Undone (9 page)

"She’ll come to us when she's ready, Elle, we can't push her."

“I know, but Sophie’s never kept anything from me and for her to start now means that there's something seriously wrong. And did you notice the faint bruise on her cheek? I wasn't going to say anything, but now that I think about it…"

Nicholas’s brow furrowed quick in reading his wife’s mind. "You're not implying…?"

"I don't know. She worried her bottom lip. "I hope it's not what we're thinking, but then again…"

Nicholas’s jaw tightened and
he stood abruptly. Three strides out the living room and Ellie was after him, having figured out his intentions, she caught his arm seconds out the door. Ellie was on the receiving end of that infamous scowl, the very one that made grown men quiver with fear. Unfazed, she reached out to smooth over the crease between his brows.

"I know you're angry," Ellie began evenly, "but we can't go storming in her bedroom demanding answers. You even just said that we shouldn't push her."

"That was before I knew the bastard hit her."

"We're
assuming
that he did, Nicky. We don't know and we won't know until Sophie tells us."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then we'll go to her, but only then and not before. Meanwhile, I think we should just watch them carefully and not do anything reckless until we have the facts. All right?" The full weight of his gaze landed on her and in that gaze she received the brunt of his anger. But, all too well, Ellie understood where the anger stemmed from—fear, after all, was a crippling emotion and Nicholas didn't do fear very well, especially when it came to her or the kids.

"You have to promise me you won't go all mob boss on me again, Nicky
,” Ellie continued quietly, remembering all too well the last time Nicholas took the law into his own hands. "We have to let the law handle this if there is something to handle. I need you with me, here and safe." She took hold of his hand, solid, strong, warm within her own slimmer one and interlaced their fingers.

"Elle…"
He averted his gaze, staring at a point beyond her left shoulder. Her gentle touch on his cheek finally drew his gaze to her.

"Promise me, Nicholas
,” she implored.

Unable to provide the answer she so desperately needed, Nicholas rested his head on her shoulder and sighed. He loved this woman. Dear God how he loved her. There wasn't anything Nicholas wouldn't do for her and the children they’d brought into the world. For Ellie to ask him to do nothing when the situation clearly called for it was wholly unfair on her part. Nicholas could understand
, he had a tendency of taking things too far, but how could he not when scum like Hunter insisted on preying on his family? How could he sit idly by and do nothing when he had knowledge of the sort of man Hunter was? Especially now discovering that the bastard was abusing his daughter? It was all Nicholas could do to keep himself in check at the present moment.

"Nicky…"

"You can't ask me to do nothing,” he raised his head and met her gaze, "if you know the sort of man I am then you should know it's impossible for me to make and keep that promise."

"Nicholas…"

"I
can't
, Ellie,” he said gravely.

"Why not?"

"Because that man is dangerous!"

"What do you mean dangerous…
You know something." Dawning set along her features.

"Yes and its knowledge I'd like to keep until I have all the facts."

"What facts? What aren’t you telling me?" She struggled out his grasp, putting distance between them.

"Keep your voice down, Ellie." He reached out to her and ignored the pang when she recoiled from his touch.

"Tell me what's going on." She steeled herself against his wounded expression, folding her arms across her chest she waited for a response. "Secrets again? I thought we were long past this." 

"This isn't about keeping secrets from you, Ellie. This is about me trying to keep you and the children safe."

"Safe from what? And whoever said you had to go at this alone? It's not just you, Nicky, it's you
and
me. Just because I'm the mother of your children doesn't mean I'm incapable of protecting them or
you
for that matter."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. I don't even understand why we're arguing here."

"Because you're a controlling, secretive, egotistical bastard.”

“You forgot charming.” His disarming grin had the expected result and he laughed outright when Ellie flew at him, fists landing blows that weren't really meant to harm.

Nicholas’s arms encircled her waist, trapping Ellie against him. "You stupid jerk," she mumbled with a glower. "Is it so hard for you to just trust me?"

