Redemption (The Bet) (17 page)

“I would’ve been a father to them, Ellie.” 

“Did you even know how?” the moment it left her mouth Ellie instantly regretted it wishing it back proved futile.

He looked at her as if she’d struck him. “That’s below the belt.”

“Nicholas, I’m sorry.” She went to him because she couldn’t bear not to, but he took a step back from her, shielding himself from her.

“An eye for an eye, right, Ellie? I broke your heart, you break my will.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t…”

"Do you have any idea
what it’s like to look at those children--my children and not even know when their birthdays are? To look at them and wonder what their first words were or even how they began to walk? You can't even begin to comprehend the agony of hearing Dylan say that I'm not his father?”

Ellie gasped as Nicholas advanced on her, grabbed onto her arms with the desperation of a madman. "
It hurts to the bone.” He grounded out. “How could you keep them from me?”

Ellie’s heart broke all over again, shattering at her feet when she saw the evidence of tears in dove gray eyes. Anguish punched through his anger to flay at her and bit her lip to keep her own tears at bay. “I’m sorry, Nicholas. I truly am. I was only trying to protect myself.”

“From me.”

“Yes, from you.”

Relinquishing his hold as if scorched, Nicholas stepped back. The tension in the room kindling to their burning match.

"Ellie?" the door opened and Miranda stepped through, not too far behind her Devlin, Dina and Sonya followed. They entered the room and assessed both occupant
s to see if they'd managed to damage each other.

Devlin lengthened strides immediately took him to Ellie's side and he enveloped her in a brief hug. He pulled back and cupped her face. "Are you alright?" no doubt he was still angry with her for the secret that she'd kept,
but that was conversation for a later date, Ellie had promised him as much. There were many things Devlin knew they had to discuss before they headed for the altar. God only knew how much he adored Ellie, but if the foundation of their relationship was based solely on lies than things would need to change.

She leaned into his touch, taking whatever comfort she could.
"I'm fine. We were just finishing up here."

"We are far from finished, Ellie. You will not keep me from my children again."

Miranda gasped as she looked at her son and then at Ellie. "Children? Ellie what is going on?"

"I don't intend on keeping you away from your children, Nicholas.
You have every right to be in their lives."

"This has gone on for far too long. Now Mr. Grayson we understand the circumstances in which you have found yourself, but please try to understand that nothing will be resolved this evening. This is my son's engagement party and we would like to get back to it. Tomorrow, we will discuss this further." Miranda, always the diplomat, gently tried to allay the situation.

"You can bet on that." Just as torrentially as he had swept in, Nicholas walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

~*
~*~*~

Her mother was going to kill her, of that
Sophie had no doubt. But she needed to see if Nicholas was alright. She’d just gotten him back. There was no way she was going to let him leave again. She dodged through the crowd, making sure to avoid her family, she snuck outside. The valet attendant was in quick showing her where her ‘uncle’ Nicholas Graysons’s car was parked and with Sophie, quick as Bee, hoped in the back seat of the luxury car to wait for him.

The assembly of guests parted ways as they made their way through. Whispered words rang loud and clear, seemingly inconspicuous hand gestures were clearly seen and the gawking eyes of hundreds pierced their flesh like a heated knife through butter. At least that was how Samantha felt as she and Nicholas trekked through the mire of invited guests. Trying to emulate Nicholas’s imperturbable façade was a task for easier said than done. Samantha managed, but only barely, losing her composure when she suspected the guests were looking at her a bit differently now that the cat had been let out of the bag.

She hadn't been there to witness the scene, but her ears worked perfectly well and as deafening as the whispers were, she'd heard everything. Every little piece of sordid gossip slipped from the flapping gums of the matronly to the eager ears of fascinated debutantes and vice versa. Everyone was aware, everyone was flabbergasted, but none as much as Samantha.

She'd been curious of Nicholas's past, enthused to discover what little secrets lay beneath the beautiful exterior of the man she dreamed of one day calling husband. But in all her intricate imaginings, she’d never imagined this. The ex-lover, Samantha had expected, after all, it was Nicholas Grayson. But the tawny haired, bright-eyed children were a stunner.

It was crazy!

The entire debacle was outrageous and yet the cruel, naked truth forced her to believe the impossible. Nicholas had fathered children with this Ellie person and as far as Samantha could tell their relationship hadn’t been a quick one night stand.

From beneath the veil of her mascara laden lashes, Samantha chanced a look and was not surprised to see that tension still lingered beneath the layers of Nicholas's tuxedo. Years of working close to him had made Samantha almost an expert in figuring out Nicholas's moods. Simple little actions spoke volumes in the way he comported himself
but right now she didn't need years of experience to know that his world had been knocked off its axis and the only way he seemed to be dealing with it was withdrawing within himself.

He hadn't sai
d a word since leaving that room he’d disappeared into with his Ex. He'd briefly spoken to his mother, unable to ignore her desperate pleas for answers, Samantha figured, and it was only during that short talk did she manage to understand a little bit of the chaos that had happened.

"N
icholas." She lengthened her strides to match his longer one. "Nicholas," she called again, breathless. "Please stop." Maybe it was the tremor of imploration in her voice that finally put a halt to his hurried steps, or maybe it was the subtle pressure of her hand on his bicep, whatever it was Samantha was glad for it when Nicholas turned around to face her.

"Are you alright?" She knew he had no re
ason to share anything with her. She was after all 
only
 his assistant, but she couldn't just quietly walk beside him and watch him suffer while she did nothing but agonize over the fate of her blistered toes.

