THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 36•

•SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA•

Julia's POV

It was hard leaving Nick in the care of that scorpion woman, but I suppose risking it to get out of the lion's den would be worth it.

As long as Adrian thought Nick was his son, there wasn't much Gaia would do to him. I'm pretty sure she valued her life.

The moment the phone touched my hands, I fled into my temporary room and locked the door then sat in the middle of the bed.

My mind was a speedway of anxious thoughts as my fingers shook with excitement. I didn't know who to call first. Olivia would be a start, but it's been three days, so she'd definitely ask too many questions. My mother was in a completely different country, and I couldn't risk her safety.

Matías?

Possibly, but I still had some unpacking to do with him and now wasn't the time for it.

Pick a poison. 

I lifted my purse from the side of the bed and fished out my original phone in search of Olivia's cell number.

My fingers heavily dragged across the keyboard and I placed the receiver to my ear as I braced for the full impact of hurricane Liv. 

"Hello?" A dazed tone answered.

"Olivia. It's me, Julia."

"Julia! Where have you been?" She shouted, "Is Nicky okay? What happened? Did Andres tell you not to come?

I clenched my fists as I aggressively fought back the the burning at the back of my throat and the stinging liquid coating my eyes.

"No." I finally peeped out.

"No? No what?"

I took in a sharp breath as I mentally prepared exact responses to each question asked. My fist tightened again until my nails dug into my skin.

"No, Andres didn't tell me not to come."

"Then what happened? You said you'd be here and you never showed up. You got me worried over here."

"I messed up Liv." Unfettered words mixed with choked back tears blurted out, "Adrian found us. Andres is dead."

"Oh my God....w-when—how?"

I cleared my throat and subdued my breathing as I slid from the bed to the floor below, holding my forehead in my palm.

"I—I don't know how. I don't even know how Adrian knew where we where. Last time I saw Andres was at the hospital and Adrian told me he had his men take care of him.

"Julia I'm so sorry. You think he sold you guys out?"

"Just leave us alone."

My mind loudly replayed my last words to Andres.

"....I don't know. We weren't on good terms when he left, but even if he was pissed at me...he wouldn't do that to Nicolai."

"Where is Nick—is he okay?"

"He's really confused. After Adrian took us from the hospital I didn't see him right away. Who knows what lies he's told my baby."

"Tell me where you are Jules. If you can get away, we can—"

"That's why I called. I have an idea, but there's no way I can do this on my own, Liv." I whispered, keeping my mouth glued to the speaker.

I peeked my head over the edge of the bed, listening for any door squeaks or floor creaks.

"Of course, anything we can do to help."

"You sure your parents are gonna be on board?"

"I don't doubt they would be, but that's not the we I was referring to. My parents have been through enough with Giuseppe, I'm not getting them involved."

"Then who's 'we'?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Julia...," Her stony tone called my name, "I think it's time to tell Matìas about everything."

"No."

"You're saying you need my help. Well, I can't get you from Adrian by myself."

I breathed in heavily, taking in as much air as possible and exhaling slowly, "I'll think about it."

"Julia."

"Look, get who you want to help you okay, but I'm on borrowed time with this call."

A stern silence served as her reply. 

"Please, Olivia."

"...What's your idea?"

"Adrian has Nick and I staying at his house in San Francisco, but I got word that we're going back to Jersey the day after tomorrow."

"That doesn't give us much time to plan anything." 

"I know, but it is what it is. Now, here's what we're gonna do for a diversion. Write this down."