With one arm still holding firm, Nicholas brought his hand to her face, raised her chin with gentle fingers and lowered his dark head. "I trust you with my life, Ellie." His lips were a tender caress, his warm eager tongue coaxing the seam of Ellie’s lips for entrance and when she allowed him in
, he stroked with gentleness, seducing and loving in the same breath. Ellie moaned, rose on the tips of her toes and fell deeper into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Nicholas’s neck. Toying with the hair at his nape, she sighed when he pulled her close.

"Ahem." They drew apart and simultaneously turned to glance at the intruder, much
to both their chagrin Andrew stood at the entryway, an imperceptible smile on his face. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Of course you didn't." Was Nicholas’s surly reply, retaining his hold on Ellie’s waist, he leveled Andrew with a look.

"Andrew, we're glad your home safe. Sophie told us something happened with a friend of yours…?" she trailed off hoping Andrew would fill in the rest.

He shrugged
his broad shoulders; the action would've been effortless had it not been for the imperceptible twitch that followed suit. There was an odd air about him, seemingly skittish in a sense. Nicholas watched him carefully, his diamond gray gaze hawk-like in his silent assessment.

"Everything's fine now, he just needed someone to talk to. You know, unload his domestic issues and all that.” He chuckled. Raising a hand to the back of his head, he gave another shrug, putting on display his varying degree of discomfort. "I should head to my room. Uh…I'll go see if Sophie’s up and let her know I'm alright."

"I'm sure it can wait till morning." This from Nicholas, his tone a few degrees shy of glacial, his affections for the man sliding now from tolerance to sheer loathing.

"Uh…yeah, sure, thanks. Uh…goodnight."

"Goodnight." Knowing that was all he would get, Andrew made haste, practically fleeing from their sight, Ellie’s bid of ‘goodnight’ echoing after him as he disappeared down the hall.

Once gone, Ellie turned around in Nicholas’s arms. "I'm going to pretend
, for your sake, that you know what you're doing and not badger you about this until you're ready to tell me what's going on. But you had better tell me soon, Nicholas, or you, the couch and your left hand are going to get reacquainted." Her smile was far from reaching her usually vibrant eyes, her irritation evident by the gleam skating across their narrowed depths.

"Ellie…" Nicholas reached for her but came away with air as she eluded his grasp.

“I’m tired, I going up to bed.” She walked away then, her ascent up the stairs punctuated by angry footfalls. Nicholas was after her like a shot, his pleas falling on deaf ears. Loathed to wake the occupants of the house, he kept his voice relatively calm, low even, until finally they came to their bedroom door.

Ellie stepped inside
; Nicholas only a foot or so behind. Once within the confines of their bedroom, he closed and locked the door behind him. Now free to speak at a reasonable volume he made his way to where she put to order the mess on their vanity. Setting gentle but firm hands on her arms, Nicholas turned her around, cajoling her to sit. He won his battle but received as prize a muted glare from her fiery hazel eyes.

"You know that nothing or no one else will ever do in my bed but you. I sleep better, every night
, knowing that I get to wake up every day and see your face. Ellie, I love you, and I would no more keep secrets from you than I would lie to your face. You know you mean the world to me. I do what I do so that I can keep you safe. I
need
to do this to keep you safe, for the sake of everyone involved. You are the glue that holds me together; if anything were to happen to you I couldn't even began to tell you what I would do. So please, I'm begging you to trust me."

The intensity of the moment seemed almost palpable, the ardor in his gray gaze felt almost too real, scorching and intrusive, licking raw at Ellie’s skin. It left her too vulnerable for words, too enraptured to speak. How could one hope to remain irate and impassive in the face of such passion and truth
, especially when it was as though the very idea of your existence seemed paramount in keeping such a man from spiraling out of control? What was one to do? How was one expected to react? Ellie hadn't the slightest. Suspended momentarily between rapture and reverence, none could fault her for her lack of words.

