Beautiful Disaster (The Bet) (21 page)

Ellie's eyes fluttered shut
,
welcoming the kiss. Nicholas gathered her close, his arms spanning her waist and Ellie's hands settled on his shoulders, fingers trailing effortlessly to the hair at his nape. The kiss was achingly gentle, so sweet that Ellie felt the goose bumps for
ming across her skin. Nicholas'
tongue brushed lightly a
gainst hers, a lover's caress. I
t whispered along her lips and left her wanting more. The sensual thrill had her lightheaded and when Nicholas finally permitted Ellie breath, her knees buckled and she would've fallen
,
had it not been for his unrelenting hold.

"Don't look so cocky," Ellie chided sighting that damnable smirk.

"I would never." The cocky smirk belied his words.

Nicholas instantly noticed the
the burgeo
ning bruise on Ellie's cheek with a frown
. "What happened?" Ellie winced as Nicholas brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek and watched as his frown deepened.

"Tony happened, that two-faced junkie, I knew I shouldn't have trusted him."

Proud of how well he reined in his anger, Nicholas asked, "Are you alright?"

Ellie nodded, "I'm fine
. H
e just caught me by surprise. I just feel so stupid for thinking he'd changed."

"Did you want him to?' he asked carefully.

"Well
,
yeah. Despite our history, I do wish him well. It's just---I don't know, it would've been nice to see him clean, you know? Start a better a life for himself so he could finally be a part of Sophie's life." Ellie wearily sighed
,
resting her head against Nicholas's shoulder. "I'm just glad you're here. Stay with me?"

"You couldn’t keep me away." He kissed her on top of her head, holding her close.

Nicholas’s fingers
sifted through her hair stopping every now and then to soothingly scratch h
er scalp. Ellie happily sighed. T
his was the most relaxed she'd been in a long while. The fingers in her hair, the gentle circular motion of the hand at her back and the sound of Nicholas's steady heart beat beneath her ear
,
lulled Ellie into a quiet sense of serenity.

The flickering scenes from the muted television screen cast shadows in the darkened living room. Content in the comfortable silence, Ellie and Nicholas basked in the other
’
s company, speaking only when absolutely nece
ssary. The subject of Nicholas'
family arose a while ago and Ellie had listened attentively while Nicholas vented, providing an input only when he'd asked for it.

"Something else is bothering you." Ellie said a little while later, sensing the tension in his body. She toyed with the silver pendant hanging from the chain around his neck. "I can feel it. Talk to me, Nicky."

The Bet. The dreaded thought smashed against the walls of Nicholas's mind like a deathly blow and he winced. Several times over the last few weeks he'd tried to come up with the best way to tell Ellie about the Bet, but none of the scenarios he'd conjured had been pleasant. Now Nicholas was forced to tell her and he didn't know exactly how to go about doing that.

Ellie sensed Nicholas’s agitation. She
immediately rose and stared at him, concern in her expressive hazel eyes. Guilt and sorrow had him on tenterhooks, bile
skimmed the back of Nicholas'
throat and he had to swallow a few times to rid himself of the bitterness. He pulled away from the hand that reached out to comfort him, knowing that he didn't deserve her comfort.

"Nicky---"

Nicholas held up his hands, cutting off
Ellie
. With growing concern, Ellie watched as he raked his fingers through his hair. He sighed heavily, the weight of the world seemingly on his shoulders. Ellie made another attempt to touch him but was taken aback by the forceful "No." that followed Nicholas's abrupt rise from the couch.

"Don't…just don't…" The anguish painted on his face had Ellie on her feet.

"Nicholas," she hedged closer, taking his hands in hers when he allowed her close enough. "God Nicky, you're shaking. What is it? You're scaring
me." He was usually so composed and
grounded,
so
to see him this way unnerved Ellie.

The fear on her face didn't help matters at all. Nicholas blew out a sigh, hoping that an ounce of the misery flooding his lungs would escape with it.

"I've done some pretty fucked up things in my life and I've have never,
ever
felt the need to repent for them. I've purposefully hurt people to make them feel as horribly as I felt inside." He pulled away from her, knowing he wouldn't be able to withstand the
revulsion that would inevitably come,
once he'd explained his misdeeds.

"What are you saying?" Ellie asked, watching him as he paced the length of her living room.

"I'm saying that I intentionally slept with people, made them fall in love with me and destroyed them in the worst possible way. You were my next conquest. I took a bet out on you, Ellie, vowing that I'd get you in bed within a month and get proof of the deed, all for a goddamned bike."

It would've been more effective had he reached into her chest and yanked out her heart with his bare hands. Breathing was a challenge, forming words was nearly impossible. The fact that she even managed to take a step back from him as he reached out for her was a feat.

"Ellie please…please…"

"A bet?" she asked softly, voice sounding strange to even her own ears.

"Only for the first two weeks, Ellie, I swear it to you." Ellie took another step back as Nicholas took one forward.

"That's supposed to make it better? I let you get close, Nicholas...let you get near my daughter and you took a fucking bet on me? You deliberately set out to hurt me?" She sounded incredulous. The notion of his betrayal seemed
inconceivable
.

Nicholas could've settled for her enmity, even if she'd threatened bodily harm he would've been able to withstand it. But this---this raw hurt frozen over glassy hazel eyes was just too much.

