Authors Note: This is a long chapter for sure! I want to thank @Fevmotionless for helping come up with this idea for Helen, as this part will come in handy later on in the book—be sure to remember that. So sorry for the delay in this chapter, I hope you all enjoy it as it was fun for me to write as we are starting to get more into it. Of course, there is still lots more to come!
Also what Gemma wore tonight is the photo above!
~Helen's POV:~
It was later in the evening; the sunsets have been earlier and earlier as the colder weather approaches. My small little coffee shop had been booming with activity today it made my skin tingle with excitement at the fact it was a full moon tonight.
Noah was working late and had told me he would see me when he could, I was sure I would see him within the next two hours which gave me plenty of time to lock up shop and head down into my basement, I had a hidden room in the basement of my shop—an alter, the last few years when Noah would work late, I would learn more about the gods and goddesses—one in which I would be praying to tonight as the moon shone brightly through the small window I had in the room. It was a temple for me in a way, after the attack and after spending so much time in the darkness, I learnt to embrace the beauty of it.
Lighting the candles around the room as well as on the small alter, I began my worship to the goddess Hekate, the same goddess I learnt about that helped me find beauty once more. I had been doing this for about a year now, none of the guys knew about it and in a way it was thrilling having something to myself. Soft music played from the upstairs where I was cleaning earlier, soft music that reminded me of the darkness and how most would fear it—and at first, so was I but after learning to embrace it, I learnt that it was people who were truly the darkness we feared. Humming along to the soft melody, I closed my eyes as I rang my fingers gently over myself, unbuttoning my shirt to feel empowered.
Not realizing how lost in the trance I had become, as I listened to my body, to the melodies that flowed I hadn't realized how much time had passed.
But the energy tonight felt off, something was brewing as if a storm was about to crash over the ocean. Over the last two years I had been able to pick up on stuff like this, and most the time my judgment was correct.
Once more, being lost in the trance of the goddess I worshipped, I could feel all the past stress I had this week disappear as I felt powerful within myself—Noah always told me I was a goddess to him, and in a way after so long, I started believing him and silently loving when he would worship and praise me when it was just us.
"Helen?" a voice asked out, still lost in my trance I tiled my head back, feeling as if I was bathing in the moons glow. "Helen?" Eyes shooting open at the disturbance, I looked behind me as I was on my knees, Noah stood in the doorway—his brow furrowed in confusion at the sight of me. "I didn't think you prayed?" he questioned, I wasn't religious when we met, and I still don't believe in that—I stuck with the gods and goddesses I did know but you would never find me stepping foot into a church full of corruption.
Small smile bloomed on my cheeks as I shrugged my shoulders casually, Noah came up beside me kneeling in front of my alter. "It's not to the god you're thinking of, I am doing a special ritual for Hekate, I've been following this path for her about a year almost two years now" I said sheepishly.
Noah studied the candles lit in the room. "Does it make you happy?" he asked.
Nodding my head, my hair fell in front of my face before I pushed it back. "It does, I didn't think you were going to be here for another few hours though" I admitted to him.
His eyes studied me, the glow of hunger in his eyes seeing my exposed chest. "I was coming to get you, actually—Saunders is having a party tonight, and I was bringing you along—he told us to bring loved ones and I think I could use your observations tonight" he brought me on missions when he needed me to watch people, since no one really knew me that well it was easy to slip away and watch for things the guys would usually miss since all eyes usually were on them.
"I think I could help with that—if you help me finish my ritual, it's actually kind of romantic in a way and it get's you laid" I chuckled easing him back onto the floor looping my leg over him before straddling his waist, his hands instantly found my hips as the smile grew on his face.
"I think I have time to help you out" his voice was sultry which sent shivers over my skin.
"See, this ritual I am wanting to do—it brings two souls closer together, and since we are going to be married in the future I thought this would be nice to do before then" I admitted sheepishly, worried Noah would make fun of me for it.
His lust filled eyes never left mine though, his thumb rubbed lazy circles on my hips as he sat himself up, stripping of his shirt tossing it aside. "I want to help you anyway I can" he said pressing his lips gently onto my neck, the feeling of his lips making my skin tingle.
"Then let's perform" I said before placing my lips on his own, claiming him as mine and him claiming me as his.
This man was perfect.
