TWO
NICKOLAS
I climb the stairs, my arms flexing beneath the suit I have on and my teeth grating against themselves.
I am here for my doe eyed, spoiled angel; the one who had rejected me when I was nothing. Who had run out on me and into her father’s arms because I had had nothing to offer
I am here to shatter her world and boy, am I going to have fun while I do this?I am stopped at the entrance of the mansion which is of course something I had anticipated and so I flip out my police ID, my eyes showing feigned boredom.“You are not on the guest list” The man muttered, staring at the name.“Obviously… Martinez” I respond, peering at the name tag on the man’s shirt. “Who invites a police man as a guest? I am here on special business with Mr Blake and I am sure he does not want his guests being made aware of the fact that he is meeting a cop.”I take one step towards the man, crowding his space and smiling inwardly at the confused frown on his forehead.Such lax security, I think to himself.I had expected better from Robert Blake but then the man is only good in being corrupt and getting rid of anyone who do not agree to his views.I watch Martinez struggle internally for a bit before he moves his big frame from the entrance, returning my police badge and allowing me in.It is a full crowd with everyone on masks, seeing as it is a masquerade ball. Good thing I had come with a mask of my own, I think again, drawing the mask over my face and scanning the crowd for the one person I am here to see. I wonder exactly how I am going to break the news to her. I want to watch her crumble in front of me, her blue eyes filled with hurt and pain. Then, only then will I be able to get over her rejection of me.I feel a tingle behind me like someone is watching me and so I spun around, my eyes crashing into a certain blue eyes. Her facial features are well hidden behind the mask but I know she is the one… my angel, my princess. The one girl I have never gotten over no matter how hard I try.She is staring directly at me, her eyes surveying my features but I make no move to go to her. I only raise one hand in her direction, grinning when her eyes widen in alarm and she turns away leaving me within the sights of her beautiful back.The low cut dress she is wearing complimented the curve of her waist and the color of her eyes.She has grown well…Nothing could have prepared me for the sight of her; not even my daydreams and nightmares about her could have steadied me against the onslaught of fond memories; memories which are now threatening to break loose from where I have had them chained over the years.My eyes continue to follow her across the room, stopping when she reaches a man who wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her square on the lips.I can feel the blood pound in my veins as I watch them, so close to each other and the man’s hand resting just above her ass.I had made my investigation on the family before coming here and there had been no mention of this man anywhere.
I grab a glass from a waiter and approached them, stopping when I am close enough that I can hear the conversation between them.
“I did not ask you to be here, Edward” She says under her breath.“Your father requested my presence and there is no way I can say no to Robert Blake” The man replies, laughing slightly much to my distaste.“That is precisely the problem; maybe you should make your passes or date my father instead of me. What do you think?” She snaps, smiling as she does so.Before the man had the chance to reply to her jab, a sultry music came on which signified that there will be dancing.I take a hurried step towards her, clearing my throat so that she notices my presence.
“Can I have this dance, mi Senora?” I murmurShe stills for a moment, her eyes searching my face and I can almost see a flash of recognition in their depths.“Sure” She answers, placing her small hand in mine.I take a sharp breath as my nostrils catch a whiff of her perfume
She is still wearing this scent, I realizeIt Is one I had given her when we were teenagers. I could remember saving up for the perfume, scrapping up every coin I could find just so I could buy something befitting my princess.“Do I know you?” She queries, interrupting my thoughts.“Why would you say so?” I counter“I don’t know but there is something quite familiar about you”“I am sure you meet a lot of people, Senora Lily” I dismiss.It is not yet time for me to reveal himself to her; I want to watch her crumble… only then will I stand over her in triumph.“Yes, I guess I do meet a lot of people but none of them ‘Senora’s me; none except…” her voice trails off at the same time the music did.I continue holding her close for longer than I should and only stepped away when a voice announced.“Can everyone take off their masks now”I flip the ropes behind my mask at the same time that she did, pausing a bit so that she has taken off hers completely and I can finally see her face.The very same face that had kept me up in the nights and kept me going in the day.She is staring up at me, waiting for my mask to fall away and so I let it slide down, my eyes pinned on hers.I hear the gasp escape her lips and smiled, bowing slightly in mockery.“Nickolas Torres, at your service” I growl, our eyes meeting again.THREENICKOLASI could almost laugh at the shock on her face and the way her mouth had fallen open at the sight of me. She always did have such expressive eyes and I could tell now what she was thinking as she continued staring at me.“Nick” She breathesI feel her words hit me smack in the face as I try to maintain the composure I had entered into the party with.I am not about to fall apart just because she had called my name. I remind myself that I am just here for a job and then revenge; I cannot afford to swoon at the sight of her.“Hey Lily” I respond, my voice hoarse.I grin to cover up the rawness I had not expected to feel at the sight of her.“How are you?” I ask her“How are you here, Nick? What are you doing here?” She mutters, her eyes darting all over me even as the event continued around us. The smile disappears from my face as I stand up straighter, towering over her and watching her like she is prey; because that is what I wanted her to be. “I can now afford to be
