Nora

Twenty four hours earlier I was in the arms of the man I'd just confessed my love to. I was happy and couldn't imagine life getting any better. I hadn't even known I loved him until I blurted it out and realised how true it was.

Right now I stood outside a state prison.

My hands were shaking as I was led into an isolated room. I kept my head down, not meeting the eyes of anybody. I hadn't told anyone where I was. Nicolas would know eventually, and he'd flip out, but I needed to do this right now. I sat down on a plastic chair, biting my nail, looking here and there. I'd never been here. It was always too overwhelming to even think of coming here. The aura itself was bad, negative. 

When the door to the room opened, I stood up hastily, the chair toppling down in the process. But it didn't matter. My eyes took in the amber green eyes, perfectly cropped brown hair now unruly, a light stubble on the usually clean shaven jaw. His eyes showed sheer surprise. "Nora?"

"K-Kyle." I sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

He shut his eyes close, biting down on his bottom lip. He walked over to the chair in front of me and sat down, motioning for me to sit down as well. I looked down as I did, my eyes watering. "This is my fault. Everything is my fault-"

"You're here." Was all he said. "You came to see me after five years."

I looked up at him. He looked lost, adrift. His expression made me clutch the seat tightly. "I-I don't-"

"Don't cry. You know I don't like it." He said and kept his hands on the table. They were bound together by a handcuff, and a wrecked sob erupted from my chest upon seeing his condition. "Nora," He said softly. "Please don't."

I lifted my hands up to hold his. They were rough and calloused, nothing like the soft ones I remembered. "I'm sorry. Please. I don't know what to do. I haven't-"

"It's not your fault." He whispered. "You have to stop beating yourself up-"

"But it is!" I cried out. "I knew about it and I still-"

"They forced you." He murmured urgently. "Listen to me, none of this is your fault, okay? You didn't have a choice. All this time, everyday, I'd wished you'd come so that I could tell you I didn't blame you. I knew the risks."

"It was my duty to protect you-"

"I wasn't a child, Nora. I didn't need to be looked after."

I looked at his face with teary eyes. He was just two years younger than me, but he'd always been mature for his age. His face still held the familiar look of fascination when it rested upon me, and that made the tears run down. I was his role model, his idol. He looked up to me, and I'd let him down.

"Hey, I come out in a month. That's good news, yeah?" He smiled.

"Kyle, I-" My throat closed up. "I can't tell you how sorry I am-"

"Dude, come on. You flew all the way over here to parrot to me?" He asked. "Tell me how's life?"

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I blinked back the tears and gave him a small smile. "It's good. Better than ever, actually."

He raised an eyebrow. "Mm, that's good. How's work?"

I bit down on my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. "Okay."

Kyle squinted his eyes. "Why do you sound constipated while saying that?"

Despite the situation, I still gave a small laugh. "It's a bit difficult right now-"

"Nothing you can't handle, I'm sure." He said with a grin. A sound buzzed in the room, making his grin drop. He blinked, taking in a harsh breath. "I need to go."

I nodded, begging my tears to not fall. "Kyle-"

"Thank you for coming, Nora." He looked in my eyes as I got up. "I needed this. I needed you to pump me up and remind me I've still got a hell lot of life left after I leave this place in a month. You've always been lucky for me. I'll miss you."

"I'll come again." I said. "I promise."

He gave me a small smile. "Then I'll see you soon."

They took him away without another word. I sat in the chair for a while longer, collecting my thoughts. Then I got up, wiped the tears with the back of my palm and walked out. My phone rang constantly and I took it out of my purse when I was on the streets.

"Where the fuck have you been-"

"Nico." I whispered softly.

There was a pause on the other end. Then, "I'm coming."

My heart constricted painfully in my chest. He knew what I'd wanted without me saying it out loud. He understood. I knew he'd find out where I was. I knew I could go to any corner of this entire planet and he'd still find out where I was. He'd give me my space but look after me at the same time. I didn't think I loved him more than I did at that moment.

Nicolas found me sitting on a pavement two hours later. He rushed out of the car, pulled me into his arms and held on. Kissing my hair he whispered, "I've got you."

I twisted in his arms, grabbing onto his shoulders. "I know."

He lifted me up, carrying us over to the backseat of the car. I could tell he had a lot of questions, but he just held me patiently, not asking anything. His fingers traced my thigh, drawing patterns that I couldn't recognise. "Thank you." I said after a while. "For coming."

"I've told you there's nothing in this whole goddamn world that I won't do for you, Nora." He said back. "Are you okay? I need to know that."

I took a deep breath. "I will be."

"Will you tell me what happened?"

"There's something I need to do first when we get back." I said. "But yes, I will."

We drove in silence. His hand was holding mine and he intertwined our fingers, letting me know he wasn't going anywhere. We stopped outside a club and he pulled me out of the car. His arm was protective around my waist as we rode up the elevator, onto the top most floor. Lorenzo was waiting for us there. His eyes roamed down my figure, possibly to check for any kind of injuries, and he nodded to himself when he didn't see any.

"Are you okay?" Benjamin asked me. I nodded my head, making him press his phone to his ear and mutter, "We found her. She's alright."

