Redemption (The Bet) (16 page)

He turned abruptly towards her face revealing leashed fury. "If you insist. Let us take
this matter to a more private location. The children are to follow." It wasn't made out to be a request and Ellie didn't fool herself into thinking otherwise.

The crowd parted and let them through, their eyes and whispers felt like crawling maggots
along Ellie's sweat dampened flesh and never had there been a time when she wanted a shower more than that moment.

"Nicholas?" She stepped in their path, all pretty blond hair, big concerned violet eyes and a dress
to kill. She was beautiful and terribly besotted with the bane of Ellie's existence.

"Not now!" Nicholas
’ bark caused her to flinch as he swept by her as if she were nothing more than a wraith.

Ellie didn't know who the woman was and in that moment she didn't much care. She held onto Bella and Dylan's hands as though they were her lifelines
, while futilely she wondered whether they would manage to keep her afloat long enough to survive the turbulent storm that was their father.

~*
~*~*~

A few weeks ago he'd been in Japan making hopeless wishes and fantasizing about a world that had seemed unattainable, a world in which the
idea of married life was beyond his reach. And now? Well now, Nicholas was trying to come to terms with the monumental reality of his progeny staring back at him.

With his anger ebbing, shock stood at the forefront of his mind.
There weren't even words to describe what he was feeling. His emotions ran rampant, his mind racing in attempt to understand what was happening. If in fact, 
this
 entire evening was real.

Maybe, Nicholas rationalized, he had imbibed too much cognac the evening before along with a few little white pills and
 this was the aftermath of his stupidity? But then that scenario didn't seem plausible to him considering he’d put a stop to his pill popping days a few years back and hadn't been foolish enough to drink spirits with prescription drugs since then.

So, this
scenario was entirely too real. Wishes of course didn't come true, he was old enough to know that, but this was as real as they came and Nicholas was flummoxed.

Like a fool, he stared
at his children and he knew that he smiled. Like a joyful fool who had just learned of his fatherhood, Nicholas genuinely smiled. He stared at the boy first—Dylan.

Nicholas
had seen pictures of himself at that age. Eight years old and callow to Charles's cruelty. He had only kept his rose tinted glasses on for another summer after that before the disillusionment of the world began to creep in. But his son--the word sounded foreign to him and Nicholas realized that it would take him sometime to wrap his mind around this, around the staggering fact that he not only had a son but a daughter as well.

The only features
Dylan had inherited from Ellie were the hazel eyes, in everything else he was Nicholas from head to toe. Even the way he carried himself. Curious and yet slightly guarded, hair in place, little tuxedo fitted to perfection and eyes a mixture of brown and green stared back at him unapologetically, almost challenging Nicholas.

His
brow furrowed as if he wanted to tell Nicholas to buy a ticket straight to hell and the expression very nearly made Nicholas laugh. If he'd had any doubt before of Dylan's paternity, it was dashed away by the unmasked sneer on that gamin face! In that moment, Nicholas understood what made most father's ruffle their sons' hair, because suddenly his fingers itched to ruffle Dylan's hair.

"You look like him."

Nicholas's heart clenched as he brought his gaze to the beautiful little girl standing beside her brother.

Isabella.

She wasn't his first child, Nicholas knew this and yet he couldn't help but wonder. Would this have been the picture she painted had she survived? Personifying her name right down to the cute button of her nose? Would she have spoken so sweetly as if every word was a gift just for her father? Would this much pride, this much love, have clogged his core if everything had happened differently? Would the windows to her soul have been as innocent and as pure as they were now, staring back at him as though he held the answers to the world's most complex questions?

She wasn't his first daughter and yet looking at her, Nicholas knew in his heart of hearts that this little girl
--the one he and Ellie had created was the true Isabella. She was their daughter, exactly how it should've been. He wanted to reach out and touch her, pull her delicate frame into his arms and inhale the essence of her. Nicholas wanted to assure himself that she was real, real and here in front of him.

They were both real. T
hey were both his and they were both unequivocally the reason for the burgeoning tears in Nicholas eyes. He stood from his knelt position on the floor because the emotions were becoming far too much for him to handle. He hadn't cried in years and yet in just these last weeks, tonight would be the second night in a very long time that he had been brought to tears and only Ellie and now his children had accomplish that feat.

The door to the small sitting room opened behind Nicholas and even before Ellie opened her mouth to speak, Nicholas knew it was her. "I've asked Devlin and his mother to give us some time to talk, before I call them in." Ah yes, the loving fiancé who had swept Ellie off of her feet. A sour taste coated Nicholas's tongue and jealousy, he realized, was not something he did well.

She’d betrayed him so utterly that Nicholas did not know if he could forgive her for that. The fury from before rose anew from the very depths of his soul to spread like a dense fog through his entire being. As much as it pained him to do so, he reined in that fury, unwilling to put it on display in front of the children he hardly knew.

"Thi
s has nothing to do with them." He said curtly. Cordial was the last thing he wanted to be, but he made an effort.

He watched her,
stalking her every movement as she headed to her, no—their children. He’d been stunned when he’d seen her in the arms of Devlin Westport. There had been no doubt in Nicholas’ mind that it’d been her. The distinct dragonfly tattoo he’d branded her with had given her away immediately. She hadn’t been an illusion and she’d looked so good that his very first instinct had been to have her in his arms. The kiss had been on impulse and just as he knew he would, he’d instantly craved for more. But then reality had set in and now Nicholas teetered on the edge of blind fury and aching need for the woman who had hurt him so thoroughly.

"Hey you two," she seemed to have gained a knack for ignoring him. "
Your Nan and Sophie are waiting outside for you guys."