~Gemma's POV: ~
The day went by in a blur. Nicholas had left me with one of my fathers' teams while he went to get himself ready for this event tonight. My father told him I would be safe, and we would meet him there, my father spent most his day in meetings, and I would follow his team around until they sent me back into my home to consider getting ready. It was only five and the event started in an hour, my father would be there already since he was the man of the night—most guests wouldn't pay too much attention to me unless my father did, but I didn't even want to go to this stupid event that was apparently such a big deal.
"Gemma, we need to get you ready" my fathers lady Penelope snapped as she held the dress I was to wear tonight, "we need to get you ready and out that door in less time then you gave us" she was annoyed because I didn't let them in right away, I wanted to sit with my thoughts for a while longer on how I was only ordinary to my father and nothing more.
Nicholas considered me a princess; this whole city basically did but they didn't understand the title they consider me having isn't as hard as it is to be my fathers' daughter. He wanted a boy so badly, and when my mother couldn't have anymore children after me my father got into a rage for a while on how he wanted a son—but for media's sake he sucked it up and learnt to accept me, or so I thought.
Being forced down into my seat, the makeup team got to work—they smoked out the edges, but the makeup was elegant as they worked on my hair—it was in a loose bun sitting just at shoulder length as two strands of my dark hair curled and fell loosely around my face. "Okay, strip out of whatever that is" she gestured to the outfit I had put on this morning when Nicholas told me to get dressed. Clothing like this wasn't something my father usually loved, his team would stuff me in skirts and dresses my whole life, so it was no wonder they were disgusted with my choice of style. I only ever seen my mother wear pants in photo's before she met my father, would she love this style on me, or would she tell me I was ordinary like my father did?
The dream of my mother swarmed my mind as I was forced into a green dress. It was pretty I'd give it that, the green complimented the pale complexion I got from my mother. It was off the shoulders but there were straps as my father would never allow my skin to be so exposed like that, and part of me wouldn't be surprised if I was forced into a shall by the middle of the night. Halfway down my arms the dress felt like tule as it hugged around my wrists and the tule was over the skirt part of my dress which didn't help the claims of concrete princess but through out the tule on the skirt of the dress there was silver, and it looked decent.
Once the team was done, I was ushered out to my father's car where a driver waited for me. Sitting in the back, I could hear him on the phone in the front telling his team that we were on the way and would be arriving shortly.
The car pulled up to an event where cameras and people swarmed outside to get the latest scoop. My eyes scanned the crowd to see if I could spot Nicholas, part of me not even wanting to move out of this spot until I could see him. "Gemma, your team are already inside" the driver instructed as he got himself out of the car and around to my door.
As soon as he opened it, I was met with the cold air of the night as the media yelled for my name. He helped me out of the car before leaning down, "smile, your father will hear of this if you don't" he murmured the warning so only I could hear but to the eyes of the crowd it looked like he was just telling me to ignore them.
What was there to lose?
Forcing that smile on my face, I headed up the red carpet my father had laid out for his guests to feel like royalty as they arrived. My feet moved with my strapped heels giving me that two inches more of height. "Princess, is it true you are dating the Bad Omens member Nicholas?" I stopped dead in my tracks hearing that sentence from someone's mouth.
"She isn't" the driver snapped pushing my elbow gently, "keep moving."
Once we entered the warmth of the building I could hear the band my father hired upstairs in the rented hall. This place was like a castle almost, the marble stairs were decorated with flowers as waiters and waitresses moved through the building with grace. Heading up the steps, I entered the hall where hundreds of people already littered the floor, my green eyes scanning the crowd for someone familiar. My eyes scanned Noah with his group, all of them looked at me as every head in the room glanced my way—Nicholas seemed stunned almost as he watched me in the doorway of the hall. Was he wondering if I was going to go to him? Even if I wanted to, I turned towards the balcony area as I headed back outside onto a stone balcony that overlooked a rose garden.
"You're going to freeze out here" turning my head slightly, I shivered at the warmth I felt around me as Nicholas stepped into my bubble. "You seem distracted, is everything okay?" he asked leaning his back against the stone railing.
"Yeah—I mean it's no different than any other event my father has thrown, guess I just got used to it all in a way" I admitted feeling a tang of guilt. Looking at Nicholas, I saw he wore black skinny jeans that a white dress shirt was tucked into, he wore a tie that suited him well as his dress jacket hugged him nicely, his hair was also tied up as usual, but it made him look presentable which is what my father wanted. "You clean up nicely" I chuckled poking at the tie he wore.
Grabbing my hand, he looked at the rings on my fingers. "My mothers, when she died I was gifted her old jewellery, or some of it at least" I looked at the rings that settled on my hands.
