Chapter 39

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By the time Nicholas's Audi sped into the Hamilton's home, Emery was sweating bullets.

"Em, come on. You need to stay awake." Nicholas shook her gently but only got a muffled response. 

"Fuck this." 

Sorting through Emery's purse for the house key, Nicholas ran out of the car to open the door. He came back a second later and gathered her into his arms. 

Kicking the front door shut, he jogged up the stairs to her bedroom. And as gently as he could, he laid her on the couch and turned on the light. 

"Hey," he patted Emery on the cheeks. "Em, you need to help me out here, OK?" anxiously, he tugged off his coat and went ahead to pry off her heels. "Come on, Em. I need you to puke."

In spite of Emery being out on her feet, the insistent known voice stirred her up. "What?" she mumbled incoherently. 

"Just come with me." 

Nicholas slung her arms over his shoulders and with baby steps, he led her into the bathroom. He then helped her over to the toilet and rubbed her back lightly as she tried to empty her stomach. 

"Do you feel any better?" Emery only grumbled incoherently under her breath. "Goddammit, I can't fucking do this right now."

Pivoting around like a deranged person, he left her to her belching task and trotted over to the bathtub to fix her a bath. 

"Come here." This time, Nicholas swept her into his arms and without warning, he lowered her into the cold water. 

Emery's eyes flew open on impact when the icy liquid bit into her skin. That was enough for her to try to get out of the tub but with her numbed muscles, she could do nothing other than to lay in the freezing water.

All the while, Nicholas leaned against the bathroom door and just stared at her. How the mighty had fallen, he mused. It was endearing to see her in such a vulnerable state. 

But this had not been his plan when he had spiked her mocktail. All he wanted was to get her drowsy enough to take some denuded pictures with him. That should have made the grade and get Dekker to dump her ass. 

Everything was supposed to have worked out perfectly, and come tomorrow, Emery would have run back into his arms. But now some little bastard got in the way, and ruined all his plans. 

Nicholas knew he was risking jail time if this was uncovered by her brother or worse, Dekker. But the deed had already been carried out, and all that was left for him was to clean up his mess. 

"You just had to fucking get pregnant with his child, didn't you?!" he kicked the door so hard that the wood rattled on its hinges.

The commotion snapped Emery out of her slumber. Her vision was as clear as mud but she was able to make out the guy who stood some feet away from her. 

"Nick?" Emery looked around in disorientation.

Nicholas huffed. "Let me see if I will get any shirt for you." with that, he stormed out of the bathroom. 

In spite of her weariness and blurry sight, Emery dragged her tired self out of the tub. Holding onto nearby walls for support, she shuffled back to the toilet seat and sat down. 

What is going on? She wanted to ask but the pounding in her head made the need to even talk seem too tedious. Emery winced again, louder, as she rubbed her temples for a second to get the pain to dull a bit. 

With shaky fingers, she began to undress and was halfway through when Nicholas barged into the bathroom. What the hell was he thinking?

"Nick..." Emery rebuked feebly as she tried to cover herself with her loose dress. 

Nicholas gulped at the desirous sight before him. But before he could get any smutty ideas, the realization that she was carrying Dekker's child hit him square in the face. 

Out of rage, he placed the clothes on the vanity unit and stomped out of the bathroom.

What the hell is going on? 

Emery sighed in relief when the door shut behind him. With slow and unsteady movements, she stepped out of her wet clothes and patted herself dry with the towel on the metal rack. 

Her entire body felt heavy and not a single movement was carried out without a groan. After she had managed to adorn the shirt and shorts, she pulled herself out of the bathroom. 

"Are you OK now?" Nicholas asked from where he sat on the couch. 

"I feel as if I have been hit by a truck." Emery rubbed her temples once more. "What's going on? Why are you here and where are Nat and Chris?"

"One question at a time," Nicholas snapped. 

Emery eyed him dubiously as she made her way over to the bed, in search of her phone. "What are you doing here?" 

"You felt faint back at the party and Chris asked me to give you a ride home..."

It may have been his unsteady eye movements or stiff features as he narrated his tale, but Emery knew without a doubt that Nicholas was giving her half-truth. 

