His Darkness, Her Secrets

Chapter Sixteen

"Okay, well, I have to get back to work. If you need anything, don't hesitate to give me a callback." He says.

"Thank you for everything, Noah," I whisper.

"Always." He grins.

I smile even harder. He is always looking out for all of us and asks for nothing in return. He is perfect.

"Bye, Noah," I say.

"Talk to you later, cookie." He says before ending the call.

"For fuck sake, not cookie," I mutter to myself.

I toss the phone onto the couch, swallow the aspirin and drink the water. I lay back, resting my head on one of my decorative pillows, and just stare up at the ceiling. Noah stepped in last night to protect me. If Chris would have brought me home, I have a feeling we wouldn't have stayed with our clothes on. I would have woken up regretting everything. No matter what, Chris isn't ever going to be mine. And right now, I am finally feeling okay with that. Why chase what I can't have? When what I want is right in front of me.

I turn to lay on my side, now focusing on the scattered magazines I have on my table. Nathan. His name catches my eyes. I quickly sit up and grab the gossip magazine. The title read, "Nathan Nicks is back in town" It was a photo of Nathan and another man they are at the airport walking through a swarm of paparazzi. His head is down, and the other man has his hand out in front of Nathan, protecting him. He must be a bodyguard.

"What the hell?"

I looked at the date, and it's dated last week. Nicks... Nicks. He did say his name was Nicks at the club. I didn't think anything of it. I read on. "Nathan Nicks award-winning director is back in town after the loss of his father, Roberto Vincent Russo." Oh my goodness! His dad died? He seemed so content, unbothered even. I would have never known that he lost a loved one recently by his attitude.

A ping of pity and regret runs through me. He is going through something and all I thought about throughout the week is sleeping with him. What is wrong with me? I continue to read the article. The journalist mentioned a few tv shows I love that I didn't even know Nathan produced and directed. I'm not up to date in the Hollywood stuff anymore. I haven't been for years, not since...

Darkness floods over me. Not today, don't think about that today. I close the magazine and place it back onto the table. I feel uneasy after hearing about his fathering passing. I scroll through my phone, searching to see if I still had Stefano's phone number logged. He had called me several times before to nag about a date. I declined every time, and he kept calling. He hasn't in a while tho. Marco must have finally told him to fuck off. It is his fault Stefano had my number in the first place. Shaking my head and giggling at the sight of Stefano getting knock out at Marco's family gym/boxing class. He would get distracted every time I walked in and would suffer one of Marco's deadly right hooks.

"Found it." I had it logged under the name "Never gonna happen."

I shoot him a text with my condolences for his family's loss. I asked how he was doing and If he had Nathan's number. I plug my phone up to the charger in the kitchen and head to shower.

Marco

"With physical therapy..."

The doctor's voice fades to a muffle. My legs?! My fucking legs?! I'm taken aback at the realization that I may never walk again! I may never fight again! I may never fuck again! I look up at Kesha, who is nodding, listening to the doctor explain my injuries and his plans to get me "back up and running." She has stood by me through all this; they all have. But Kesh has been my rock. When I was under, it was her voice I heard the clearest. Her voice was stopping me from giving up, preventing me from walking into that bright light reuniting with my mother. Kesha is my angel, and after going through all of this, I couldn't be any more sure.