"Your hands are freezing, and you're littered in goosebumps, come on" his voice was low as he led us back into the warmth of the building.
Leading us back to where the group stood, I admired them all as they were dressed lovely.
People dancing on the dance floor, I could see Helen itching to get out there. "Helen, come on" I smiled—if I was going to be here, I might as well have fun. She looked at me with wide eyes as I grabbed her hand, she wore a lovely violet coloured dress that hugged her body. Both of us giggling like schoolgirls as we glanced back at the guys who sipped their whiskey. "Let them be moody, let's have fun" I said leading us into a dance I had done so many times—of course we would tilt our heads back laughing as we stepped on one another's feet often, but it didn't stop us.
Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I looked to see Noah smiling at me, he wore a dark dress suit that suited him well. "If you don't mind, I'd like to step in" he smiled softly taking Helen who was blushing away from me.
Stepping back, I gestured for him to continue as I watched, feeling Nicholas step up beside me, he grabbed my hands placing them on his shoulders as his hands found my hips. "Seems wrong that you don't get to finish the dance, just don't step on my feet" he said as he led us into a dance.
Part of me was stunned, how was this the deadly assassin everyone in this city was so scared of? But just last night I was scared for a moment, the way he yelled at me when I showed him his file. Feeling that weight sink further into me, the dream once more swirled into my head as I stopped, his brows furrowed but we both looked up as my father stepped onto the stage, Leanna following him and the sight of he had me letting go of Nicholas—I hadn't seen them all night, and the gown she wore had my heart cleaving in two. "Gemma?" Nicholas asked noting my expression as my eyes began to well from anger.
"She is wearing my mothers dress, she is wearing my mother's favourite gown that she wore to every major event" I noted the dark purple dress that almost looked midnight, it didn't even suit Leanna as her blonde hair hung down, her eyes sparkling as she clung to my father's arm. "What the fuck does she think she is doing?" I went to step forward, feeling Nicholas's hand grab my arm gently, pulling my arm from him I continued until my father's voice had me stopping in my tracks.
"Welcome and thank you all for coming tonight. We appreciate you celebrating this joyous night with us" he held Leanna close to him, the crowd murmuring to themselves. "We wanted to celebrate this evening by telling the world of our engagement" the word sliced through me as Nicholas swore softly beside me.
It felt like the whole world was tilting, the room spinning as I stepped back—I could see my father celebrating his words as he kissed Leanna before pulling out a ring, there were cameras of course going off to make sure the media knew what was happening inside this room as my father got down on one knee in front of the women who desperately tried being my mother—the women who currently wore my dead mothers dress.
Blinking away tears, I could feel the room suffocating me, this was too much. . . Too much, too fast. Turning on my heel, I grabbed my dress to make sure I didn't trip as I pushed my way through the crowd—feeling my chest rising and falling rapidly as I was desperately trying to escape as my throat clogged of air I couldn't get down, but if I made a noise I knew it was going to be a sob that would give away the fact I wasn't okay.
Pushing past Jolly, I heard him call my name before I made it to the door feeling like my skin was on fire. How could he betray my mother like this? "Gemma?" Nicholas called as he jogged after me.
Getting to the bottom of the stairs, I felt the tears start down my cheeks as I turned into the quieter area of the building where no servers were, and I knew no camera's lingered. "Gemma!" he halted as he came into the same darkened hall I was, "Gemma, I'm sorry—are you okay?" he asked stepping up to me trying to think of what to say.
"You don't have to be nice to me, I know you hate me. . . Just, just go away" I begged not wanting him to see me like this. I needed to disappear and for no one to even remember I was here tonight.
"You and I both know I can't do that" he admitted at least, "your father is stupid for loving someone like her" I looked at Nicholas—Leanna said she knew Nicholas from before, no one ever mentioned how.
"She wasn't even a thought to him" I said balling my fists up feeling my lip tremble, "she wasn't even a thought to him and he gave her that gown" covering my face I slumped down to my knees not wanting to even think of how the gown looked on Leanna. "All these years my father didn't care, he watched me fall apart at my mothers death and he gave her the gown" I wanted to be sick at how selfish he was for it.
Nicholas balanced on his feet as he kneeled down. "Come on, I'll take you home" he said softly helping me to my feet.
"I have no home. . . I don't—I don't want to go back there" admitting that felt weird, it didn't upset me to think about it, in fact it ignited something in me. I never had been away from that place and at this point I didn't want to even consider going back to it.
