Nick and Lilac (26 page)

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Christien murmured as Nick joined them in the VIP exclusively for their use. He saw that the whole gang was complete – including Nathan, who was more often abroad than not.

Reid raised a brow. “I gather there’s no more trouble in paradise?”

Nick flipped him the bird, but even Reid’s mocking words couldn’t get rid of the lighthearted feeling inside him. Everything felt so fucking right, now that Lilac was back in his life.

Jaike leaned forward, her eyes filled with hope. “Does that mean Lilac’s your…
girlfriend
?”

“
Yes
.”

Jaike squealed – making Nick blink and then he was laughing, for it was his first time to hear Derek’s girlfriend do something so…girly. His friends offered their own congratulations, which he accepted with a grin.

At Jaike’s eager questions, he told them briefly what happened, including the melodramatic scene at the hangar. “And you told her you loved her?” Jaike demanded, wide-eyed.

Nick tried not to notice how several pairs of narrowed gazes were directed his way at the question. “Of course,” he said. “I wouldn’t want her as my girlfriend if I didn’t.”

There was a moment of silence before Derek stepped in, smoothing over the awkwardness like he always did. “You seem more excited than Nick is, baby,” Derek said teasingly as he pulled Jaike close for a quick kiss on the lips.

Jaike colored. “I can’t help it. I’m just really happy. I mean, it’s not always fun to be the
only
girl in the group---no offense meant, though.”

There was a chorus of “none taken” from the men, although Reid was muttering under his breath about how he could have more women in the group if Jaike just didn’t take offense to his girls.

Jaike scowled. “No. Your girls flirt with Derek too much.”

Reid said patiently, “It shouldn’t matter when we all know Derek won’t ever flirt back.”

She glared at Reid even though she knew he was just doing his best to annoy her. “NO.” Turning her back on an already-laughing Reid, she told Nick happily, “I can’t wait to spend more time with Lilac! It feels like forever that I’ve had someone to talk to when you guys are away doing your guy thing.”

Nick teased, “You’re getting old, Jaike. You weren’t exactly alone the entire time. I had Karla before, remember?” Somehow, it was easier to talk about her now.

An odd expression crossed Jaike’s face. “Uhh, yes.”

Nick frowned at the color suddenly staining Jaike’s cheeks. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Derek’s arm curled protectively around Jaike’s waist. “Nick.” His voice held a note of warning.

Jaike squeezed Derek’s hand under the table reassuringly. “It’s okay.” She looked back at Nick, asking slowly, “Are you sure you really want to hear the truth?”

Nick lowered his beer, feeling like he had to be completely sober to hear what Jaike was about to say. “Yes.”

Jaike said helplessly, “She was a bitch.”

Nick stiffened.

“I’m sorry, Nick, but she
was.
She…treated me like shit, told me in not so many words that I’m beneath all of you. She was that kind of girl, Nick and I just wish…” She sighed, as if unable to bear the vileness of what she wanted to say. Jaike looked at him straight in the eye. “Lilac is the perfect girl for you, and she’s worth a thousand Karlas in this world.” She reached out to squeeze his hand. “One day,” she said softly, even though she wasn’t really sure if it would come true. “You’ll see I’m right.”

And he knew then that he hadn’t been fooling anyone in the room.

They knew he had lied, too.

Everyone started talking after, and Nick played along but guilt was spreading inside him like an indelible stain on his heart. Would everyone in the world know that he had lied about loving Lilac? Was it so fucking wrong when by lying to Lilac, he was giving her what she wanted?

His phone vibrated, and the name on the screen stopped his heartbeat for a second. “Excuse me,” Nick managed to say before leaving the room. He went to the fire exit on the second floor, and the cruel irony wasn’t lost on him as he answered the call.

“Karla?”

“Nick.”

Just the voice alone made him dizzy. It was
that night
again, and he braced himself against the wall. His temples hurt, the grayish fuzzy parts of his attack like a fucking dynamite that kept exploding inside his brain.

When Nick still didn’t answer, fear struck her. She couldn’t have lost him to another woman, could she? Not so soon, and not without a fight, Karla thought. She made her voice soft and shaking as she ventured again, “Nick, please. Talk to me, Nick. Are you still mad?”

He tried using Karla’s voice as his anchor but it didn’t work, the pain in his head becoming unbearable. Another image floated in his mind, and he grasped it desperately.

Lilac.

He concentrated on her exquisite face, the doll eyes that never failed to shine, the smile that always soothed, and Lilac’s quiet rusty voice that never failed to make him feel right. Slowly, his world found its way back to its rightful place, the pain gradually receding. His vision cleared. He said hoarsely, “Karla.”

