Redemption (The Bet) (36 page)

Instead of testifying against him and sending him off to prison, as had been his original plan. Nicholas had come to an agreement with Gordon Bates. As an alternative to ending up in a jail, Nicholas had been content to take Matt's freedom in another way, a lifetime at a mental institute. A fitting punishment for the shit he'd put Ellie through. In the end, Gordon kept his company, under Nicholas
’ unrelenting thumb of course and his son had been saved from doing hard time. Everyone was happy.

T
here was however always a dark cloud looming over Matt's head. He'd learned long ago to never again underestimate him. Nicholas was a dangerous man, far more sinister than his father had been. Grabbing his cane from the ladder, Matt headed to a chair and flopped down. Nicholas was also the reason behind his now deformed leg. His arm hadn't faired too nicely either.

"What do you want to know?"

"Smart man." he sauntered and leaned against the ladder hanging down from the ceiling. "Carlyle," he crossed his arms and began. "Have you heard from him?"

Matt reined in his surprise. "I haven't seen him, he hasn't been here."

"Lying wouldn't be in your best interest."

"I'm not lying! I haven't seen Tony since that day. The last I heard abou
t him was that he was in prison." Matt meet Nicholas's cool stare and sardonically smiled. "Lost a pawn, Nicky?"

"As a matter a fact, yes, Matt, I have lost a pawn, and if I find out you had a hand in aiding him, life will not be too pleasant. I promise you that."

"I told you…"

Nicholas grabbed his phone from his pocket, cutting Matt off. "Grayson."

"We've found something you might find very interesting."

"Be at the location in ten minutes."

"Got it, Sir."

Nicholas flipped the phone shut and returned his gaze to Matt's face. "Remember Matt, with one call, I can turn you into a vegetable," he vacated his spot and headed towards the door. "I'll keep in touch."

Matt watched as the door closed behind him and he couldn't help but rue the day he'd ever met that silver eyed bastard. He regretted ever pulling Nicholas’ drunken ass from that pool that one time so long ago. Had he known then what he knew now, he would've let him drown. Nicholas was just as malevolent as his dead father, if not more so. Charles’s had never concealed his immorality; he had in fact relished it, using it to garner his empire while demoralizing his family.

But Nicholas was far more cunning. Whatever image he projected to the world, no one really knew the sort of man he was. What he was truly capable of. But Matt knew. H
e may have been locked up in a mental asylum, but that didn't mean that he didn't have other ways of getting information about the outside world. Nicholas was his father's son. The Devil’s son and Matt knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill to protect what belonged to him. He'd done it before and he'd do it again.

Tony Carlyle was a dead man walking.

Opening his book a book on Mahatma Gandhi, Matt began to read.

He'd pray for the man's death to be slow and torturous, nothing would do otherwise. The same would apply to his own death when it came.

~*~*~*~

When Nicholas finally arrived a
t Ellie's house it was about ten and nearing twenty four hours since he'd put head to pillow, but sleep wasn't a necessity for the father of two. He was running on nothing but a cocktail of adrenaline and caffeine, it surged through his system and kept him awake, alert. He exited the lacquered import he'd received a week ago, pocketed the keys and hurried up the stone path walkway. It took but only a few minutes before someone answered his knock and Nicholas was surprised to see Maddie's face staring back at him. Appearance wise, she changed quite a bit from the last time he'd seen her, which was a few months after they'd buried their daughter.

There was no love lost between them. They'd been young and they'd both, equa
lly made mistakes, which they’d spent years repenting for. They'd come to grips with what happened and they'd moved on. Forgiveness only came when they realized that it came from no one else but themselves. For Maddie and for Nicholas forgiving themselves was one of the hardest things they'd ever had to do.

"It's been a long time, Nicholas."
Maddie feebly smiled. "Although I wish it were under different circumstances. You look good." She stepped aside and permitted Nicholas entrance.

"I could say the same for you. Traveling suites you."

"Archeology suites me, traveling is just an added bonus." They walked in unison down the foyer and into the living room where Gabe and Ronnie occupied a couch and Ellie's parents occupied another. Devlin was on the phone near the kitchen entrance and Ellie was nowhere to be found.

Upon his entranc
e they all turned to him their expressions reserved, they grudgingly welcomed him. Well, Dina and Ronnie welcomed him. Gabe, Phillip and Devlin simply glowered and grunted some offhanded response that could've probably past as a "hello" if ever in the company of Neanderthals. Unaffected, Nicholas looked about the room for only one person.

As though she understood Nicholas
’s silent inquiry, Maddie turned to him and said, "She'll be out in a second."

As if summoned Ellie appeared seconds later face devoid of color
. Her usual vibrant hazel eyes tinged red, the skin beneath them swollen. She looked weak and seemed ready to fall over. In less than three strides Nicholas was by her side.

"Elle
." To see her in this manner nearly undid him, but Nicholas fought the impulse to pull her wiry frame against his chest and hold her until they both couldn’t stand it.

When she raised her gaze and looked at him,
there was nothing, absolutely nothing that could've stopped Nicholas from doing what he did. He brought his hand behind Ellie's neck, the other around her waist and pulled her to him.

She r
emained inert, arms at her side, mildly in shock.

"I'm here now.
" he murmured. "I swear on my life that I'm going to find them.”

E
llie knew it was wrong to do it. It felt right, but she knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help it. Like releasing a valve, Nicholas's words broke the dam that held back Ellie's tears. She buried his face against Nicholas's chest, dug her hands in his shirt and silently cried.

Nicholas held her, he
ld her so tight, so close that he could feel the rapid beats of her heart.