"I'm fine." Never had there been a bigger lie told but Samantha allowed him the
luxury of clinging to his pride. He looked like it was the only thing he had left to him. "I'm sorry." He pulled his arm free of her grasp. "I haven't been the best escort." He tried to give her that dashing smile, the one that could light up a couple of football stadiums and melt hearts in the same breath, but it sadly lacked charm.

There was a distinctive chill in the air the moment they stepped outside, Nicholas shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and guided a shivering Samantha into its satin lined comfort. She smiled in thanks and inwardly relished the clinging scent of Nicholas's cologne, realizing that this was as close as being wrapped
up in his arms. "Thank you."

He gave a one shoulder shrug
. "It's nothing." He looked worn, dejected even. Samantha felt for him.

"Look, I know I don't ha
ve the right to be saying this. But I sort of figured knowing you for as long as I have, I think that we've transcended that line between boss and employee and become friends. So, as your friend, I just want to let you know that I'm here for you, Nicholas. No matter what it is you're going through just know that I'll always be around to listen." Nicholas drew Samantha to him as several guests headed their way, artfully avoiding disaster. But before Samantha could delight in the sensation of having Nicholas’s arms around her, their car took exactly that time to pull up to the curb. Nicholas ushered Samantha into the warm interior and closed the door behind them.

As the black Rolls Royce began its ascent up the
curved pathway, he opened his mouth to speak. "I appreciate the fact that you…"And stopped the moment his gaze caught sight of Sophie's prone form nestled against the leather seats.

Samantha followed his gaze and gasped. "Who is she?"

Nicholas did not immediately respond as he approached the slumbering girl, a barrage of questions pummeling his brain. He focused on just one, curious as to why Ellie’s daughter was in the back seat of his town car. "Sophie?" he shook her gently, whispering her name as not to alarm her.

"Sophie? Nicholas, who is she?"

"Someone very dear to me.” He murmured with a smile. "Sophie."

Bleary eyes fluttered open
and upon the realization that it was Nicholas she was looking at, she hastily sat up and nervously grinned at him.

"I'm guessing you probably want an explanat
ion as to why I'm in your car?"

"That would be a start, yes."
He said with mild amusement.

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment a habit that was so reminiscent of her mother, before turning jet black eyes on him. “Are you leaving again?” She asked in a small voice making her sound so much younger than she was. The question tugged at Nicholas’s heart, the emotions on Sophie’s face
doing nothing at all to in making him feel good about himself.

Sweet little Sophie. She’d suffered in all of this.
His relationship with her mother, Nicholas mused bitterly, had taken no prisoners.

“No,” he began. “No, I’m not leaving again. In fact, I think I’ll be sticking around for a very long time.”

Her smile, like before, brightened his otherwise dreary existence and for that small unwitting gift Nicholas was grateful.

“Just don’t leave again, ok? At least not without saying goodbye first.”

He reached over to draw her to him, the embrace comforting them both. “You won’t need to worry about that.”

Samantha witnessed
the scene in silence, awed by this side of Nicholas she’d never been allowed to see. Dread shot through her, aiming for that dream Samantha had clung to for five desperate years now.

Ellie Holbrook and her children were a threat to her dream.

~*~*~*~

Roan Westport had made it a point to dislike Sophie Holbrook. Why? Because she was a spoiled brat
who failed to appreciate all that she had.

Her misbehavior was constantly overlooked.
She was irrational and stupid, quick to interfere in situations that did not concern her. She took advantage of her kindhearted mother and exploited the love she knew would always be there.

No one saw through that angelic 'but I'm a good girl and only want to help' bullshit, but Roan did and soon everyone would see it too.

Sophie did not deserve half of the things she had in her life and her mother's constant devotion was one of them. Roan had wanted Ellie to be his mother since the first time he'd met her. Ellie was kind, patient, loving and caring, everything that his own mother was not. When Ellie and his father began dating, Roan couldn't have been happier. Life had been bliss for the first month, but then Ellie introduced them to her children. Dylan and Isabella, Roan had taken a shine to and vice versa, but the little hellion named Sophie, he’d instantly despised and still it continued to this day.

Therefore as devoted president of the “I hate Sophie Holbrook’ club, it was his duty to expose her for the little rodent that she was.

She was up to something. But what was what he wanted to know. He watched her from the shadows as she climbed into the interior of one the queued cars. He waited for her to get out and when she failed to reappear ten minutes later, Roan did not know whether to run after the car that was now pulling away from the curb or go tell his father and Ellie.

The latter won out. Spinning on his heel he raced for the stairs.

~*~*~*~

“
What the hell just happened?”

Wishing and wishing and wishing, that was all Ellie had done since her life exploded in her face. She was once again left to pick up the pieces one at a time
hoping to salvage a little bit of what she had left.

Devlin was
angry, had every right to be and Ellie felt the brunt of that anger in the small room that had become her confessional. She’d lied by omission, keeping her past with Nicholas private, locked safely away in that dark little place in her heart. She hadn’t thought that she’d needed to tell him that little piece of history. So she’d kept quiet about the whole dirty saga and it now her silence was coming back to bite her in the ass.

Her secrets
were now out in the open for everyone to witness. She’d wronged so many people, had caused so much damage that she didn’t even know where to start the mending process.

“Nicholas and I…
” she began but faltered, needing a moment to find the right words to explain her and Nicholas.

"
How do you even know Nicholas Grayson?" He asked flatly moving over the liquor cabinet to pour himself something solid.