"I trust you,"
she finally breathed, more a sigh than anything else. She reached out, finding the silken bed of his dark mane she raked gentle fingers through it, elation and some other indefinable emotion making her heart light. "I trust you with all that I am, Nicholas." He lowered his head onto her lap, his arms coming round to encircle her waist. "Just don’t shut me out.” She smiled wanly, her feather light touch achingly tender upon his cheek. "We’ve come too far to revert back to that."

Indeed they had. “I’m sorry
,” he whispered softly. “I don’t mean to shut you out, Ellie. I just don’t want to worry you unless I absolutely have to.”

“Worrying is what I do, Nicky. But I appreciate your consideration. Don’t keep me in the dark for too long about this.”

Nicholas rose up to kiss her. “I’ll keep you informed.”

"We did as ordered, Sir, and had him followed last night.”

"And?"

"And after leaving your children, he drove to this building," The man slid three sets of black and white photographs across the expanse of the table which Nicholas grabbed and silently surveyed. "It’s located about forty minutes out of town."

Dark brows drew together over shrewd gray eyes, sparing his informant a perfunctory look, Nicholas quietly asked
, "Do we know who owns this building?"

"No
Sir, but we've been working very closely with Bones and will have that information within the next hour or so."

Setting the photographs back on the table, Nicholas leaned back in his chair, his pensive gaze assessing the three gentlemen he'd gathered in his office. They were
, of course, the very best at what they did. Having been in his employ for years now, the men all knew what to expect from him and Nicholas from them.

Lloyd Webster, the one who'd given him the photographs
, along with Jasen Franks, was given charge over Nicholas’s children, while Edward Littleton was charged with Ellie’s safety. He himself had Broderick, who after so many years of service had yet to fail him. It was in the hands of these four individuals, Nicholas instilled the lives of those dearest to him. Now, more than ever before, he needed their expertise on the matter at hand—namely how to deal with Hunter without the involvement of his family, especially his eldest daughter.

He would speak with Sophie soon and even if he had to keep her home from school in the time it took to handle Hunter, then Nicholas would do just that. The man could prove to be dangerous
; keeping his family safe was top priority.

"Very good.
Keep a close eye on him for the time being, I'll have Broderick assign Jacobs to cover your position for now. Any suspicious behavior from Hunter, I want to know immediately." With that, all three gentlemen vacated the room, leaving Nicholas to his work. But work was the furthest thing from his mind. His conversation with Ellie the evening before occupied his thoughts.

Knowing he had a propensity for getting carried away when his family was threatened, Nicholas couldn't fault Ellie her fear of his life. Heaven only knew how many enemies he'd accrued over the last decade or so. Men, equally as ruthless as himself with the same dogged streak
, would stop at nothing to see him dead and buried were constantly at his tail. They wanted the downfall of his company, waited with bated breath for him to slip up somehow. Too bad for them, Nicholas had the Devil's own luck. But that did not mean they wouldn't target his family just to get to him.

It'd happened before and sadly it was happening again. Only this time, Nicholas would take precaution in dealing with Hunter and whoever his associate was. He would, as Ellie suggested
, put the matter in the hands of the proper authorities and see that they were prosecuted to the full extent of the law—Hunter especially.

If
, however, the fine men in blue failed in doing their job, then Nicholas would do things his way.

The sturdy knock on his office door pulled him from his rumination. Calling for the visitor to enter, he smiled offhandedly as his godfather progressed into the room, his noticeable gait one of
the few things that hinted at his age. But, despite his advanced years, Terran Jacobs was anything but senile. The spark of intelligence shining in his midnight eyes always kept Nicholas on his toes. He still stood proud and tall, despite his aching knee. The ever present sneer graced his weathered features, the look serving in keeping Ethan and Nicholas’s own children in line.

Terran
had never been a handsome man—what with eyes as dark as his, and furrowed brows that were always too thick, a nose that was more beak than anything else and a mouth forever drawn in that impossibly thin line, he was nowhere near handsome.