"You have to trust me, Ellie,"
He cupped her face and raised her head to look at him. "I’m going to get them back. We'll have our kids soon. I won't let you or them down…not this time."

"
Nicky…"

“I’ll find them, Ellie, I swear it.” He whispered fervently, thumbing her tears away. 

Maddie sniffed and swiped her tears away. Her heart ached for Ellie and Nicholas but more so for Devlin, who looked on at the tender display of emotion with tight jaw and fisted hands, face like granite. Only a blind or desperate man could overlook the love between Ellie and Nicholas and there was love there, profound…boundless. It was warm and beautiful and filled her with a sort of joy that conjured her tears.

Maddie
wanted them to be happy, even if a few hearts had to be broken along the way.

Wise enough to know that disaster was imminent,
Maddie walked to her best friend and her ex-lover.

"Come on Ellie, let's get you some tissues." Devlin looked as though he was ready to tackle Nicholas to the ground and smash his head into the carpeted floor.
Maddie gently pulled Ellie away as Nicholas moved to answer his phone.

Nicholas's call was short, and after a few succinct words to the person on the other li
ne, he hung up. "I have to go."

Ellie walked away from
Maddie and grabbed Nicholas's arm before he could leave. "You know something."

Nicholas turned. "Ellie…
"

"Tell me!" She shook Nicholas's arm in agitation.

"I'm taking care of it."

"Don’t you dare shut me out again!”
She forced Nicholas to face her. “You don’t get to do this to me again. You want me to trust you? Well time to earn it. Tell me what you know, Nicky.”

He peered down at her and the expression on her face had him second guessing his practiced w
ords. Intuition told him to lie, lie to protect, even if it meant ending up on Ellie's bad side, at least she would be safe.

Ten years ago, he'd lied to protect Ellie from himself and never had a day gone by that he hadn't regretted that mistake. Ten years of regret, stubbornness and pride had destroyed the only friendship
and love that had ever mattered, that had kept him afloat.

In retrospect, Nicholas knew it had to be done, if he hadn't put distance between the
m, he would've ended up hurting her. He knew he would've mentally tortured her until all the good in her flickered and died. That's how unstable he'd been, how volatile and angry he'd felt.

But now
looking down at Ellie's unsmiling face, behind the veneer of anger Nicholas could see her hazel eyes pleading with him to speak the truth, to help salvage a relationship that he'd believed unsalvageable.

This time, unlike ten years ago, Nicholas took Ellie's offer of salvation.

"My informants have tracked them down to a rundown apartment on the Southside of the city.

"What?" both Gabe and Phillip chorused rising to their feet. "What the hell are we waiting for, let's go!"

Nicholas was the one to grab Ellie's arm this time when she made to walk away, "There's more, Ellie."

Ell
ie's brows creased, "What?"

"
We have good reasons to believe that…"Nicholas hesitated, vacillating with the idea of telling Ellie the entire truth.

"My God, just tell me!" Ellie urged shrilly.

"Tony took them."

Had someone come in and rammed a fist through her chest cavity to yank out her heart, Ellie wouldn't have felt the pain as much as she did just hearing that na
me. She wavered on her feet, but Nicholas’s reflexes kept her from falling. "Ton…Tony" the name was lodged in her throat, refusing to be uttered.

"How did that bastard find them
…us? I thought he was locked up!"

"He was released a few months ago, I wasn't made aware." The man responsible for that fault had paid handsomely for his oversight.

"I'm calling the cops."

"No police! If we are to rescue them, the local PD is the last thing I need right now; I'm going to take care of it."

"You're going to take care of it?" Devlin mocked. "And just how exactly are you going to do that, Grayson? Up to something you wanna let us in on?" Standing toe to toe with him, Devlin met Nicholas's stare and sneered, "Or are you going to fuck this up like you've done so many things in your miserable life?"

"Dev that's enough…
"

Disregarding his fiancée's warning, Devlin continued, like a rabid dog.
"The only reason why you're even here is because Ellie doesn't have the heart to throw you out like the trash you are. We don't want you here, we don't need you here. You and your shady informants can fuck off."

"What hurts you more
, Westport? The fact that I had her first and ruined it for you, or that she'll never be satisfied with a very poor and inadequate substitute?" the punch was unexpected or maybe it was and Nicholas just felt that it'd been worth it just to finally see Devlin snap.

The force of it pushed him back a few steps and running his tongue on the inside of his cheek, Nicholas was glad to feel that he wouldn't be paying his dentist a visit anytime soon. However, the coopery taste in his mouth wasn't something he particularly liked.

"Are you both going to pee on me now? Or is this the part when one of you knocks me over the head with a club and drags me off to your cave? Please tell me, so that I know which of you to blame when something happens to my children, while you're both acting like assholes." Ellie stared between both men, the expression on her face, murderous.

"Ellie…
" Ellie shrugged off Devlin's hand with a glower.

She turned to Nicholas. "Let's go get them."

Hand messaging the pain from his jaw, Nicholas shook his head. "You're not going. None of you are going,"

Gab
e scowled. "Like hell we're not. Who the fuck…"

"I'm
 going." Ellie cut her godfather off and evenly stared at Nicholas.

"My men are professionals, bringing you all along will only get in their way. That's the reason why I haven't gotten the police involved, doing so would spook Tony and he'll run. You may not like it, but that's how it's going to be. I can't
and I won't risk your safety or the children’, Ellie. This isn't up for discussion." He looked from Ellie's face to everyone else's. "To anyone."

"Listen here, Nicholas…
"

"No, Dad, he's right. We haven't gotten anywhere on our own, if he somehow did find them, then we just have to trust him and do what he says. The kids
will need us when they get home, all of us."