Chapter 9Nick had a knot in his belly. What the hell had he been thinking, offering to become the owner of Cellica’s restaurant? He feared he was gonna be sick. Now he couldn’t disappear. He could leave the city, but he couldn’t go underground without getting her in trouble. So stupid.
“What are you worrying about, pup?” Hilda gave him a quick smile.
“Pup? I’m the wicked witch of the west.”
She playfully pursed her lips. “From the west? I thought I detected a southern drawl there.”
“Yeah, but it ruins the alliteration.”
She laughed. “Ah, the alliteration. How old did you say you were?”
“Twenty-two.” Everyone asked his age, and it made him suspicious. “Though, I told Conri I was nineteen.” Was it nineteen? s**t, he’d told him his parents had died when he was fourteen, hadn’t he? They
