Always next to you

Chapter Fifty-One

As soon as we arrived at my house, I was shocked to see Jonas smoking outside with four men kneeling in a lined-up manner. The way he smoked aggressively, it was almost obvious what happened.

Nicole stared at him with shock when we got out of the car. It was probably her first time seeing Jonas smoke.

"What happened?" Jonas asked, blowing out a puff of smoke.

"I think he changed cars, sir," one of the men said.

There was no surprise there. If he came to the event knowing Jonas would be there, he would prepare to save his neck. Jonas would not understand this. His head would be full of anger since he wanted revenge for what happened to his lover.

"And you just let him run?!" Jonas yelled. "Is this what I pay you to do?!"

He reached his hand behind him, and someone handed him a baseball bat. The two men took several steps back after handing him the bat, as if they knew what was coming for their comrades.

"Benjamin disrespected our family and hurt what belongs to me. How dare you let him get away?!" he yelled.

With the cigarette still in his mouth, he took the first swig at the thighs of the first man and he groaned taking the beating. This was nice compared to other scenes I had witnessed.

The display was too violent for Nicole to see, so I took her inside and nodded to Jessi to help calm Jonas down. Once we were in my room, I prepared a bath for Nicole and helped her undress.

I searched around my room for where she kept her bonnet and helped her put it on to protect her braids from getting wet.

"You wouldn't mind a bath right?" I asked. "It's to help you relax,"

She followed me inside the bathroom and climbed into the tub by herself. I guess she really needed it more than I thought. Nicole was always reserved when she was trying to process her thoughts.

After she had done this a few times, I knew this was her nature. My hope was that she would tell me what was on her mind after she was done weighing her options.

Today was supposed to be a fun night for us but as usual, it reminded me of one of the reasons I stopped accepting event invites. I sat at the edge of the tub to help her wash herself then I helped her rinse her body clean and gave her a towel.

Finding her pyjamas was not hard to do. She had arranged them next to mine. There was no way to explain it but although they were all new, they already smelled like her.

After she got dressed in her clothes, I didn't let her walk anymore. I carried her to the bed and laid her on it.

"I have to go shower now, you don't have to wait for me," I told her, placing a kiss on her forehead.

She nodded, and I took that as a good signal and left for the bathroom. While I showered, I hoped Jonas would have solved the problem of his uncle soon. Our plans were going so well and I did not want any disruptions.

So far I have convinced the mayor to wait for my signal before awarding the new housing construction contract to anyone. Jonas offered to protect his family in return and he's been docile since.

There wasn't much left to do. Our plan had to work no matter what. After drying my hair and putting on my sleepwear, I climbed onto the bed to see Nicole staring at the ceiling in deep thought.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

She turned on her sides and forced a smile on her face. It was so fake that it hurt me to see it. I turned to face her and used my fingers to remove the smile.

"You don't have to fake your emotions," I said. "Benjamin has always been an asshole,"

"He didn't know who I was," Nicole said.

It was the first thing she said since the party and it made me feel warmer that she finally opened up.

"I suspected he wouldn't. Not a lot of people know about you," I replied.

"But I recognise his voice. I am very sure I have met him before at least once when I was younger,"

"Why do you say so?"

"I met a lot of people at the party, but he was the only one that made my heart race in a bad way. His voice clicked in my mind and that has never happened before,"

"It's ok. Take your time. I'm sure you'll remember where you've seen him. For now, you need sleep,"

"But I can't sleep,"

"You did great today. I was worried when Mrs Calllisto took me away but you handled yourself well,"

"My Instagram followers have been growing too,"

"Why?"

"There are pictures of us from the event online,"

"Oh, I forgot it was a charity event,"

"You did donate right?"

"Of course, I wrote your name on the envelope,"

I took her hand and kissed it. She closed her eyes and tried her best to fall asleep. When It wasn't working, I pulled her to my chest, and she slowly drifted off to the sound of my heartbeat.

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Song recommendation: Star - Colde