Despite what he lacked cosmetically, he more than made up in the way he showed affection, especially for the woman Nicholas called mother. Marriage to his mother had softened the old man, and though not many would notice the slight changes, Nicholas did, only because
Terran had been more father to him than his own had been. They had been through many things together and each and every one of those times, Terran had been there for Nicholas. Whether it was to provide an ear to listen or a temporary haven of escape, his godfather had always been there; desert dry wit and all, always assuring in that acerbic way of his that things weren't always as dire as it seemed.

There weren't many people Nicholas respected and even fewer he admired, but to him, his godfather was above the rest, coming at a close second to Ellie and his mother.

"How goes it, old man?" he asked with a genuine smile on his face. Rising from his chair he made to help Terran into another, but stopped short at the iciness in his dead of night black eyes.

"Sit, boy, I am not an invalid. I am in the right mind to hit you with this cane if you take another step." He appeared vexed enough to carry out the threat, so Nicholas, being as wise as he was, reclaimed his seat and tried to fight the laughter that threatened to spring up.

Sitting was a bit of a struggle for him, but Nicholas watched as he accomplished the task without the slightest bit of discomfort on his face. Finally seated in the mahogany leather upholstered chair across from him, he set his cane by Nicholas’s desk and peered at him through narrowed eyes. "It is bad enough I have your mother coddling me, I will not have it from you."

"I wouldn't dream of it,
Terran,” Nicholas replied wryly. Rising from his seat again, he ambled over to ebony glazed armoire situated near the floor to ceiling bookcase that took up the better part of the expansive office space and pulled the double doors apart. Reaching for one of several crystal decanters, he withdrew his favorite and filled two tumblers to the midway point. Carrying both glasses back, Nicholas handed one to his godfather, who, after taking a generous swig, peered at the tumbler and nodded with approval.

"Your mother has cut me off. Good to know I can always depend on you to bolster my spirits."

Nicholas smirked and raised his glass to him. "Glad I can be of help."

"Right then, let's get
down to business. You said something in your call about my contact with Thomas?"

Nicholas nodded,
setting his tumbler down, he grabbed the leather bound dossier on his desk and handed it to Terran. "We might need him again very soon. I want to put Hunter and whoever he's working for away for a very long time and, if at all possible, I'll need your friend to preside over the trial."

Looking up briefly from the dossier
, Terran asked with a raised brow, "You want to take this to court?"

"Ellie has advised me to allow the authorities to take care of him. I will do things her way...for the time being."

Terran assessed his godson with shrewd eyes. Knowing Nicholas for as long as he did, he'd learn to read between the lines a very long time ago. There'd always been hidden implications in Charles’s tone when he'd spoke that'd made people take pause, his son, had undoubtedly inherited the trait. There was more of Charles in Nicholas than most people cared to admit, but Terran saw glimpses of it once in a rare while, like now, for example, and he had to wonder exactly what was happening beneath all that dark hair. "Take caution, Nicholas. You've been very lucky so far and have gotten away with many, many horrific crimes. But your luck is bound to run out and, if and when it does, it will be your family that suffers for it. You would be wise in heeding Ellie’s advice and keep your hands clean in this."

"I intend to
,” he said quietly, walking away to pour himself another drink.

Business and what entailed it took up the better part of his godfather's visit.

~*~*~*~

The
new year came and went rather uneventfully. The small party they'd held strictly for family and close friends had gone on well into the early hours of morning. The children, of course, had been made to go to bed just after the bell tolled midnight, while their parents drank themselves into stupors and played games that were not for the ears of children. The week of the new year proceeded as usual and with the children scheduled to return to school the following week, Ellie wanted to spend one last weekend with all of them.

