NicholasI drove straight home after I left Ellie's place, my mind a jumbled mess of thoughts and unanswered questions. After taking a bath, I decided to take a nap in the hopes that my temples would stop throbbing. Ellie's eyes as she asked me to admit I didn't enjoy having sex with her seemed to haunt me. No matter how hard I tried to push her sorrowful face away, it stayed on the surface of my mind.Her words stuck with me, and I wished I could have said something. Maybe I should have admitted I was wrong for blaming her for something that was equally my doing. Instead, I added fuel to the fire by telling her to make sure I got the results the next day. As she sat down, trembling in her skin, all I wanted was to walk to her and hug her, but for some reason I couldn't."Fuck!" I swore, turning on the bed to lay on my back, head on my crossed hands, and eyes tightly closed. My phone vibrated on the bedside table at that minute. Allan's name flashed on the screen, making me let out a

NicholasMy jaw literally dropped open as Eliana sashayed out of my office without a care in the world about the bombshell she had dropped. My nostrils flared at the amount of skin she was showing, knowing how perverted some of my staff were. I could not imagine men eye-fucking her, let alone approaching her.I had to shake my head to snap my thoughts back into place from the possessive ones that had gripped me. When I said I wanted the results, I didn't expect her to bring them to my office. Hell, how had she even known about my occupation and my company?"You have gonorrhoea?" Lilith screeched beside me, adjusting her top."Shut the fuck up, Lilith!" I dismissed, wondering why I had even called her a fuck considering what happened back at my club."How can I when a schoolgirl just walked in here and blatantly announced she has gonorrhoea?" She threw her hands in the air while pacing around like a confined bear."For the very last time, shut the hell up. In fact, get the fuck out of

Nicholas"Aargh!" I almost threw the phone across the room but instead opted to put it in my pocket."I'm guessing she said no?" Allan spoke with a light laugh that made me growl. It was not a laughing matter, and yet he was seated in my own office chair nonchalantly, relishing in my frustration."Well, what were you expecting? You have dragged her through hell and back." He added, making the upper left side of my mouth twitch."Didn't you tell me feelings make someone forgiving? Weren't you the one who fucking told me she'd listen?" My voice rose as I turned and faced the glass window, running my right hand through my hair."I didn't say it was going to be easy." I heard my leather swivel chair squeaking as he turned around on it. Then he added, "she will make you beg for it; that's what women do, but at the end of the day, it will be worth it." I let out a bitter laugh at his statement, pinching my nose between my thumb and index finger."You really are stupid, Allan. Either that, o

Nicholas"Slow down on the whisky, would you?" Allan snatched the bourbon bottle from me despite my protests."Give it back," I slurred, extending my arm to reach for it across the table where he put it."Water, please?" Allan asked a passing bartender as I glared at him."Give me my bottle, Allan," I demanded yet again. All I wanted was to drown myself in alcohol until my chest felt numb. I was desperate to get rid of the pounding sensation inside my head and the burning one on my chest. Every time I blinked, Eliana's pretty face as she rejected me flashed right behind my eyelids. I needed to push it away, and the only way to do so was by getting shitfaced."You're allowing your feelings to turn you back to the same spot you were seven years ago." I sat upright at his statement, then belched."Shut the hell up!" I warned, pointing a weak index finger at him. Even through the loud music in the high-end club in town, he could hear me, maybe because we were in the VIP section."Someone

Nicholas"Fuck," I muttered under my breath, looking at Ellie as her lips trembled. I was tearing on the inside, overcome with the need to embrace her and apologise over and over. The problem was, I knew she wasn't about to let my hands near her."Good night, Nicholas," she said, but I didn't have it in me to respond. I just stood there as she left for her room, wondering why I had agreed to her mother's crazy request to stay over. I knew she had nightmares, and because my brother had already planned a perfect sleepover with her mother, I agreed to be left with her. I took it as an opportunity to get close to her and mend the broken things between us, but so far it was proving futile."Wait up," I called after shaking my head, reprimanding myself for just watching her go. I jogged after her and caught a glimpse of her ass bouncing as she took the last stair into the hallway."I want to be left alone," she stated in a hushed voice without sparing me a glance."What are you so afraid of