"Are felicitations in order, Ellie?" There was nothing genteel in the way he acted in that moment. Decorum had taken a much needed vacation and all that was male pride reigned supreme. His breath was like liquid fire against Ellie's cheek, deceptively languid eyes focused and perforated. "You'll have to forgive me. I didn't bring a proper engagement present for you." He derided. He leaned close, lips barely touching in kiss. "But let's improvise, hmm?"
The kiss, dear the heaven, the kiss was detrimental. And her body quivered appallingly in response. He kissed her with masterful precision, melting Ellie’s bones and erasing all her thoughts. There were years of unbridled passion infused in the sweep of his warm tongue, in the way his large hands roamed her body. It was a kiss that held so much meaning. It was Ellie and Nicholas, cocooned for a moment in this full bodied fever that consumed them completely.
He still knew her. Knew how to incite a response from her and Ellie groaned and quivered in his arms as he mercilessly staked his claim. That was what he was doing, staking his claim on a woman who as much a part of him as he was of her. And the embarrassing thing was how appallingly receptive she was to his claim. Clinging to him with desperation, her body yielding so completely.
"St…Stop..." She wrenched her mouth away in anguish, heart racing painfully against her chest. Ellie felt wanton, every inch of her waited in anticipation of what that kissed promised.
“God, Ellie, you don’t know how much I’ve missed that.” He huskily murmured, his hand framing her face, thumb gliding over her kissed bruised mouth. “I’ve missed you…”
“You bastard.” She vehemently whispered, using every ounce of strength she possessed to push him away from her. “Don’t for one second fool yourself into thinking this kiss meant anything. In fact, let me be completely honest here and say that you have absolutely nothing on Devlin.”
His jaw tightened and for a moment Ellie rejoiced in the fact that she’d touched on a raw nerve.
"Tell me, Ellie," he countered smoothly, the emotion he’d displayed gone now. “Does he know about us?”
She scoffed. “You’d have to mean something for me to talk about you. And let’s face it, Nicky, you haven’t been a thought for a very, very, long time.”
"That's too bad, because there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't thought of you." he said carefully, reaching out to touch her crimson cheek. “Your emotions are showing, Elle.”
She smacked his hand away. “Whatever business you have to discuss, I advise you to keep it strictly between you and my fiancé. And while you’re at it, do me a favor and go to hell.” She walked away then before anymore words could be exchanged.
She was shaking, every part of her rattled from the encounter. She was grateful that her legs were able to carry her away without incident. She lengthened her strides, eager to escape him and the agonizing emotions he’d forced to the surface. Ellie wouldn’t be persuaded she wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for the unbridled magnetism. Matter of fact, she’d do well to steer clear of Nicholas Grayson altogether. There was nothing there but bad memories and…
“Mom, we’ve been looking all over for you!” Bella came running. Mindless of the overzealous crowd, she fought her way through the throng until she reached her mother.
She looked exceptionally pretty tonight, with bouncing curls and smiling face. She’d picked out her own outfit the week before, a dark red cocktail dress with a large bow in the back and black Mary-Jane’s to match. The ruby bracelet Devlin had gifted her still thankfully wrapped around her wrist.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Ellie hugged her close, running a hand through her curls.
Bella tilted her head back to stare at her mother’s flushed face. “Are you sick, Mom? Your face is all red.”
Ellie gave her a halfhearted smile. “No, sweetie, I’m just a little hot. Where are your grandparents?”
"Nana’s with Sophie and…Mom there’s a strange man looking at us.”
Ellie bit the inside of her cheek so hard that the coppery tang of blood coated her tongue. In her mind she screamed and howled, but on the surface she forced herself to keep her composure. It wouldn't do for everyone to come to the conclusion that Devlin Westport was marrying a lunatic.
Ellie wouldn't allow Nicholas Grayson to ruin her life again. After so many years of heartache, she'd finally found happiness and true to nature, Nicholas came in with his charismatic exterior, dimpled smiles, heated looks and stupid, stupid kisses and suddenly Ellie’s life was a mess.
For ten long years, Ellie had kept the paternity of the twins all to herself, with Ronnie, Gabe and Maddie the only ones who knew the truth. There'd always been heaviness in her heart because of the burden she'd carried. During the first few months after the twins had been born, she’d sat alone in her room to pen letter after letter to Nicholas. In each she’d written of her desire to be a family. She'd written that she would forgive him everything if he would only come back to her.
