Scorpio and I traded confused glances. He even mouthedwhat the fuckwith two vertical lines marking his forehead. Ty’s behaviour sent my mind into overdrive. I couldn’t rationally explain why he was so protective of my girl.
Stop. Rewind.
I couldn’t rationally explain why he was so protective of Nadia, but the ideas I had were fucking with my head. Were they a thing? Was Ty in love with her? Was he the reason Nadia went back to New York?
Anger in Ty’s voice bordered on pure wrath. My heartbeat sped up, and I rose to stand on Nick’s left so I could watch the screen.
Nadia sat on a couch, her eyes wide with dark circles surrounding them, and Adrian leaned over the back, his arm touching Nadia’s shoulder.Hedidn’t matter. Nadiawas the one I stared at, and her stance made my bones shiver.
Neither Nick nor Mel saw anything odd about the way she hugged her frail frame. There was nothing odd about it to any passive observer, but I knew what was going on through her head. The realisation almost fucking floored me.
Her chest rose and fell on the count of four. She held her right hand on her ribcage, close to her heart, the left one on her right arm, and she thought ofme. She recalled the way my lips felt on the nape of her neck, the smell of my cologne, the tone of my voice.
Ten weeks. Ten fucking weeks had passed, but there she was, sitting in a New York apartment next to her ex-boyfriend,thinkingofme.
Ten weeks, and my immediate reaction was to board the first flight out to New York just to hold her.
“Chill out, man,” Adrian said to Ty, then looked back at the screen. “Pay no attention. He’s pissed off about the guy from the club, too.”
“Chill out?I’ll fucking chill out when Nadia’s not here. Fuck,” Ty’s voice got louder as if he came closer to the phone. “Tell him. Suck it up and tell Nick what you’ve done.”
Nick’s back straightened. “Tell mewhat?”
“You keep whining that he should know, so go on,” Ty continued in a mocking tone. “Be a man, Adrian.Tellhim.”
Nadia’s eyes grew wider, and she reached out to grab the phone, but Adrian beat her to it.
“He’s right, puppet. Nick should know.” His voice was calm, but his face betrayed he was everything, just not calm.
Nadia was no longer visible on the screen. Her panicked voice resonated from the speaker and my blood ran cold.
“Don’t. Please, don’t. We talked about this!” Her voice climbed higher, breathing quickened.
Adrian was walking away, as if Nadia was chasing him.
“If you tell him, I’ll leave,” she yelled, close to tears.
Adrian stopped, and rubbed his face, glaring into the camera, weighing his options.
“I’m sorry, Nick. I can’t. I can’t lose her again. She’s all I have.”
My palms balled into fists, the wall beside me a tempting outlet for the frustration bubbling inside. Seconds later Nadia’s teary face appeared on the screen for a moment before she cut the call.
“What the hell?” Scorpio muttered, speaking my mind. “This is fucked up, Nick. She sounded hysterical. What the hell are they hiding?”
Nick gave Amelia her phone. For a moment, he just stared at the cards and chips littering the table.
I took my phone to send Nadia a message, ignoring all the assumptions and resolutions. It was a spur-of-the-moment kind of decision, but one I would never come to regret.
She was no longer mine, the hole in my heart the only reminder of the time we shared, but it didn’t mean shit. I still cared.
Say a word, and I’ll come and get you.
She didn’t reply. I wasn’t even sure if she had the same number or if she had a US one by now.
Ethan came back to the room, a smile on his face. “They’re playing at Underground in thirty minutes.” He put his phone away and stopped mid-step, sensing the heavy atmosphere. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Nick muttered.