The Devoted Winter: BWWM Billionaire Romance Novel (Her Winter Love Series Book 1) (14 page)

“I’ll be out in a sec,” Nadiyya said and she took the test into the bathroom with her. She inhaled anxiously as she tried to squat over the toilet seat without spraying her pee everywhere. Nadiyya maneuvered the stick under her stream and held it out a safe distance from her body as she capped it. She flipped the stick over so she wouldn’t be tempted to look at the results before the three minutes were up. Then Nadiyya washed her hands with more vigor than she’d washed them in a while.

She opened the bathroom door and set the pregnancy test on the table in front of Lucian. “Don’t worry, it’s capped,” Nadiyya said. She sat next to him and waited the longest three minutes of her life to find out whether or not she was really pregnant. After the time had passed, Lucian flipped over the stick in a quick motion. They both wanted to find out at once. They’d only known each other for a short time but it felt right for them to find out this news together.

Two pink lines appeared on the screen. Nadiyya was definitely pregnant. “Holy shit,” Lucian said. That seemed to be his stock response to finding out that he was about to be a father these days. Nadiyya didn’t know what to think or what to say. She was going to have a baby. But would Lucian stick around for it? He loved her, but he already had another child on the way. What would make him still want to take on Nadiyya and her child as another responsibility.

Lucian wasn’t sure what was going on in Nadiyya’s head. Was she happy about this? Upset? Scared? Lucian wanted to be there for her but he just didn’t know what he could possibly say that would actually be of any help. “Nadiyya, is this what you want?” Lucian asked. Nadiyya nodded. She couldn’t terminate the pregnancy even if she wanted to. She knew it would go against God in a way that she could never allow. But she still wasn’t certain that she was ready to be a mother.

“I just don’t know if I’m ready to be a mother. I still have so much to do with my business too,” Nadiyya said.

“Listen, You don’t have to do this alone Nadiyya. I’ll take care of you,” Lucian replied, holding her hands to comfort her.

“Lucian, you don’t have to stay with me because I’m pregnant. I wouldn’t want that,” Nadiyya urged.

“
Nadiyya.
I love you,” Lucian assured her.

“I know… Are you sure this doesn’t change things?” Nadiyya replied, looking to Lucian for security. He was the only person who could make her feel safe right now. Her entire world was about to change forever.

“I’ve never been more sure. I know things are moving fast between us but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Some people know each other for years before even going out and they still end up hating each other’s guts,” Lucian said. He kissed Nadiyya’s hand.

“You’re right,” Nadiyya replied, nodding as if she were still in the process of convincing herself.

Lucian stood up and walked over to Nadiyya, planting a kiss on her lips. She pulled him in closer and ran her hands through his hair as he kissed her. Lucian was a good guy. Nadiyya was glad she’d waited so long for her first time, for her first love. He was really “the one” that she’d been waiting for. He was perfect.

“We still have the issue of Martine and Slade.”

“Don’t you have some way of working that out,” Nadiyya said, returning his smile.

“I most certainly do.”

**********

Chapter 15

“I need a favor,” Lucian said into the phone. C.J. was used to performing these “favors” for Lucian that either bordered on criminal or were downright illegal. This favor, he knew he would have some fun with. It wasn’t like he was a sadist or anything. He’d just known Lucian for years. He was a good guy. If he were going after a guy this aggressively, the little punk must deserve it.

He spat out a wad of tobacco into a Diet Coke and prepared to fly out to Vermont to perform one last East Coast job for his boss. C.J. was eager for this one.

Slade was sleeping alone at home on the night C.J. landed in Vermont. He had five hours in the state before Lucian was flying him on a much needed vacation to the Maldives. C.J. arrived at the house where he’d beat Slade to a pulp not too long ago. “Stupid cocksucker doesn’t learn,” C.J. thought to himself. He shook his head in disdain as he easily picked the lock on Slade’s front door. The man was a pig, C.J. thought to himself.

He set down his jug of gasoline with spray hose attached to the nozzle and surveyed the room. It was covered in clothing, pieces of paper and more. C.J.’s hands felt itchy in his gloves but he knew he wouldn’t be able to take them off until he finished. He snuck down to Slade’s basement first and began to spray the room with gasoline. He used a black bandana for a mask but even that wasn’t enough to keep the smell out of his face. Arson jobs were some of the messiest ones.

After he coated every inch of Slade’s basement in gasoline, he began to work the ground floor. He felt like an artist working in silence, painting every inch of the room in his stinking paint. It would be all the more beautiful when the house crumbled into a pile of embers and coals just like he knew it would. C.J. then made his way upstairs. He was so surefooted the usually creaking stairs didn’t make a sound as he ascended them.

C.J. knew exactly which room Slade would be sleeping in. That was the one he would visit last. His jug of gasoline was nearly empty. C.J. coated the walls of all the rooms with gas and then opened the door to Slade’s room gently. The grown man looked like a baby as he lay there fast asleep. C.J. nearly chuckled at the sight. His peaceful night would be incredibly short lived.

“Wake up cocksucker!” C.J. roared. Slade woke with a start. He would recognize that accent anywhere. He’d had nightmare after nightmare about hearing that voice again and he’d prayed that he never would. His heart was beating fast. He sat up straight but he felt completely paralyzed, nailed to the bed.

“Hehe. Not so brave now that we can’t make threats?” C.J. asked. He smiled, revealing two golden canines. Slade couldn’t find it within himself to respond to the man. “Get out of bed cocksucker,” C.J. commanded. Slade was wearing just his boxers and didn’t like the idea of getting out of bed dressed so vulnerably. But he understood what C.J. was capable of and he didn’t want to be told twice. Shaking like a leaf, Slade got out of bed.

