Redemption (The Bet) (39 page)

Bella glared at him and Tony wanted nothing more than to carve her eyes out with a very dull knife, "Anyone ever tell you, you have very ugly eyes?" he turned to Dylan and grasped his chin. "Not you though, you have
Ellie's eyes. Very beautiful…"

There was no warning and with a puzzled expression on his face
Tony wordlessly fell forward, right on top of Bella and Dylan.

~*~*~*
~

Topher pressed his lips together and began to whistle as he took down his rifle, twisted off the silencer and put his equipment back into his violin case. He was left with a bad taste in his mouth, but he wasn't too worried, because Nicholas never failed to make him happy. There was another job awaiting him. One that was far more satisfying than this pitiful excuse of a hit.

He vacated his position on top of the roof soon after, whistling while he made his exit.

Nicholas took the stairs three at a time, his long legs permitting him to do so, until he was in front of the apartment door he knew housed his children. Cyan stepped forward, he and Ginger having arrived moments earlier, he grabbed the doorknob and broke it open.

Bella saw him first and the immediate relief that washed over her prompted Nicholas to run to them.

"D
addy..." her whisper brought about the gazes of her siblings to Nicholas. With Tony's lifeless body pushed off to the side, Nicholas appraised them all, took in Sophie's extensive injuries before making meticulous work of the rest of their bondage.

"Daddy!" Bella enveloped him the very moment she was released, her arms
wrapping securely around his neck. The very action alone almost undid him, but Nicholas knew now wasn't the time to breakdown.

"It's alright,
baby, I'm here now. I'm here now." He glanced at his son and Dylan silently assured him that he was fine. They would talk later. He then glanced at Sophie.

Sophie's smile was small and weak, b
eneath the layers of blood "I...I knew you'd come. I knew you would." Her eyes rolled in the back of her head as she fell finally gave into exhaustion.

"Cyan! Call Jace and tell him to get the car ready,
 now!"

"Yes, Sir." Cyan bent down, ready to pick up Tony's lifeless body, but before he cou
ld the bedroom door burst open, revealing a disturbed blond haired junkie brandishing a gun. His hold on the weapon was shaky at best as he made his way towards them.

"Leave and I'll shoot." He aimed the gun at Nicholas and Bella, his glazed eyes tried to focus and take in the scene. "Fuck" he whined as he finally saw Tony's body, hanging limply from Cyan's s
houlder. "What'd you do to him?" he wavered on his feet the effect of whatever he'd taken taking its toll.

Ginger made eye contact with Nicholas as she quietly crept behind Billy, her Glock aimed at his
head. She silently waited for her signal.

"He's not dead, just asleep. P
ut your gun down and we can talk about this."

Billy's unfocused gaze met Nicholas and he scowled. "I'm not a fucking moron! God! I fucking knew this shit was going to end bad! I'm not going back to jail! I'm not!"

Nicholas disengaged himself from Bella's grip and slowly stood, strategically positioning himself in front of all three of his children and the drug crazed gun wielder. He held up his hands, "Look, I can make it happen. You won't have to go back to prison. Just put the gun down and I'll let you go. Matter of fact, why don't you take the gun with you. Just go."

"Just like that?" he asked skeptically.

"Just like that."

Nicholas had him, he almost had the bastard, but something must've provoked him, because what happened next was completely unexpected. Two guns fired, th
e first bullet pierced through Nicholas’s blazer and perforated the skin beneath. Being shot a second time in his life wasn't as painless as the first. The second bullet, fired from Ginger's gun brought about the end of Easy Billy Sorrento.

"Daddy!"

"Dad!"

Bella and Dylan simultaneously yelled when Nicholas wavered on his feet. He pressed his left hand to his right arm when he realized that he was bleeding far more profusely than he'd expec
ted.

"Sir?"

