บททั้งหมดของ CRAVING THE BAD BOY: บทที่ 91 - บทที่ 100

Nick POVI had not slept. Not even for a second. My eyes burned, my head ached, but I could not rest. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it again. Ariana. Her face. The way she looked at me the last time we spoke. And now…She had seen everything. The proposal. The video. There was no going back from that. I sat on the edge of my bed, my phone in my hand. I had tried calling her. More times than I could count. No answer. I sent messages. No reply. She had cut me off. And I could not even blame her.A knock came on my door. “Come in,” I muttered.My manager stepped inside, looking serious. “We need to talk.”I let out a dry laugh. “When do we not?”“This is not a joke, Nick.”I rubbed my face. “I know.”He walked closer and dropped a file on the table. “The situation is getting worse.”“I can see that.”“Your engagement helped a little, but not enough.”I frowned. “What do you mean?”“The media is digging deeper.”My stomach tightened. “How deep?”He hesitated. “Deep enough to start as

94 - No way out.Nick POV"Going somewhere?"The voice came from above us, calm, almost amused. I looked up slowly. A man stood at the top of the stairs, one hand resting on the rail, the other in his pocket like he had all the time in the world.Ariana’s grip on my arm tightened. "Nick…" she whispered."I see him," I said quietly.My mind was moving fast now, too fast. Front blocked. Back blocked. No clear exit. We were trapped. The man beside us, the one who brought Ariana here, stepped slightly back, like he was thinking. Like he was calculating something."Who is that?" Ariana asked.No one answered. Because we all knew this was bad. The man upstairs took a slow step down. Then another. Each step echoed. Loud and controlled."You made this harder than it had to be," he said.I clenched my jaw. "What do you want?"He smiled slightly. "Straight to the point. I like that."Another step down. Ariana shifted closer to me. I could feel her fear now. Real fear. And that made something in

Nick POVThe door burst open. Loud, hard, like it was never meant to stay closed. Everything stopped for a second. Then...voices. "Don’t move!"Ariana flinched beside me. My grip on her arm tightened without thinking. Three men stepped into the room. Big, serious, not here to talk. My heart started pounding again. This was worse than I thought, much worse. "Hands where we can see them," one of them said.I slowly raised my hands. Ariana hesitated, then did the same. The man from the stairs didn’t move. He just stood there, watching like this was all part of the plan. "You set this up," I said to him.He didn’t deny it. That told me everything. "You walked into it yourself," he replied calmly.I clenched my jaw. Ariana whispered, "Nick… what is happening?""I’ve got you," I said quietly.Even though I wasn’t sure that was true. One of the men stepped closer. His eyes moved between us. Then stopped on me. "Nick, right?"I didn’t answer. He smirked slightly. "Yeah. That’s you."Ariana lo

Nick POVMy head was still spinning. The pain had not left. It sat heavy behind my eyes, like something pressing from the inside. Every time I tried to move, the rope around my wrists tightened, cutting into my skin.I forced myself to stay still. Panicking would not help. Thinking would. I looked around slowly. The room was big, cold, empty, with concrete walls, no windows. Just one metal door. Closed. Locked. Of course. I let out a slow breath. "Okay… think."But my thoughts kept going back to one thing. Ariana. The way she looked when they took me. The way her voice broke when she said my name. My jaw tightened. She was not supposed to be part of this. None of this was supposed to touch her. But it already had. And I had a bad feeling it was only going to get worse.The door opened. The sound echoed. Slow and heavy. I looked up. The same man walked in. Calm. Like nothing had changed. Like I was not tied to a chair in a place I did not know. He shut the door behind him and leaned ag

Nick POVEverything broke at once. The door slammed open and new men rushed in like they owned the place. They were not calm like the others. They were loud, rough, and ready to fight. You could see it in their faces. You could feel it in the air.This was not a conversation. This was trouble. Big trouble. I sat up straight in the chair, my wrists burning from the rope. My eyes moved fast, taking everything in. The first group of men stepped back slightly. That alone told me everything. They did not expect this. That meant things just got worse. Ariana moved closer to me. I could feel her fear again, strong and real."Nick…" she whispered."I’m here," I said quietly.Even though I didn’t know how long I could keep that promise. One of the new men stepped forward. He was tall, built, and his eyes were cold. He looked around the room slowly, then stopped on me."So this is him," he said.No one answered. The first man spoke after a second. "This doesn’t concern you."The new man laughed