With lightening quick reflexes Nicholas gathered her in his embrace, his grip unyielding, holding steadfast in the face of her struggles. With the passion of a thousand fools in love
,
he declared it so. "I'm a selfish, cruel and possessive guy, have been for all my life. But the very moment I'm in your presence, the very moment you smile at me, I want to be a different man. I
become
a different man." His words were fever hot against her ear and when he pulled her away, Nicholas anchored
his
gaze to
hers
, needing her to understand the depths of his emotions.

He needed her to u
nderstand the drastic changes his soul was undergoing. It was all for her,
because
of her. "I can stand here and tell you how much I regret taking on that bet, Ellie, but I can't do that. Meeting you, getting to know you, being around you has been the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Their f
oreheads and bodies pressed achingly close together that it barely left room for anything else. "It physically hurts me to know that I've hurt you like this and I'm so sorry, Ellie. Please…please forgive me." Words provoked tears, blurring her vision.

"Why should I believe you?" she croaked glaring up at him despite the tears that fell.

"Because I love you." He emphatically replied. "I love you so much that it scares me, Ellie. But life isn't
life
without you. I'm a better me because of you."

What exactly was a girl to say after all that? A declaration of undying love from a man who didn't even seem capable of understanding the depths behind those words. Yet
,
here he was, the venerable reincarnate of Casanova himself surrendering his heart at her feet and had Ellie not seen it herself, she would've never believed it possible.

The depths of his emotions
were
written across his face, the intensity in steel grey eyes so daunting that Ellie had to look away. If Nicholas was lying to her, then Ellie truly had to give it up to him because no one could fake
that
depth of emotion
.

"Did you call it off?" She was dying to speak the three letter words pinching at her lips, but first Ellie needed to understand a few things.

"Yes."

She pulled away from him
,
but still allowed him
to
hold her hands. "And Maddie, she was part of your games, wasn't she? That's why she didn't want me to be around you?" God, poor Maddie. The pain she must've felt.

"Yes."

She'd expected it
,
but the answer still felt like a punch to the stomach.

"Am I the last?" Nicholas's grip on her hand tightened to the point where Ellie feared for her fingers.

"I swear it." He said fervently.

Her smile was slow in coming, still wary. She tentatively wound her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Good." She said simply, incapable of saying those three little words in her current mood.

Realizing he'd been given a second chance, Nicholas held her tightly, praying to whatever deity that was looking out for him that he wouldn't screw
up this time
.

Chapter
Nine

Her grandmother sat in a near apoplectic state of shock. Maddie sat across from her, toying with the frayed sleeves of her hooded sweater. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand came to rest on her shoulder, remembering suddenly that they were not alone.

Her concerned "friend" at her side. Tony sat on the armrest of the loveseat Maddie was in, tenderly caressing her neck and Maddie was filled with the need to shrug off that hand. But she wouldn't dare, Tony would cut her off.

“Pregnant, Maddie? How…how?"

She'd always believed her a sweet little girl, virginal…saintly. Maddie inwardly scoffed at that, wondering how her grandmother would react if she told her she'd participated in her very first orgy only last night? Three guys, one girl. Tony had rewarded her pretty damn well after that.

Summoning enough tears to the surface, Maddie wrung her hands, bit her bottom lip and put enough tremble in her voice to make it believable. "I was…I was raped." Just like they'd practiced.

Tony inwardly grinned. Like a marionette being pulled along on invisible strings, the decrepit hag ran to her granddaughter's side and began to anxiously drill her about what happened. "Who raped you?"

Yes, everything was falling into place. With everyone playing their parts so perfectly, he wouldn’t need to do a damn thing. It would only be a matter of time before he had Ellie again.

"Are you sure about this? I could just stay home…"

Gabe sighed and glared at his goddaughter. "For the last time, Ellie, go. Soph and I will be just fine without you here for the weekend. Go have fun, be a teenager for once."

Ellie lugged the duffel bag over her shoulder. "You do realize this trip is going to be a bunch of teenager
s alone in a mountain cabin for
two days…unsupervised...me and Nicholas..."

"Do you want me to forbid you to go? Is that what you want to hear?"

"No, but I am wondering why you aren't going ballistic on me knowing that I'm going to be with Nicholas. You just don't seem too phased by this."

Gabe shrugged. "I trust you. You're a smart girl. I know you won't let something happen that you're not ready to
let
happen. I may not trust Nicholas
,
but I know I like him a hell of a lot more than I like Tony."

"Thanks Gabe, I know how
difficult
it is for you to accept him and I love you for trying." Their embrace was cut short by the sound of the doorbell. Ellie's excitement had Gabe rolling his eyes as he followed her to the door.

"Nicholas." Gabe acknowledged, Nicholas nodded in turn then took Ellie's bag away from her. "She comes back pregnant, I'll rip your throat out."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Kiss Soph goodnight for me Gabe, I'll see you Sunday night." With a kiss on the cheek and a wave goodbye, Ellie followed Nicholas to the ridgeline.

There was something incredibly sensual in the unassuming way Ellie ate her food that had Nicholas shifting in his seat on
several occasions during their meal. It was a
small, quiet dinner for two set by the solitary housekeeper of the cedar wood cabin belonging to Matt's parents.

Rita, the housekeeper,
was a rail thin woman in her mid-forties with sinfully dark hair, grayi
ng slightly at the temples
.
She was a sweet woman with a kind matronly smile that had instantly put Ellie at ease.
She'd informed them upon their arrival earlier that afternoon that she was both chef and housekeeper and could be called any time to ask for whatever they wanted. She'd disappeared soon after into the kitchen and hadn't reemerged until a half an hour ago to set up their dinner.