FOUR LILY “What is he doing here?” my father questioned as soon as he stepped down from the podium and walked into the room backstage; after he had had to shake Nickolas’ hand. He is livid with rage as he turns on me while I twirled my fingers in anxiety. He hates when I do that and although the doctor had said it was a result of anxiety, he still hated it. No child of his should be anxious; he was Robert Blake! A multibillionaire and there wasn’t anything in the world that scared him. “Lily, is that Nickolas?” My mother asked “Yes” I respond, not saying anything more. I had made no mention of us meeting at the party or dancing earlier because I could hardly wrap my head around the fact that he was back in my life after leaving me. I smile bitterly as I remember waking up that morning and having my father tell me that I wasn’t going to see him anymore because he had offered him money to leave and he had taken it. So much for the promises of forever and even though we had only
FIVENICKOLAS“Come with me” The man who had come up behind me mutters. After the scene with Lily where she had run out after shooting me a glance; I had been thinking about how hard it was going to be to break the news to her about what her parents had done. The truth about her and the crime they had all committed. I had been so sure I wanted to break her, to see her crumble but right now after staring into eyes that had not changed since the last I looked into them. Eyes that held all the sorrows in the world when she wasn’t acting like her mother, I was reconsidering my position in the truth I was about to reveal. “Why?” I query“What?” the man respondsHe appears very confused at my question. “Why do I need to come with you and where exactly are we going?” I repeatI see the man’s eyes darken dangerously before he leaves me, no doubt to go and report to Robert that I am proving difficult. I recline in my seat; my thoughts are soon justified as Robert heads in my direction wi
CHAPTER SIXLILYI swear as she glance at the clock in front of me.I had gotten Nickolas’ number from the form he had had to fill for the donations and I know I should just leave him a message concerning our plans but I want to hear his voice.I should not be doing this? I say to myself.But who am I kidding? I have not had a goodnight sleep since I saw Nickolas at that party. Since the mask fell from his face and I was left staring into the eyes of the boy I had been in love with. He had changed a whole lot since I last saw him. For instance, his eyes used to be filled with love for me; his dark eyes intense upon me like I was the one thing in the world that he cherished but that night, he had stared at me like I was prey and he was about to rip me open.I had looked into those eyes and had not seen the boy I had fallen in love with but the man he had become and all that I wanted to ask at that point was why he had left me?After all his promises; why he had taken my father’s mone
CHAPTER SEVENLILY“I got here as fast as I could after your call came in, what is going on inside?” I say to my mum as she runs to meet me at the steps to the entrance of the house.“I do not know but they are all inside. They said they want to search the house or something.” I can see the frustration on my mum’s face as she is speaking.We keep walking into the house and the closer I got, the louder the voices were that were in the house. My father’s voice being the loudest; I could recognize it anywhere.“You have no right to walk into my house and accuse me of this nonsense. Do you know who I am? I am Robert Blake. I can end you and your career before it even begins.” I can hear him bellowI turn into the sitting room to see two young men all dressed up in black suits.“Sir, we are just doing our jobs. An embezzlement case was raised against you and we are just here to investigate its authenticity.” the one on the right says with so much conviction. The expression on my father’s
CHAPTER EIGHTNICKOLASI knock at the door again, this time a bit louder just to make sure I am heard this time if I was not, the last time. I hear faint movement from inside and someone approaching the door.“Who is it?” a female voice from inside asked.“Nicko,” I answer back.I hear as the bolts on the door come undone and the door swings open. The woman emerged from the door with her frame greeting me.“I had not expected to see you today, detective.” She smiles, her face lighting up.Neither had I. I had not planned this little meet up but then again I felt I needed to give her an update on how everything was going.“I was in the neighborhood so I thought I would just pop by and talk to you in person. Can I come in?” I request“Oh where are my manners, please do come in” she says as she moves her tired frame out of the way. Her age was definitely beginning to show in her movement. “What can I offer you?”“Nothing really.” I can feel my throat protest to this so I rephrased “Maybe
CHAPTER NINELILYMy mother is furious as she shouts at the officer stationed at the desk immediately we walk in. The car ride here had not been a pleasant one at all. She had kept on screaming and cursing Nickolas for everything. I honestly want to believe he has nothing to do with all this but ever since he showed up things have gotten out of hand and it is not difficult to imagine that he might be behind it seeing as he is not exactly a fan of my family.First it is the two detectives this morning and some hours later police men had barged in, breaking down the door to whisk my father away. This time they had a warrant to back it up.“Who can I talk to?” I ask the male cop that mum continued to yell out, I had succeeded in turning her out since the car ride.“There is no one you can talk to right now, once there is I will direct the person over to you but for now you should take your seat over there.” he gestures towards a row of benches.“After all the donations we have made towar
CHAPTER TENNICKOLASI watch the glass cup that was just in my hand a few seconds ago bounce off the wall and come crashing down in tiny pieces all across the floor. The anger I feel in my soul at this very moment can burn up a room and of course it was caused by her, I mean who else could make me feel this way. Fourteen years down the line and I still hated her just as much as I did the first time I realized what she had done. If anyone told me I would have this much hatred for Lily when we first met I would have blatantly denied it because She was the first person that made me feel the word “love”. I remember the day I first ran into her like it was yesterday.The weather was so cool that afternoon, the sun was at the right height in the sky and everything felt good. I decided to accompany my dad that day for one of his meetings, he told me he would be delivering something at a house and I would just wait for him then we could go and grab ice cream afterwards.The house we drove i