Relief rocked her body. He wasn’t furious, which only meant he still didn’t remember. She hoped to God he would never remember. This time, she didn’t have to fake the way her voice shook, relief making her almost giddy. “I really need to talk to you, Nick.”

The image of Lilac persisted in his mind.

“Karla…I’m with someone now.”

“I know that.”

The pain in Karla’s voice made Nick squeeze his eyes.

I’m here, Nick. I’ll always be here. You’ll always be my man.

“I’m sorry,” he said harshly.

“Just please meet with me,” Karla choked out. “I know the things I did were unforgivable, and there’s nothing I can say but…I was weak.”

Karla’s last word taunted and shamed him, reminding Nick of the nights he had cried like a fucking baby, even wetting his bed, and Karla had always been there. She had never breathed a word about how fucking weak he had been.

“I’ll text you when I’m there, Nick. But if you can’t---” Karla’s voice caught. “If you can’t, then I understand. I just want you to be happy. I want you to be with a girl who really loves you, knows you like I knew how you were all those years ago---”

She heard Nick sucking in a breath, and she could see him flinching, knew she had hit a raw spot. “Nick,” Karla whispered. “If we don’t meet again, just remember that I will always love you. I don’t care what the others say if they ever learn the truth. I’ll always be happy to have you, and I just hope she feels the same about you, too.”

Nick said harshly, “Goodbye, Karla.”

He ended the call, but it was too late. Karla’s toxic words had already poisoned him, and it would fester there for some time.

Pushing the fire exit doors open, Nick was stunned to see his brother standing outside. He looked into Jason’s eyes and he knew that Jason had heard his side of the conversation.

“Jason.” He struggled to hold his emotions in check.

“Nick.” His brother was grim-faced, but there was something in his eyes that made Nick look away.

“You’re still in touch with Karla?” He expected Jason’s voice to sound accusing. God knew he wouldn’t blame Jason if he was. But instead, his brother sounded…
bleak
.

“She wants to see me.”

Silence followed, and Jason fought to find the right words to say.
Nick was in love with Lilac.
He could see it in his brother’s eyes, the way the knowledge that Lilac would be hurt if she found out about his phone conversation with Karla was already haunting Nick.

But Jason also knew that there was a part of Nick which still belonged to Karla, blinding him to the truth.

He said carefully, “If you have to, then you should. I only want the best for you – and Lilac wants that, too.” Saying anything else would force his brother’s back against the wall, and he didn’t want that, didn’t want anything that would give the bitch a hold on Nick again.

Jason’s words stunned Nick. He said thickly, “Jason, I---”

Jason shook his head. “Nick, whatever I feel about Lilac…
you
are my brother. That will always come first.” It was not a lie, and maybe that was why Lilac had fallen in love with Nick and not him.

He was in love with Lilac, but not as much as Nick loved and needed her.

When Nick left, Jason made two calls – one to his mother, and another to the bitch he called stepmother. There was only one way to make Beatrice talk, and though Jason knew his decision would hurt his family, sometimes – the fucking end justified the fucking means.

The Nineteenth Encounter

The sound of feminine laughter slipped into Nick’s consciousness, calling him out of a deep slumber. He instinctively reached for Lilac, and when he found only air he was instantly awake, his heart beating madly.

He could not lose her so soon.

Nick shot up from the bed, and he had already gotten his pants on when he realized that the sound of laughter was not Lilac’s. It was ---

“Mother?” Although her presence was a welcome surprise, he couldn’t figure out the reason for her visit. She sat on one of the stools in his breakfast counter, a half-folded newspaper before her. His gaze swiftly roamed the rest of his surroundings. His penthouse unit was styled as a two-story loft, with the entire second floor consisting only of his bedroom.

His chest tightened when he realized that Lilac was nowhere in sight.

Sylvia’s heart ached at the sight of Nick. It always did and always will, Sylvia knew, for she owed so much to this stalwart son of hers. Aristos had tried to make the firstborn of their twins cold and selfish, and in many ways he had succeeded. But no matter what he did, Aristos had never succeeded in making Nick heartless.

Someone else had done that to Nick, and Sylvia knew there wouldn’t ever be a day in her life she would stop hating that person. She didn’t know how, didn’t know why, but frankly she didn’t give a damn. All she knew was that Karla Niall had made Nick see himself as ugly and weak, so much so he would rather hurt others than let himself be hurt again.

Sylvia took several deep breaths, not wanting Nick to feel how devastated she was by what she had learned from Jason last night. When he reached her side, she lifted her cheek for his kiss. “Good morning, son.” Her voice cracked at the end, but she smiled at Nick brightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

But of course he did. Nick had always been her defender and Jason’s, the one who constantly put himself between Aristos’ rage and them. Nick thought she did not know what he had suffered for them, but she knew. She had always known, but she had also always pretended, knowing that the only way to spare Nick from more pain was to let him think that he had been successful in
completely
shielding his loved ones from Aristos’ cruelty.