"I'm fine." He looked down with a wan smile for the twins. "Come on, let's get out of here/" He turned to Ginger. "Bring my, daughter." Ginger did as instructed and together they walked out of the dingy apartment with Grayson held securely in Dylan's arms.

Once outside, with his children safely at his side, Nicholas ushered his children inside
the unmarked car awaiting them. Broderick appeared from the shadows and took Sophie from Ginger's arms. Before he followed behind his children, Nicholas turned to Ginger and Cyan. "Burn it down, leave no evidence."

"Yes sir." Cyan slammed the door to the car shut and watched it drive into the night.

~*~*~*~

The
loss of Isabella Grayson ten years ago had caused Nicholas to develop a phobia of hospitals. So he’d built a small clinic in the East wing of the manor and had it staffed with a small number of the country's best physicians. They were held under the strictest of confidence and were all wise enough to know what would happen if anything were to ever slip out.

Two of those five doctors were now ready and waiting for
Nicholas’s daughter and the minute Sophie was carried in by Nicholas's trusted bodyguard, they set right to work. While they toiled over Sophie's extensive injures, another Doctor appraised the abrasions on both Dylan and Bella's wrists and ankles and checked to see whether they were injured anywhere else. Exhausted from the entire ordeal they fell asleep not too long after, with Bella begging Nicholas to stay with them.

Nicholas couldn't pry himself away even after they'd fallen asleep. He sat in the brocade chair in h
is bedroom, obscured by shadows. He gave his mind a chance to churn. His shoulder had been examined and bandaged and was now healing beneath the layers of white gauze. The bullet having only grazed a nerve it hadn't been as fatal as expected.

He'd been forced to take painkillers to ease the agonizing burn by Dr. Morrison, the only one who knew him well enough to order him about when it came to his health.

Training his granite grey gaze on the immense four-poster bed with the king-sized mattress that ensconced the twins peacefully sleeping on it, Nicholas had to keep reminding himself to blink and breathe from time to time. Otherwise, he'd expire before he even had time to go see how Sophie was fairing.

They were here with him and they were safe. It was a mantra he'd gotten used to repeating over the last two hours. Somehow saying it and seeing them sleeping only a few feet away, wasn't registering ju
st yet. But it would, Nicholas was sure it would. It was simply that his nerves were far too frayed to comprehend anything other than the basics. Sitting there, his mind raced while his body listlessly attempted to keep up, but eventually his eyes drooped shut, his head slackened and his body finally succumbed to the onslaught of fatigue, thirty hours without rest was bound to do that to anyone.

That was how Ellie found him once she'd finished appraising her slumbering children.
He was seated on his chair, hair as black as sin fell across his forehead and curtained his slumbering visage from view. His long legs, encased in a pair of black slacks, were spread opened with his naked feet flat against the Persian carpet. The white linen shirt he wore was slightly open so the she was able to see a sliver of the gauze bandage beneath.

Ellie tentatively approached, careful not to her children and their slumbering father. She stood at a distance and basked in Nicholas slumbering beauty. He looked so peaceful, his face devoid of lines, lips slightly parted, he bore resemblance to a small boy-
--Dylan actually, Ellie remarked.

She'd arrived at the manor approximately half an hour ago, after receiving Nicholas's call and had been greeted by Nicholas's godfather and his wife. Sonya, the first time in having actually made her acquaintance hadn't been at all what Ellie expected of Nicholas's mother. She'd seemed genuinely kind, warm and reminded her in some ways of her own mother
.

They’d
filled Ellie in on what they knew. Which had been namely on the wealth of the children and Nicholas. With the knowledge that the twins hadn't suffered fatal harm, Ellie had asked Sonya to show her where Sophie was. It was there by her slumbering daughter's side that Ellie eventually decided to pull herself away long enough to check on Bella and Dylan.

Once outside of Nicholas's bedroom, Ellie had made sure to wipe any
evidence of tears from her face before entering.

