The Troubleshooter

41- Taking the blame

Nico POV

"Dude! What the fuck?! You can't just run out the room like that, Lili needs you" Matt hisses the minute he catches up with me outside.

My stomach is rolling at the thought of Lili's face. All the excited stomach flips I usually get from seeing my girl have been replaced with pure rage that someone dared to touch her. That I hadn't dealt with Benji already.

I was completely serious when I said I'm gonna cut off his hand.

"Nico! Snap the fuck out of it!" Matt shouts. I look at my oldest friend and just feel defeated. I'd let him down in the worst way. He trusted me with his sister and I failed to protect her.

"I fucked up" I admit.

"Just go back in, say you went for a piss" Matt shrugs.

"No, I fucked up by not dealing with Benji. That guy has always been a cunt. Why do you think I broke his jaw the first time he showed interest in Lili? If I had dealt with Benji, Lili wouldn't be in there right now" I say looking up at the hospital.

"You can't be responsible for that fucking psycho" Matt reasons.

"Can't I? I knew he had this fucked up possessive mindset towards women and I didn't do shit about it! And now look. She could have fucking died!"

"But she didn't. You got there in time"

"By dumb fucking luck! I was sitting outside reading while she was in a burning building! I didn't even get an alert from the fire alarm!" I rant tugging at my own hair in frustration.

"None of us did. Leo says the fire alarm was disabled for the whole floor. He's there now handling shit" Matt explains.

"Im like a fucking curse. Everything I touch goes to shit! My Ma, your Pa, now Lili's hurt and I'm the one who brought him into your lives. All I've done since I met you is give your family shit! I had no right getting involved with Lili!"

"You're so fucking vain. How the fuck do you think my Pa's cancer had shit to do with you? Shit fucking happens Nico now get it together and handle it! You're supposed to be the troubleshooter, not the whining little bitch!" Matt shouts.

"I dunno… Whining little bitch seems to suit Nico right now." Sophie says from behind me. I love Sophie, but I'm really not in the mood for a legal preaching right now.

"I don't know what you two are planning, but you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, quit just standing here gossiping, and," she pauses, "look I will deny ever saying this. But you better seriously fuck him up for what he's done to Lili. Make that bastard suffer!" She orders us, looking pissed. She may be a dwarf but she looks scary when she's mad.

Sophie steps closer cupping my face in her hands and studying me with a slight frown.

"Do your eyes hurt?" She asks, I shake my head slightly swallowing my emotions. The motherly concern she's showing is so foreign to me, I didn't realise how much I desired it.

Sophie continues studying my face looking for any sign that I might not be ok, finally giving a satisfied nod and dropping her hands to wrap around my body pulling me into a hug.

Her actions take me completely by surprise and I freeze for a moment before wrapping my arms around her to hug her back.

"We were so worried" Sophie confesses.

"I had Lili, I wouldn't let her get hurt" I reassure her.

"We were worried about you stupid!" She says pushing my chest. "You ran through flames! You could have been so hurt! Don't ever do something so stupid again!"

"It's not like I had planned it Soph, and I can't make that promise to you. I'd run through fire a thousand times to save her" I confess.

"God, were you ever that romantic?" Sophie asks Matt, making him scowl. "Find him quickly then come back to us, ok?"

"Will you be ok while we're gone?" Matt asks her, pulling her from me into a hug of his own. I see his territorial cave man is alive and well.

"I'll be fine, your Ma has Lili, Leo is dealing with the fire, I will take care of the office business, Chianti can handle the bar, it's just until Lili feels up to it" Sophie lists on her fingers.

"What about Ella?" I ask, suddenly aware of her absence.

"With her uncle Eddy and Maddie but I'll head back soon"

"The wedding?" I suggest.

"Postponed," Matt says solemnly. "We agreed on the way here that the family being safe and well was the priority. And handling Benji is what our family needs to feel safe right now"

Sophie nods beside him, slipping her hand into his, and leaning into the side of his body.

"I'll deal with Benji." I vow.

"We'll deal with Benji" Matt corrects me, he should have learned not to fuck with our family! Now go start the car unless you want to watch us make out" he orders tossing his keys to me.

I can't help but chuckle at Sophie's pink embarrassed face as Matt scoops her off her feet into a kiss they should definitely have saved for when they were in private.

I'm waiting for almost five minutes before Matt joins me in the car.

"Where first?" He asks.

"Benji's office, let's see where he's hiding." As the car pulls out I call Liv and Trish who are holding the American offices putting out the order to watch the airport's. I want Benji captured alive with the promise of a six figure reward.

I pull up outside The building containing Benji's office and stride in past the security guard heading straight for the elevator. Benji's floor is silent as expected for a Sunday, but that just means that I can help myself to information.

"Can I help you?" A woman asks softly. I hadn't even noticed her sitting at the desk.

"Where's Chun?!" I demand. Making her flinch at my tone.

"Dude, you're gonna scare her, she didn't do anything!" Matt scolds me. I swear Sophie has turned him soft. "What's your name?" He asks her.

"Amber" she replies a little hesitant.

"Amber, we're looking for Mr Chun. It's really important and it's kinda time sensitive. Can you tell us where we can find him?" Matt flashes his pearly white teeth at her making her cheeks darken a shade.

"I'm sorry I don't know," she admits pushing a stray hair behind her ear. "I only know he had a car send him to the airport this afternoon, but there's nothing in his diary."

"Looks like we're heading out of the country" Matt says making me smile a little. This is gonna be just like old times