“Good morning.” Nick bent his head to kiss her on the cheek. “Dare I ask why you’re here?” He was smiling, but there was a question in his gaze, demanding Sylvia to let him know what was wrong so he could fix it.

It made her eyes blur for a moment. In front of Sylvia was the man she knew many considered as one of the most beautiful men alive, one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, and it wasn’t just because he was heir to a billion-dollar trust fund.

At that moment, all Sylvia could see was Nick as a seven-year-old boy, a determined cheerful smile on his face even though his swollen eyes had given him away. “Mother,” he had said very gravely then. “I made our lawyer tell me the truth. I must stay with Father or he would try to take Jason away from you as well. He would try to hurt you, too, and my stepfather. Uncle Pelias told me that when I am eighteen, then I can be free of Father. But for now, I will stay here with him and make sure he does not give you or Jason trouble.”

“Mother?”

Sylvia glanced up, blinking rapidly. “I’m just so happy,” she explained.

Nick frowned. “Happy?”

The knob of his front door rattled, and Nick’s head snapped towards it. The door opened, and Lilac came in, school bag slung over one shoulder, looking as beautiful and as uncoordinated like she always did. Today, she wore an orange-and-black striped shirt over checkered seventies-styled slacks.

Sylvia and Nick exchanged glances, and the fond twinkle in his mother’s eyes made Nick breathe a little easier. She understood…and she appreciated Lilac as she was.

Lilac blushed when their gazes met. It was too adorable, and he strode towards her, taking Lilac’s lips for a kiss. She gasped against his lips, but he didn’t give a fuck, pushing his tongue in, demanding her response. With a sigh Lilac melted against him, her school bag falling to the floor as she twirled her arms around his neck.

When he lifted his head, he said accusingly, “You left me.”

She blushed, her eyes darting over his shoulder to see if Sylvia was looking at them. She was, and Lilac blushed even more. “I did not…leave you,” she corrected. “I went to…
school
.”

He scowled. “You
left
me.”

She laughed at how stubbornly selfish Nick was. It made him sound like a kid, and for some reason she found this side of Nick awfully cute. What would the world say, Lilac mused, if they knew that this 23-year-old self-made billionaire was so selfish he didn’t want her leaving for school without telling him?

She said obediently, “I’m s-sorry.”

“Never leave me again without telling me,” he told her, his voice utterly serious.

It tempted her to smile, but she did her best not to, knowing it would just infuriate Nick. “I promise,” she said solemnly.

Nick sighed above her. “Don’t think I don’t fucking know you’re laughing at me inside your head.”

And so she laughed.

“That,” Sylvia said softly behind them, “is what I’m happy about.”

Nick turned to her curiously, an arm around Lilac’s waist. She was of course still shy, and she was doing her best to wriggle away from him, clearly uncomfortable of being this close to him with Sylvia around.

“What do you mean?” He didn’t loosen his grip on Lilac, anchoring her to his side. Lilac York was his, and the first step to making the world realize this was making said Lilac York get used to his touch, no matter who was present.

“Jason called me about the good news,” Sylvia answered casually. “Says a girl has finally captured your heart.”

Nick was stunned, but looking down at Lilac, he could see that it was already old news to her. “We…talked,” she explained. “Mrs. Christakos---”

“You can call me Mother if you want,” Sylvia said graciously.

Lilac turned red, Nick grinned.

Sylvia grinned as well, but taking pity on the poor girl, she amended, “Well, you may also call me Sylvia if you wish.”

Lilac said quickly, “I…wish.” Then she looked up at him expectantly. “Are you…ready?”

Nick gazed at her blankly. “Ready for what?”

An hour later, he found himself being dragged by two horrendously socially conscious women to a
Habitat for Humanity
construction site, the three of them wearing branded shirts from the foundation.

Sylvia stuck up her nose in the air at the laughing look that her son gave her. “You can stop looking at me like that.”

“You do know what we’re going to do, right? Your nails could get broken,” he teased, but he was half-serious since Sylvia had never worked a day in her life. It was, unfortunately, one of the reasons why she had failed to secure custody of him from the beginning.

Sylvia released an unladylike curse.

“Mother!” Nick didn’t have to pretend to be shocked.

Lilac laughed. “It’s your…fault, doubting your…mother.”

Sylvia gave her a grateful look. “You are such a sweet child. I really don’t know what you’re doing with my son.” She dealt Nick an arched look. “If you get tired of my son, do tell me right away and I’ll have much nicer men lining up at your doorstep.”

A curious pain wrapped around Nick’s heart at the thought of Lilac leaving him, but he swiftly pushed the feeling away. Lilac would never leave him. She loved him. And she…thought he loved her.

