Always next to you

Chapter Fifty-One

AIDEN

Jonas ran outside the building immediately sending his men to chase after Benjamin. I was more worried about Nicole because she looked so terrified. It made me wonder what Benjamin said to her.

There was no way he would know who she was if he was not aware of my kidnapping, but I couldn't ask here. The party continued like nothing happened and we could not alarm anyone.

Luckily, Halo noticed Nicole's discomfort too and came to where we stood. Jessi was too busy with her current conversation to move.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Benjamin was here," I replied. "He said something to Nicole,"

"Nicole are you alright?" he asked, but she did not respond.

She continued to stare at the floor deep in her thoughts.

"That's it. We're leaving," I declared.

I took off my jacket and placed it across her shoulder. The physical touch caused her to look up at me and I could see the fear in her eyes. Why was she reacting this way after meeting Benjamin Callisto for the first time?

To support her, I gave her a small smile of reassurance and escorted her out of the venue. Halo went to tell Jessi what happened, and I knew in about thirty minutes, we would all be gone from the event.

Things have always been like this for us. We came together and left together even if we were using different cars. If our parents dropped us first, we would wait until everyone else in our clique was there before going inside the hall.

I put Nicole in my car and put on her seatbelt for her before rushing over to the driver's seat. Her face slowly grew pale, and I feared she would throw up. I waited in the car, leaving the window open for air to come in.

She might actually throw up if we left now, and it was better for Jessi to come out and see her first. Back when she was sick in her apartment, he was also clueless until Mia and Jessi showed up to save the day.

As if on cue, Jessi came out of the building with Halo and rushed for his car. They both tried to hide the reason for their living by smiling at the people going in late.

When they got to my car, Jessi opened the door to the other seats and climbed inside the car.

"Where's Jonas?" she asked.

"Off to find Benjamin. We need to leave now in case things get bloody," Aiden said.

She nodded knowing how it worked. Although Jonas has been actively working with us, we knew he had been hunting Benjamin down. How fearless of him to show up at an event to taunt Nicole.

Thinking about it made my blood boil. I should have punched him harder for putting his hands on Nicole, but I had to let Jonas handle this one.

"How is Nicole?" Halo asked.

"She has barely spoken and she might be sick," I replied.

"Then let's go home," Jessi said. "She should be fine after some rest,"

I closed the windows and started the drive back to my house. Nicole turned her eyes out the window, watching the lights as we passed by. Seeing her this way broke something in me and it made me feel incompetent.

Even if Benjamin had not said anything to her, she would have been scared of meeting anyone related to her mother. Nicole did her best to be strong in front of others but I could see her fear and anxiety.

The mere fact that she did not feel any safer with me was a strong blow to my heart. I wanted her to return to the strong and feisty Nicole I knew, but she broke down everything things like these happened to her.