names?” she said. “That isn’t a plan. That’s an appointment.”
Daniel coughed into his hand.
Octavio turned toward him.
“Something funny?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Nomi placed three cups on the counter.
“Whoever is behind this knows Octavio is suspicious now.”
Daniel nodded.
“They may expect us to investigate the code.”
“Exactly.”
“So?”
“So we don’t.”
Octavio studied her.
“We make them think we haven’t understood it.”
“How?”
Nomi smiled.
“By being predictable.”
Two hours later, Octavio publicly returned to the Ki mansion.
Daniel returned to security operations.
Nomi reopened her tattoo shop.
The goal was simple.
Normal behavior.
Nothing had changed.
Except everything had.
Two men Daniel trusted watched the block from unmarked vehicles.
Nomi hated knowing they were there.
She also hated how comforting it felt.
At 11:15 a.m., her first client arrived.
His name was Trevor, he worked in advertising, and he wanted a geometric fox tattoo on his forearm.
Normal.
Perfectly normal.
Nomi worked for two hours while pretending she had not spent the night uncovering a possible criminal conspiracy.
She was surprisingly good at pretending.
Invisible people usually were.
At 1:40, Trevor left.
Nomi locked the door for lunch.
She checked her phone.
Three messages from Valentina.
One wedding photo.
One photograph of Axel asleep while still wearing plastic Elvis sunglasses.
One message:
WHY IS MY BROTHER NOT ANSWERING ME AND WHY DID HE SAY YOU’RE “SAFE” BEFORE HANGING UP?
Nomi typed:
Long story. Stay in Vegas.
Valentina immediately called.
Nomi declined.
Valentina called again.
Declined.
A third time.
Nomi answered.
“You inherited his persistence.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing I can explain over the phone.”
“Are you in danger?”
Nomi hesitated.
Valentina’s voice changed.
“Oh my God.”
“I’m okay.”
“Because of Octavio?”
“No.”
That was true.
“Because of the family?”
Nomi looked out the window.
A woman walked a golden retriever along the sidewalk.
Two teenagers shared headphones.
Normal city.
Normal afternoon.
“Yes.”
Valentina became silent.
Then she said, “I’m coming home.”
“No.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
Nomi almost laughed.
“Congratulations. You’re officially your brother.”
“Take that back.”
“Stay in Vegas tonight. Please.”
Valentina heard the please.
“Tomorrow.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Nomi?”
“Yes?”
“If my brother gets controlling…”
Nomi smiled faintly.
“I can handle him.”
Valentina snorted.
“That’s what scares me.”
After the call, Nomi turned.
A small white envelope lay beneath the shop door.
Her smile disappeared.
She had not heard anyone approach.
She put on gloves.
Inside was a photograph.
Nomi sleeping.
Not recent.
Her bedroom.
Taken through the window.
Her stomach turned.
There were more.
Nomi buying groceries.
Nomi leaving the train.
Nomi sitting with Valentina.
Nomi unlocking the tattoo shop.
Dates were written on the back.
The oldest was from seven months ago.
Someone had been watching her long before New Year’s Eve.
Nomi immediately called Octavio.
He answered on the first ring.
“What happened?”
No hello.
Of course.
“I received something.”
“I’m coming.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
“I know.”
He arrived eleven minutes later.
Nomi almost pointed that out.
His face stopped her.
Octavio examined every photograph.
His anger was frightening precisely because he did nothing with it.
No shouting.
No threats.
He simply became quieter.
“They started before the drawing at your apartment,” Nomi said.
“Yes.”
“So they already knew I mattered.”
“Or believed you had seen something.”
“Seven months.”
Octavio turned over another photograph.
Nomi noticed his fingers tightening.
“You cannot control what already happened.”
He looked at her.
“I know.”
That surprised her.
“You actually know?”
“I’m learning.”
She leaned against the counter.
He looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Something older.
“You think this is your fault.”
“Yes.”
“It isn’t.”
“My world reached you.”
“Your world existed whether you looked at me or not.”
He stared at the photographs.
“My mother used to say fear makes men either cruel or foolish.”
“What did it make your father?”
“Both.”
“And you?”
His gaze lifted.
“I’m trying to find out.”
Nomi did something impulsive.
She touched his hand.
Not romantic.
Not exactly.
His fingers stopped tightening.
Octavio looked down at their hands.
Then at her.
Nomi felt the air change.
She pulled away first.
“Coffee?”
“Terrible coffee?”
“The worst.”
“Yes.”
They drank it behind the counter.
For ten minutes they discussed nothing important.
Then Octavio noticed the drawing on Nomi’s wrist.
Not tattooed.
Ink pen.
A tiny open eye.
“What is that?”
“I draw it when I need to remember something.”
“What?”
“That seeing isn’t the same as understanding.”
He looked toward the photographs.
“You understood more than most.”
“Not enough.”
Octavio reached for her wrist.
Slowly.
Giving her time to refuse.
She didn’t.
His thumb rested near the inked eye.
“You understand me.”
Nomi’s breath caught.
“I barely know you.”
“You know things nobody else says.”
“That could mean everyone else is afraid of you.”
“They are.”
“You say that like it’s convenient.”
“It often is.”
“And lonely?”
His expression changed.
There.
A crack.
Nomi saw it.
Octavio released her wrist.
His phone rang.
Daniel.
Octavio answered.
“Yes.”
He listened.
“When?”
Another pause.
Nomi watched the transformation.
“Where is Vincent?”
A pause.
“Keep him there.”
Octavio hung up.
“What happened?”
“The vault code was accessed.”
“By Vincent?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Octavio turned the phone toward her.
A security image showed a woman at the private vault entrance.
Elegant.
Silver-haired.
Nomi recognized her instantly.
Rosa Alvarez.
The woman who had helped them escape.
Nomi’s stomach dropped.
“No.”
Octavio’s expression had become unreadable.
“Rosa accessed my father’s archive twenty minutes ago.”
Nomi shook her head.
“She saved us.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe she’s helping.”
“Maybe.”
“But you don’t believe that.”
Octavio put on his coat.
“I believe everyone gets one chance to explain.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
His eyes became cold.
“Then I finally know how deep this goes.”
Nomi grabbed her leather jacket.
“You’re not coming.”
She stared.
Octavio sighed.
“Strongly advising.”
“Better.”
“Nomi.”
“I’m involved.”
“You’re also being watched.”
“So are you.”
He looked as though he wanted to argue.
Instead:
“Stay beside me.”
“That sounds suspiciously like an order.”
“It’s a request.”
Nomi smiled slightly.
“Then ask properly.”
Octavio stepped closer.
His voice lowered.
“Please stay beside me.”
Her pulse jumped.
“Fine.”
Neither noticed the car across the street pull away.
Neither saw the man inside send a photograph.
But twenty minutes later, Vincent Ki received it.
Nomi and Octavio.
Standing close.
Looking at each other.
Beneath the image was a single message.
HE HAS A WEAKNESS NOW.
Vincent stared at the photograph.
Then smiled.
Because after months of trying to understand how to control Octavio Ki, he finally believed he had found the answer.
He had no idea he had mistaken Nomi Marino for something she had never been.
May you like
Weak.
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