Each letter had been the same, ran along the same pitiful yearning of lost love and each time her eyes had never remained dry. Putting pen to paper had helped Ellie write her feelings away, sealed her love for Nicholas in hundreds of envelops, now locked and hidden deep in her closet, never to be seen by the person they were meant for.
He’d hurt her so severely, practically ruining her for anyone else. But she’d never meant to keep this secret for so long. What she’d done, keeping the twins away from their father was by far the most selfish thing she could’ve ever done. Ellie could admit her mistakes and by no means made excuses for them. Ten long years, despite what Nicholas had done, was still ten long years without knowing of his children. She’d agonized over this for countless sleepless nights too afraid to face the inevitable consequence, she’d chosen to ignore it for this long.
But now fate was at hand, demanding retribution and Ellie was not ready to pay up.
Cupping her face so that she was no longer staring at the 'strange man', Ellie stared into her daughter's eyes and gave a reassuring smile, as not to alarm her of the brewing storm. "Bella, sweetie, do Mommy a favor and go find your Nan. Can you do that for me?"
Bella nodded, but remained where she was, her eyes drawn to the man now steadily approaching them. He was staring right back at her too and Bella frowned. "Mom?" She found her mother’s gaze once more. "Do I know him? He looks like the man in the photo Sophie showed us.” She informed, mouth puckering into a contemplative pout. "Sophie told me and Dylan that he was our …"
"Ellie!" Ellie raised her head and groaned in dismay as her mother hastened towards them with Sophie and Dylan in tow. The situation was spiraling out of control, cementing this night as one of the worse in her life.
"Do you believe that the business of our children is also something I need to discuss with your fiancé, Ellie? Or can I safely assume that this is a matter that needs to be discussed between us both?" he derided, voice chilling her to the core.
Gone was the smooth talking, guileful man whose kisses had melted her bones, and in his place, just a few feet from where Ellie stood, was a stranger she hardly knew.
With her heart now lodged in her throat, Ellie turned to look at him, his grim expression further inciting her need to run as far away as she could. He stood motionless as though movement of any kind would shatter him. Ellie braced herself. Scrounging up whatever courage she had, she headed his way. "We're not going to discuss this now. Tonight is my engagement party, Nicholas, and I intend to joy what's left of it. If you want to talk about Isabella…"
"Isabella?" The haunted look that flitted across his face resonated in Ellie.
Nicholas felt gutted. Face ashen, lips thinning, the small vein on the side of his head raced almost as fast as the pulse in his neck. He looked as though he would either retch or fall to the floor crying. Ellie's heart broke. "You named her Isabella, Ellie?" His voice sounded strange, as though his throat was too full to form proper words.
"In memory of her..." Ellie feebly offered. She'd
believed at the time that it'd been the right thing to do. No other name had seemed to suit her. Ellie hadn't even contemplated that it would hurt Nicholas so much for doing so. That hadn't been her intentions at all. "It suited her, Nicholas." she attempted once more to explain but he’d ceased to listen as he approached the two children now at Ellie’s side.
The crowd that had formed around them broke into waves of whispered disbelief as they watched the debacle that was Ellie's life unfold right before their eyes. Their voices paled in comparison to the crashing of blood that rushed in her ears. She felt sick. With her heart beating too fast in her chest, Ellie prayed for the travertine floor to stretch wide and swallow her down.
Her eyes found her mother's above everyone else's and Ellie pleaded for her help as the tears in her eyes blurred her vision. Ellie watched her mother shoulder through the crowd to make her way to where Nicholas was gathered with the children. Dina tried to grab hold of their hands, but the look Nicholas gave her immediately halted her action. He looked mean enough to kill and furious enough to a carry out the threat. Ellie ran to her mother's rescue.
"Nicholas, you're making a scene. Let's go upstairs and talk about this like two rational adults."
"How long did you know about them?"
"We're not discussing this…"
"HOW LONG!" His bellow brought about a deafening silence. It raised goose bumps along the flesh and froze the blood in the veins.
"I'm not going to talk to you about our children in front all these people, Nicholas." She refused to be cowed by his wrath.
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. They 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.
"This 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 i
s 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.
Redemption (The Bet) Page 11