Nicolas led us to the loft, where I found a helicopter resting. The blades were moving and it's doors were open. Unlike the last time, I saw a pilot sitting in front of the control. Nico helped me in, getting in behind me. I curled into him as we flew up. 

It was a two hour flight. The fact that he had come to get me without knowing the reason, leaving everything behind and putting me first, made me so emotional I wanted to bury my head in his neck and cry. I was blinded by adoration as I tilted my head up and pressed a kiss to his lips.

I told him I needed to stop by my office for a while. He himself had some work, so he dropped me and left, not before giving me a ferociously possessive kiss. Matthew waited for me with the car as I rode up the elevator. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Gracie was surprised to see me. It was, indeed, three hours post lunch. She didn't understand why I had bothered to come when I only had an hour left. But I was here for a reason, with a purpose, and I was going to fulfil that. I went into my office, opening the third drawer at my desk, gazing at the white envelope. Taking a deep breath, I went out.

I rode up the elevator to the fiftieth floor. Not a lot of people were here at this point of time. I walked into Charlie's office without bothering to knock. When he saw me, he stopped midway in his sentence. "Nora! What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"

Jack was sitting in front of him, and I saw a look of hope cross his eyes. It annoyed me that he still thought I'd agree with the Razer deal. I passed the white envelope from my hands onto Charlie's desk without a word, and he glanced at it in confusion. "What's this?"

I straightened my back. "That's my resignation letter."

"What?" He got up in shock, his face pale. "What are you talking about?"

Jack got up as well, his mouth open as he picked up the envelope, tearing it open. His eyes moved along the page. "Nora, I- what?"

"I've given you a month's notice, so you have time to fill in my position." I said.

"What the fuck is happening, Nora?" Charlie asked me hastily. "What is this regarding? What happened?"

I shrugged. "It's been on my mind for a long time."

"Why? Is something bothering you?"

"For the matter, Charlie, yes, something's been bothering me for a while now. And today I decided it was finally time to do something about it." 

"Nora," Jack started. "Look, if this is about the Razer deal, I apolo-"

"I went to visit Kyle today." I cut him off. Both of them froze. "And he ultimately made me realise I've been running away from reality. I used to think you respected me, but I was wrong. You didn't understand me then, you don't understand me now."

"You don't have to do the Razer deal, Nora." Charlie began. "But leaving for such a stupid reason is so unnecessary-"

"See that's the problem." I shook my head. "If you knew me, you'd know it wasn't stupid. You'd know why I don't do illegal. You'd know why I don't like Nathan-"

"It was his fault just as much as ours-"

"He was a child!" I shouted. "He didn't understand the consequences. It was our duty to protect him, Charlie. And we failed. All of us. At least I've beaten myself up everyday for ruining five years of his life. What have you done? Nothing! You've sat in that goddamn chair and made billions, never once thinking about him."

"He knew the risks-"

"Like I did?" I scoffed. "Like you assured me everything would be alright? Did you tell him the same? That it would be okay and no one would know?"

Charlie had the audacity to look down. "It was never my intention-"

"You could have saved him." I hissed. "He's serving for someone else's crimes and you could have gotten him out-"

"That would have fucked up everything-"

"You mean you'd have lost Nathan." I blinked back the tears that had formed in my eyes. Never in a million years would I cry in front of them. "You'd have lost a source of earning money-"

"Yes!" He snapped. "You know money is important. You'd have done the same if you were in my position. You'd have understood-"

"I would never, ever, put money above my family." I snapped. "And family doesn't just involve blood for me. I wouldn't ever put people I care about in a position like that. Stop making excuses for your mistakes, Charlie. Your brother is in jail because of you and your business partner, and the least you could've done is fucking visit him and apologise."

I turned around without looking at them, wiping away the stray tears using the back of my palm. Matt didn't ask questions when I entered the car, just checked me for signs of injuries. He drove me to the penthouse, opening the door. "Nora?" He called out when I was about to go inside.

"Yes?"

"Ben and I care about you, not just for work. Lorenzo too. You're our priority just as much as Mr Reid is. If anything bothers you, please don't hesitate."

I gave him am appreciative smile, not finding enough words to thank him. I walked into the building, pushing the button for the topmost floor. Punching in the code for the penthouse, I found Nicolas pacing in the hallway, a blue tooth device in his ear. He was dressed in a suit, the same one he'd picked me up in.

His eyes found mine and he paused for a second. "Joe, I'm gonna have to call you back." He threw away the device from his ear onto the couch, pulled me into his arms. Both of his palms cupped my face and he pressed his lips on mine. When he pushed my head into his neck, that's when the tears began to fall.

He held me, not once complaining. "Shh, I've got you."

*

Aah cliffhanger haha. I'm sure most of you must have figured it out, but if not, it's coming in the next chapter. A lot of your questions would be answered in it, so look out for the next update.

There's gonna be a few more chapters. I'd wanted to make this one shorter, because I have a lot of studies going on and when I say no more books for another year, I mean it (at least I think do). So...yeah.

Happy pappy reading!