Nicholas’s call for a family meeting
, however, put everything to a halt. Family meetings, as most had come to learn, meant someone had done something grievously wrong to either piss off their father or was on the road to doing something stupid and needed a good lecture. Either way, the dour expression on Nicholas’s face when Ellie, with their children in tow, entered the room, did not bode well. He paced the expanse of the living room, long legs ate up what little distance there was, while the air practically crackled with his agitation.

"Nicky
.” Ellie approached him and furtively reached out a hand to halt the aimless trudging. "Nicholas, what's going on?"

He stopped short and led Ellie to the sectional sofa right beside Bella, while Sophie and Dylan occupied the love seat and
La-Z-Boy, respectively. He himself remained standing, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking. "Where is Andrew?" this he addressed to Sophie.

"In the game room I think…
why? What's going on?"

"First, I need you to understand that this decision was not an easy one to make and
if there was a second option, I would've chosen it. However, after acquiring the information I have, I can safely say that it will be the best choice for everyone. Even if you may not agree." Nicholas read the concern and apprehension warring across his eldest daughter’s face and silently wondered whether those emotions would turn into anger and hatred once she learned of what he'd done. "It has come to my attention that Andrew Hunter isn't who he says he is. In fact, Andrew Hunter isn't even his real name."

The chorus of confused and astonished cries was as Nicholas anticipated
. Steeling himself for what was to come, he continued, "I've learned that his real name is Julian Hunter Andrews. One of the many aliases he's had over the years. He's also been running from the Feds for just as long."

"What?" Sophie stood, disbelief contorting her fine features. She looked at Nicholas
, her mouth gaping wide, seemingly at a loss for words. "I…this is ridiculous. God, Dad, I know you don’t like the guy, but fabricating something like this just to make him look bad? That's just sick, even for you."

"It’s the truth, Sophie. I wouldn't lie to you, especially about something like this! Hunter is a criminal and I'm afraid he's been using you…"

"God! Stop it! Just shut up!"

"Sophie!" Ellie was immediately on her feet and between Nicholas and a fuming Sophie. "You're way out of line! You know better than to speak to me or Nicholas in that manner. Now apologize and let's just look at this from a rational standpoint
, OK?”

"There's nothing rational about what he's saying! It's absolutely ridiculous and holds no substance whatsoever. I know the whole freaking family doesn't want me to be with Andrew. I know he and I aren't exactly a matched pair but to have Dad do something like this…"

"I understand you're angry, Sophie, but you have to understand that protecting each and every one of you is my top priority. I would do anything and everything within my power to keep you all safe, even if it means protecting you from scumbags like Hunter. Be pissed all you want, but I will not jeopardize your safety nor this family's for
anyone
. "

Sophie shook her head, mutedly stared at the man she called father and said with certainty
, "Andrew wouldn't lie to me. He may not be all the things you'd want for me in a boyfriend, but he wouldn't lie to me."

Dylan snorted. "He's done more than that
,” he muttered and averted his gaze at Sophie’s scowl.

"That's not the point."

"I'm afraid it is the point, Sophie,” Nicholas countered. Stooping down he picked up the leather bound book from the coffee table and handed it to her. "Despite what you may believe of him, Andrew Hunter is a criminal, a con-artist. All the proof you need is in that folder."

Wearily, almost as though being handed the head of a venomous snake, Sophie accepted the black leather bound folder and slowly pulled it open. Despite its beautiful, well-crafted exterior, the folder held secrets she wasn't sure she was ready to face
, and if her father was to be trusted, then what Sophie would find could be quite as devastating as his damning words. But what reason would Nicholas have to lie? Sophie silently wondered. What could he possibly have to gain?

For as long as Sophie had known him, for all their family had borne
, there was one thing Sophie had always been able to count on—Nicholas’s honesty. Nicholas’s love and loyalty to all of them. Their father was devoted to them and instinctively, Sophie knew, deep down she knew that he would never do anything to purposely hurt her. Never once had he treated Sophie less than his own biological child and never once had Sophie doubted him, even in those early, turbulent days when her parents' love had been so wounded. Never had she doubted this man.