At the site, Nick knew that everyone had been briefed about his arrival. It was obvious by the way they treated him and Sylvia like one of their own. The on-site manager had no trouble issuing commands, getting Sylvia to help with organizing supplies while he had Nick hammering boards. It had been a long time since he had done something physical outside the gym, and it was…invigorating. He looked around, a part of him always needing to see Lilac and be reassured that she was nearby---

Lilac stood next to Dorothy, who was also volunteering for the project along with other members from their org. Lilac held a Styrofoam cup of coffee in her hands, an intent expression on her face as she listened to the other girl. Her head partially turned towards him, as if sensing his gaze.

Lilac’s pale violet eyes gazed at him knowingly.
Miss me?

His blue eyes blazed its answer.
Miss you so much I need to find a secluded place to fuck you.

Lilac choked on her coffee, and she choked some more when she saw Nick striding towards her purposefully.

Dorothy pounded her on the back. “Are you okay?”

She cleared her throat. “I’m…uh…” The thought of what Nick had so slyly suggested with his gaze had her choking again. Oh…Nick!

A male volunteer passing by stopped in front of them, his concerned gaze at the choking Lilac.

“You okay, miss?” The girl looked up, and his jaw dropped. She was immensely pretty – in fact, lovelier than any girl he knew. But it was her eyes that attracted him the most – big and the shade of lilac, those eyes made her seem almost unreal, like a doll brought to life.

Lilac nodded, managing a slight smile. Discomfort made Lilac shift on her feet. She was still having a hard time staying calm in the presence of male strangers, a part of her still haunted by the past.

The guy cleared his throat. “I’m---”

“---going your way, I hope?”

His eyes bulged when he saw Nick Christakos walk into view, his arm going around the hot girl’s waist possessively. Nick Christakos! So what his friend had told him was true, the guy realized in a daze.  An earlier announcement had been issued regarding the billionaire’s presence, with everyone requested to treat them
normally
and to refrain from taking photos or alerting the media in any way for security reasons.

And then he realized another thing.

The billionaire’s security team had him surrounded, and they did
not
look friendly. He said hastily, “I…uh…yeah…gotta go,” he mumbled. What the fuck was that about? It was like Nick Christakos was ready to have him killed just for looking at his girl.

He stole a look over his shoulder, the memory of the girl with her spectacular eyes tempting him to take one last glance---

He hurriedly looked back because all he had seen were the gazes of a dozen hulking men in black, their hands casually poised as if to draw something from inside their blazers. He did not need a good imagination to know what that was.

Lilac shook her head reprovingly at him. “Nick…that poor guy!”

He shrugged. “It was his fault for daring to look at you.”

“Nick!”

He bent down to steal a kiss from her lips. “We need to fuck soon,” he told her seriously.

She gasped, covering his lips. “Nick! Someone might…hear!”

He took her hand away from his mouth, twining his fingers with hers.

Her face softened, the familiar touch making love burst inside her like fireworks.
It was
, she thought ruefully,
like Katy Perry’s song
. How mushy was that?

Looking up at Nick, she whispered, “To be honest…I w-want t-that, too.” It was hard, speaking of sex when a part of her still thought James had been right – that something about her made everyone see her as a slut.

But this was Nick.

He knew her, understood her – he
loved
her.

His chest constricted.
Dio!
She never ever failed to amaze him, the way she could risk so much of herself for him.

“I love you.” The words rolled off his tongue so easily it was as if…it was true.

Her eyes went wide.

He went hard.

She said morosely, “Now…I’m so…t-turned on, too!”

Ah, fuck.

Without a word, he curled his fingers around her delicate wrist and took her with him, walking so fast she had to run to keep up to him. Her eyes widened when she saw where they were going. “Oh my…God!” She looked at him in panic. “No!”

He said coolly, “It’s the only private place here, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to hammer nails when my own cock’s harder than a rock.”

She tried pulling away. “Nick.” She wailed it softly.

Ignoring that, he kept dragging her with him while he called for his head of security in Greek. He issued his command. When he reached the RV camper that served as the on-site canteen for the project, all five members of its crew on the way out. Its body was painted a garish shade of green, with the words Burger 4 Ya emblazoned on all sides. It was fucking ugly, but for now it served his purpose.

Impervious to the gaping stares of the people around them, Nick urged Lilac to move forward, practically carrying her so she would make her way up to the camper.

“In you go, sweetheart.”

Lilac had no choice but to step inside the camper, which smelled of burgers and fries.

Nick shut the door and locked it. He did the same with the huge window that served as the order area before moving around to do the same with the rest of the windows. Outside, Lilac heard Nick’s security team flatly answering everyone’s questions, and then there were cheers and shouts.