Not knowing what she'd expected, but knowing it wasn'
t a quietly slumbering Nicholas slumped in his chair, Ellie found herself taken off guard at the sight. Unguarded and almost vulnerable in sleep, Nicholas was beautiful. It was a side the typically pragmatic and unflappable man didn't display to the world. Ellie was glad that she could witness this.

Curiosity carried her forward until Ellie stood between his splayed legs. Lifting her arm, she made to brush Nichola
s's unruly fringe from his face but retracted her fingers. But she was unable to help herself as she furtively reached out and touched the dark strands. They felt like silk between her fingers, she'd forgotten how soft Nicholas's hair was. Her indulgence was short lived when seconds later she felt a hand wrap securely around her wrist. With her hammering heart lodged in her throat, Ellie held her breath as dove grey eyes captured her in their unrelenting hold. They were clear and probing, almost as though he hadn't just woken from sleep.

"Nicky." Ellie breathed; t
he utterance of the name far too intimate to her own ears. She attempted to pull away but managed only a peep when Nicholas tugged on her arm. She landed with an oomph on his lap. "Nicky…"

Ellie quieted instantly, words turning to dust in her mouth
when Nicholas buried his face against her neck. She felt the tears before she felt the shudder of his shoulders and Ellie's heart went out to him.

"I'm here, no
w." She echoed back words that had been spoken to her not so many hours ago. She rested her chin on Nicholas's head and held him tightly while he cried.

The silence that surrounded them was comforting, words were unnecessary. They stayed close, Ellie providing comfort and Nicholas resting against her, taking it in like a man starved.

"Hey," Nicholas finally lifted his head from Ellie's wet shoulder and crinkled his nose at the wet spot he'd created. Ellie looked down and back up again, only to meet Nicholas's dark gaze.

"Hey yours
elf," she murmured. "It's feels good not being the one crying."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I'm capable of doing other things besides crying, you know. Like comforting you for one."

Nicholas's smirk disappeared as he stared at Ellie, anchoring her hazel gaze to his. "You're the only who
ever could." Ellie unconsciously leaned into Nicholas's touch as warm fingers caressed her cheek.

"I was worried."

"You always worry." Nicholas whispered.

"You didn't call."

"I'm sorry." Nicholas kept their gazes locked, their foreheads touched.

"You left." Nicholas thumbed Ellie's tears away.

"I'll always come back though." There was meaning, heavy and heartfelt in that one phrase and they knew the gravity of it.

"Yeah," Ellie sighed, letting her eyes flutter shut, "You always come back." She opened her eyes and bit down on Nicholas's lower lip. "You're like a damn rash." Her fingers played with the curls at his nape. "I can't get rid of you. Tell me how to get rid of you, Nicky."

"Never."

Their lips
touched.

"Mom!"

"Daddy!"

They sighed in unison before Ellie sat up from Nicholas's lap. Ever mindful of his fresh wound, she was careful in pulling away from him.

"Bella! Dylan" Ellie enveloped them both in a hug that took all of their breaths away. They both held her just as tightly and sobbed against her shoulder.

"Daddy where's, Sopie? How is she?" Bella pulled away from Ellie's arms at the sight of her father.

The abrupt knock at the door put a halt to Nicholas's response. "Sir," one of the attendants assigned to Sophie's care quietly entered. "Your daughter is awake and has asked to see you."

Giving her a brief nod of acknowledgment, Nicholas nursed his arm to his chest before helping his daughter down from the bed, while Ellie did the same for Dylan. "Thank you." The small family of four made their way out of the manor's master bedroom and began a steady trek to the East wing.

~*~*~*~

Sophie stared outside. From her prone position on the bed she could see the dawning of a new morning, the sun making an ascent to the dark blue sky. For one so young she could say that she appreciated the breathtaking sight and silently took it for what it was. A new dawn meant a new beginning. She was here, safe and healing. The memories of what had transpired were now and forever etched upon her soul, buried deep beneath Sophie's core, hopefully never to surface. All she wanted now was her mom.