"But
, Mom…"

"Dylan this is not the time to be testing my patience, now do as I say and go."

"Bella says he's our father. Is he our father?" his obstinate gaze meet hers, something in them begging her to refute the question.

This hadn't been the way Ellie had
planned on telling them. And she had planned on telling them, it’d just never been a good time. "Yes," she said finally. Ellie knelt between her two children and looked at Nicholas. Beyond the shadow of anger, pain contorted handsome features as he poignantly gazed upon Bella and Dylan.

She’d done this, Ellie thought morosely.

"Nicholas, I want you to meet Isabella and Dylan, your twins." The guilt and sorrow consumed Ellie like a tidal wave. She hadn't meant to do this out of spite. Back then, after all she’d experienced with first Tony and then Nicholas, all Ellie had wanted to do was protect herself.

The last thing she’d wanted or even needed was for Nicholas to be around her when he’d so soundly stated that he’d wanted nothing to do with her. And so for her own peace of mind, for her own sanity, she’d kept the only thing that reminded her of their love selfishly to herself. And now she regretted it, more than anything Ellie regretted this.

"Bella, Dylan, this is your father, Nicholas Grayson."

Almost like the day he had been introduced to Sophie, Nicholas approached the huddled figures on the carpet and dropped to his
knees. It was awkward and frightening all at the same time. His heart raced at the rate of an Olympic sprinter and Nicholas found it peculiar how quickly he could cut down men twice his age in boardrooms without a second thought to nerves or fear and yet here and now in front of these little ragamuffins, he felt like a hunter confronted by a predator far bigger and far hungrier than himself and sadly he was without his shotgun.

"Hello," he said gruffly
. "It's an honor to meet you both." His words fell from his lips like the sluggish downpour of molasses. Nicholas held out his right hand, his gaze caught the small tremors passing through his fingers and it hit him, struck him blind as he understood the magnitude of the situation. He understood exactly what this moment, what this introduction meant and lord help him if he feel like weeping.

"Nicholas?"

His eyes wavered and found Ellie's own and in those luminescent hazel depths, Nicholas searched and found hope. It was a flicker, barely brighter than a Dollar mart candle, but flicker it did and it was the only hope that Nicholas needed. As angry as he might’ve been with her, they’d created these children. Dylan and Bella were theirs and whether she liked it or not, they now and forever shared a bond.

"I'm fine.
" he finally reassured.

Bella
drew away from Ellie’s side and approached him. "Does this mean you're going to stay with us now?" she guilelessly inquired of him.

"If that's what you want." Of course now that he knew of them, nothing on God's green earth would keep him away from his children
.

She nodded, tawny ringlets bobbing. "Yes, I'd want that very much. Isn't that cool Dylan? We'll have two dads now!' her enthusiasm did not live a long life as her brother glared at her and then turned a glower that had taken Nicholas years to perfect on him.

"I don't care what anyone says, he's not our, Dad." He seemed so firm in that belief.

"Dylan…
" Ellie began, but was shut off by his daughter's loud cry of.

"He is
 
too
 our dad!"

"No he's not! Devlin's our Dad!" Ellie
heard Nicholas's indrawn breath and felt the verbal slap just as deeply.

"Alright you two, that's enough. I want you to go outside and wait with your sister, now." Dylan glared first at Ellie, then at Nicholas and finished off with his sister. He walked away with all the affronted pomp of a Grayson brat and Nicholas did not know whether to feel proud or ashamed.

"I'm happy you're back," Bella’s smile eased the constricting ache around Nicholas's heart. Her simple words of welcomed acceptance dulled the rejection of his other child. Hesitantly she moved into Nicholas's arms. Slim arms diffidently wrapped around his neck, her head fell softly against his cheek. "Can I call you, Daddy?" her hushed inquiry broke the dam and the tears came silently. He did not permit them to fall and that in itself was no small feat.

"Yeah," he choked out, his eyes meeting Ellie's over her small sh
oulders. "You can call me, Daddy." He pulled away and brought his hand to her downy soft cheek.

“Ok
, babe, out with you. Go and find your brother and sister." Ellie shooed her away after one last hug for Nicholas.

The closing of the door brought about a silence wrought with scalding bitterness. He stood at length, a flicking glance from diamond
hard eyes overflowed with contempt. “You were pregnant the night you came to see me.” he stated.

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t bother to tell me.” 

“No.”

“Why?”

“I…
” she faltered, uncertain of her reasoning now. “I…I didn’t know how.” She said weakly.

“You didn’t know how.” He mocked, eyes blazing, he approached.  “Ten years, Ellie. Jesus Christ! Ten fucking years and this is how I find out that I have children! After all that happened with
Maddie, you’d think…” he trailed off, turning away from her. He raked a hand through his hair and cursed, then speared her with those diamond hard eyes. “Did you ever plan on telling me?”

Ellie couldn’t think let alone speak
in that moment and he took her silence as answer, condemning her further.

“Christ, Ellie.
I didn’t know you could be so cruel.” He soberly whispered.

“I’d wanted to tell you. I wrote you so many letters, so many times, every day that I was pregnant, I wrote you.” She said fervently, her hands on her chest, pleading for him to understand. “But you hurt me so deeply, Nicholas, so damn deeply, that I couldn’t even look at you. I know it’s no excuse, but you have to understand. We went through so much, Tony…you…I just couldn’t do it anymore. You said you didn’t want me, the babies
were all I had left of you.”

“I would’ve been there.”
He said stonily.

“And you would’ve resented us later. You were hell-bent on breaking us up, determined to destroy not only yourself but me as well. I
f I’d stayed, if I’d told you…”