C.J. dragged Slade to the center of his bedroom and kicked him to his knees. Slade groaned as his knees made contact with the hardwood. He was still trembling.

“Do you know why I’m here?” C.J. asked. His tone was unpredictable and kept Slade confused, right where C.J. wanted him.

“I have some idea,” Slade replied.

“Good. Why haven’t you learned your lesson Slade? This is very inconvenient for Mr. Wynter,” C.J. taunted.

“I… I…” Slade began.

“Don’t answer, you cockroach, or I’ll snuff you out right now!” C.J. roared. When Slade averted his eyes, a smile cracked across his face.

He enjoyed playing mind games with Slade. The man was so goddamn weak it was embarrassing. How could someone like that have even done anything to upset Mr. Wynter quite so much? C.J. didn’t care too much. He knew Lucian hated unnecessary questions like that.

“Here’s what’s going to happen Slade. I’m going to beat you to shit, toss you out your bedroom window and then this house is going to go up in flames. If you’re lucky, you’ll get up in time and be able to escape having survived a two story drop. If you’re very lucky, the impact will kill you. Mr. Wynter sends his regards,” C.J. said.

Slade started sobbing and pleading with him to stop. But what good did a man’s tears do? In a few hours, C.J. would be jetting across the globe and he would be practically untraceable. Not even Lucian knew his real name. Tears couldn’t sway C.J. at all.

He landed a kick right in Slade’s face. The man cried out in pain. C.J. continued to land strong kicks all over his body until he was weeping, bleeding and pleading for mercy all at once. “Shut up you little shit,” C.J. hissed before spitting on Slade’s body. He carried the man to his large bedroom window and then threw him on the ground next to it. The window wasn’t difficult to open; when C.J. looked out he saw a large green bush beneath it. Well, Slade might not die but he would certainly have an unpleasant night. C.J. hoisted Slade’s body onto the window sill.

“Please! Please no! No!” Slade screamed before C.J. rolled him out the window.

There was a thud followed by silence. The night’s peace returned. C.J. walked downstairs with a thick rope with a waxy flammable coating and strung it throughout the house. Once he was outside, he dropped the rope just past Slade’s porch. He pulled out a match and lit the rope. Once he saw the little spark traveling towards the house, C.J. knew his work was done.

He walked three blocks away into an alleyway where his car was parked and had a cigarette. C.J. changed his clothes to rid them of the potent gasoline smell and then left the car with the keys in the ignition as he made his way to a main road. After a bitter cold half hour wait, he finally got a cab to the airport. “I’m never visiting this miserable place again,” C.J. thought to himself as his plane left Vermont.

Earlier on the same day Slade received his visit from C.J., Nadiyya and Lucian were paying a visit of their own to Martine. The evidence they had to stop her from blackmailing Lucian had been copied so many times, she couldn’t get rid of it even if she tried.

Nadiyya and Lucian were easily buzzed up to Martine’s hotel room. As usual, she was lounging with a few bottles of whiskey and a pack of cigarettes. Her room smelled like sex and liquor when they entered. “Lucian! You brought your whore!” Martine squealed before bursting out into maniacal laughter. She was drunk as a skunk.

“Shut the fuck up Martine,” Lucian said. Martine was taken aback. Lucian had really changed since she first met him!

“That’s no way to speak to your child’s mother,” Martine said, wagging her finger at Lucian melodramatically.

“Martine… Listen very closely. This isn’t a game anymore. Do you want to hear what I’ve brought you today?” Lucian said smiling.

“An apology?” Martine smirked.

Nadiyya took out her phone and hit play on the recording. Slade’s muffled voice echoed through the hotel room. Martine’s face became solemn when she heard her lover confessing to their multiple sexual encounters. “Shit! That damned idiot!” Martine thought to herself. She tried to hide her upset, but it was written all over her face. She was stuck. There was no way she or Slade could wriggle their way out of this one. They were finished.

Nadiyya and Lucian looked righteously smug.

Martine knew she had no choice but to concede to Nadiyya and Lucian.

“Fine. I’ll call my lawyer,” Martine said. She picked up one of her half empty bottles and took a giant swig. She scrunched up her face as the liquor burned down her throat.

“Do it now,” Lucian commanded. Martine rolled her eyes at him and then picked up her phone. Within a few minutes, Martine had called off the hounds and surrendered.

When Nadiyya and Lucian left, Martine’s phone rang again. It was the local physician she had gone to see right before Lucian and Nadiyya had visited.

“Good afternoon Doctor,” Martine said.

“Hello Mrs. Wynter. Your blood test results came back negative. It was a complete miscarriage. Let us know if we can be of assistance to you,” her doctor replied softly.

“Thank you,” Martine said. She hung up the phone and buried her troubles in a pack of Marlboro lights.

Lucian and Nadiyya left Martine’s hotel room and returned to Lucian’s. That night, after they made love, the began to think of the craziness they’d both just experienced. It had been a wild ride since they’d met each other and now they could finally grasp at real happiness. Lucian had finally broken free from Martine’s crazy abusiveness. Nadiyya was finally free from a toxic friendship and she’d just started a business that was destined to be successful.

**********

Chapter 16

Lucian and Nadiyya had slept together in his hotel room. They were satisfied at how the previous evening had turned out and celebrated loudly all night long. Morning light came and Lucian turned around to look at Nadiyya’s face as she slept. Her nubian skin shone in the morning light. Lucian was supposed to leave in two days but he knew there was no way he could leave without her. Not a chance.