"Surprisingly, my tears had already dried up. I felt the warmth of his voice, and this was probably the only time I heard such a sincere tone from him. I turned to look at him, and our faces were close. He leaned forward and his lips fell on mine, a...
Oh shit. I thought to myself. Was Jackson here? I was panicking so much that I couldn't even breathe properly. I wanted to take huge deep breaths, but Nick was here. He looked over at me.
"Why aren't you eating?" He asked, eating the Caviar.
"I need the bathroom. Excuse me." I dashed out the restaurant and into the bathroom where I threw up into the toilet. The anxiety I was feeling was real. I had two choices. I either had to go out there and face Jackson, or ignore him and stay close to Nick. I wanted to end this but I realized I was unarmed and had nothing. But I had to do this for Nick, myself and this baby I was carrying in my stomach.
I came out of the female bathroom, looking to make sure Nick wasn't looking. He wasn't even there. I figured he was looking for me, therefore, I ran through the kitchen and out the back door. The chefs chased me as I ran down the street in 5-inch heels, looking like a complete lunatic. Then I stumbled across another note:
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I ran, my heart racing as I turned right. I saw the two bins. Only the bins. Jackson wasn't there. Then all of a sudden, I felt an arm around my neck, trying to strangle me.
"If it isn't Scarlett, my long lost girlfriend."
It was Jackson. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I could only think about the life which I wanted to live. A life with an abusive partner, or a life dealing with a drug cartel.
"A good friend of yours told me you were pregnant," He grunted. I thought to myself who that person could be because the only person who knew and that I had spoken to was Stacy. Then it all made sense to me.
"Stacy?" I mumbled, trying to speak but being strangled at the same time.
"Something like that. I figured she doesn't really like you much. She's been my accomplice for a very long time. I paid her to tell me everything about you and how you ended with my ENEMY, Nick Greyson."
"The day you- kicked me out onto the streets," I struggled to say. "Let go of me and I'll tell you everything."
Jackson slowly lets go of me but he held a gun to my head. I took deep breaths and tried to explain everything.
"I saw two men-"
"Shut up," Jackson interrupted. "I don't care how. All I want to know is who the FUCK THE FATHER OF THIS CHILD IS!" He screamed and squeezed my neck.
"Jackson- please! You're hurting me!"
"I don't care! I swear to god, if it's Greyson's child, I'll kill that son of a bi-"
"PUT THE GUN DOWN, JACKSON MILLER!" Nick ran in with about four men, who held guns at Jackson. My mind was happy to see him rescue me, but my heart wasn't. This would raise more suspicion.
"This woman you chose is a LIAR! A goddamn LIAR! She sleeps with any man she wants! She's a BITCH!" Jackson screamed. Then Nick loaded his gun.
"Let her go RIGHT NOW! She's PREGNANT!"
Then Jackson slowly removed his arms from me and dropped his gun. I ran into Nick's arms and hugged him tightly as I had never done before.
"Take him away," Nick ordered the men as he took me away. We walked back into the limo. I sat down on the seats, and I couldn't help but cry.
"Nick, I am sorry-" I apologized.
"Just... stop. I don't want to hear from you anymore."
On the way back to the apartment, Nick didn't speak to me once. But I could understand why. I betrayed him, and went behind his back, and almost got killed. Everything was so obvious now - the baby I was carrying was Jackson's. And I hated it. I never told Nick about my past, because I was scared Jackson and Nick would have a confrontation. I really screwed things up.
We got back and I walked straight to my room. I tried to start a conversation with him but it was clear he didn't want to speak to me.
"Hey," I called him. "Thank you."
"Yeah," He spoke quietly. "The necklace I gave you had a tracking device in it. I wanted to keep you safe, Scarlett, and I failed."
"You didn't fail," I assured him, and I touched his arm. "It was my fault, and I am so sorry for doing this to you."
Nick sighed.
"So... Jackson's the father of your baby...?" He asked, expecting to hear a "yes".
"Yeah... I should have told you sooner." I replied.
"But you told me you never loved him," He asked, surprised.
"I once did, but I was fooled. He only wanted me for my money, and just recently he raped me."
Nick's face turned red.
"That bastard," He whispered. "I am going to kill that guy!"
"This is what I was trying to avoid, Jackson. Confrontation. Can we please just forget about this and move on?"
"Not after tonight," said Nick, who was very angry. "But we'll move on."
"Together?" I asked, hoping for a positive answer.
"No. We can't live in all these lies. I enjoyed being with you, but you kind of ruined it for the both of us."
"Nick - please -" I pleaded.
"Goodnight, Scarlett," He turned off the light and walked away. I burst into tears.