Understanding, he nodded his head. "Come on, you can stay with us then" he said gently.
I don't even remember much, or how we got to the Bad Omens compound, Nicholas had called Noah and they all agreed the night was over after the engagement. I stayed quiet as I sat in their kitchen, the other chatting among themselves.
"Where is Gemma going to sleep?" asked Jolly who was eating a sandwich at the counter.
"She can have my bed; I will take the floor" they had decided I would be sharing his room since there wasn't a guest room. This moment I didn't really care, anything was better then being in that apartment, in that compound.
My voice surprised me as I looked at Nicholas, "don't be silly, I'll take the floor."
"You're the concrete princess, you're getting the bed" teased Jolly once more.
Noah cut him a glare. "Joakim" his warning was lethal in his tone.
"I can pull out the futon I have in my room, come on let's get you settled" Nicholas led us up to his room. I admired how much space there was, it was pretty much the size of my living room, his walls were littered with comic drawings and various styles of posters as his bed laid in the corner of the room, the black bedding seemed welcoming. His desk had coffee cups from Helen's shop on it as well as papers that had stains, his desktop was on his lock screen and one wall with the futon he was talking about was a bookshelf which had comics on it. "Make yourself at home, here—so you have something to wear" he handed me a black shirt of his as he exited the room giving me time to change.
His shirt smelt like him which oddly brought comfort as it went down to my mid thigh like the nightshirt I had on before. Nicholas knocked before entering the room, his blue eyes scanned my legs before meeting my green eyes. Handing me a cloth, I accepted it as I wiped off the makeup from the night feeling thankful I could forget about it for a few moments. "You can have the bed, we can figure something out if you don't like it but tonight it's yours" not wanting to upset him, I climbed into his bed, careful not to flash him as I curled onto my side feeling the weight of the evening as I closed my eyes. I could hear him talking, but it wasn't long before I was out cold.
~Nicholas's POV: ~
It shouldn't have, but tonight boiled my blood—seeing her so upset, I was ready to go in there and shoot her damn father without even a second thought. Gemma curled herself up on my bed and within minutes she was asleep, turning the light off in my room I headed down the stairs to where the others sat. Noah looking up from his drink, "can you listen out for her? There is something I need to do" I said grabbing my jean jacket off the rack.
"Where are you going?" he was sliding into his protective mode which I understood.
"Nowhere special, just need to do something, can you watch her?" he nodded his head which was a good enough response for me.
Getting on my motorbike, I drove down the streets of the jungle, the event would still be going on which meant security at her apartment would most likely be lacking. Parking my bike down the street, I made my way down the compound seeing her window to her room. Shimming my way up the drainpipe, I was careful I didn't make too much noise as I slid her window open and myself into her apartment where all the lights remained off, flipping my phone light on low I looked around her place until I found a bag I could use.
She wouldn't want to come back anytime soon so I wanted to make my place comfortable enough for her. Grabbing her clothes from her dresser she had, I made my way to her bathroom to make sure there was no medications she needed daily. Grabbing her coat off the rack of her apartment I went passed the futon I spent the other night on, my dream of Gemma circling my mind as I felt my heart race—she looked beautiful in that gown tonight and I hated to admit that—but when she wore nothing but my shirt, it was hard not to think of my dream and how badly I wanted to lean up in that dream and feel her. Noticing the quilt on her futon from where I left it, I carefully lifted it the softness of it was welcoming and she was right, it was comfortable.
Sliding it into the bag before closing it. I turned my light off as I made my way back out the way I came in making sure I left nothing unsettled. She had her phone she used when in contact with us, and her phone she had from her father as well.
The drive back was easy, the night must have been ending as the streets became livelier as the news broke of Frank's engagement, the hurt on Gemma's face seeing her mother's gown on Leanna was something I would never forget. Parking my bike as the rain started, I made my way inside where Noah raised a brow but not questioning me as I made my way to my room. Sliding myself in, I looked at Gemma who slept soundly in my bed, she was curled up as if trying to hide and in a way it broke my heart. Pulling her quilt from the bag, I put the bag down by the desk as I unfolded the quilt sliding it over her, as if her body knew what it was she let out a sigh of relief as she seemed to cocoon herself further into it. I wanted to destroy her father; how could he rip out this wings of this butterfly?
That was what she reminded me of, something so fragile to this world—she wasn't a gem to use for pawns like he did, she was a girl trying to get through life to make her father happy and trying to get through it without her mother, how could he be so selfish and do this to her?
I was going to make him pay for it.