How could they leave me alone with him?!

"Maybe you should lie down for a bit. I'll get your purse from downstairs so that you can call Nat or whoever." Nicholas spun on his heels and left the room. 

In an attempt to drive the sleep away, Emery kept rubbing her heavy eyelids. She knew she would wake up with itchy and puffy Red eyes tomorrow but she could not sleep when Nicholas was in her house. Not after what happened the last time! 

She had to call someone but she couldn't even move without her body screaming in pain. She was scared and her invulnerable state brought her to the verge of tears. 

Where was Chris and Natalia when she needed them!

Nicholas was gone for a short while but every second brought Emery close to sleep. Her blurry vision scared her the most. She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself as if it could protect her. 

Try as much as she fought sleep, much could not be done to ward off the drowsiness that washed over her. She drifted into a deep sleep.  

When Nicholas came back, she was fast asleep. She looked more unconscious than asleep but he could care less. He glowered at his ex-girlfriend—his look, stern with hostility. 

For some few seconds his world was deadly still; until the crutch, he was holding began to vibrate. Irately, he unclasped the darn thing and dug inside for Emery's cell phone.

Billion Miles Dekker could have chosen any other day to get on Nicholas McLean's bad side, but certainly not today. 

He loathed the arrogant rich prick with passion and right then, as Nicholas stared at his despicable name, one thought ruled his senses. 

Make Dekker pay for everything. 

So Nicholas picked up the call. 

· · • • • ✤ • • • · ·

It was in the early light of the day in Milan and Billion was just a bundle of nerves. 

After spending half of the night tossing and turning in bed, he gave up sleep and hit the gym before dawn even broke. For some unknown reasons, he was restless and not even a hot bath or cup of tea could ease his mind. 

The fact that Emery had not responded to any of his voice notes plagued him gravely. However, Billion did not want to come off as an overbearing boyfriend by pestering her with calls and voicemails. 

Billion kept telling himself that he was working his mind over nothing. For all he knew, she was enjoying her time with her friends, free of all thoughts of him. With reservations, Billion glanced at the digital clock on his bed stand. It was six in the morning which leaves Manhattan somewhere around midnight. 

But to assure himself that she was alright, Billion called. The call went through without Emery picking up so he tried her line again. And when she picked up, Billion sighed in relief.

"Sweetie... I'm sorry for calling at this time but I never heard from you again… I just wanted to know if you are OK." 

There was silence at the other end but amidst the quietness, Billion could hear an abnormally suppressed breath. 

"Em?" In anxiousness, he called out to her again.

'Emery is sleeping.'

Billion tensed up upon hearing that familiar infuriating voice. His hold on the phone tightened as he edged off the couch and strode over to the glass pane.

'Would you like to leave a message, Dekker?'

Billion drag in a deep breath to calm his awoken nerves. "Why do you have Emery's phone?" 

A scoff was the response Billion received. "Give her the phone, McLean."

'Which part of she's sleeping didn't you get, dummy? If you want prove that she is sleeping, here you go.'

The line went dead still, and with bated breaths Billion was sewed in place. But before his patience could run thin, his phone dinged with a notification. 

Hesitantly, Billion opened the message, and verily there was Emery; sound asleep in the bosom of no other man but Nicholas McLean. 

'I will always come first, Dekker. Don't forget that.' was the caption. 

The revelation left Billion paralyzed for several minutes. But in dire need of some sort of assurance that his Emery would never deceive him, he scrutinized the picture over and over again.

But what was staring back at Billion was bona fide.

No. 

Not Emery. 

Billion rambled around his bedroom in restrained fury. His hands clenched into fists to the point where he heard the crack of his phone's screen. He combed his fingers through his damp hair in an attempt to calm the war waging from within. 

Give me your word, Em. 

Of course. I'm not going anywhere, Dekker

"By God, Emery. This better be a lie..."

In as much as Billion tried to fight off the gnawing feelings and thoughts that ate him whole, the ache in his chest made reasoning impossible. Still there was only one way to find out so without wasting much time, Billion called their pilot and commanded the man to get the jet ready. 

Not even bothering to change out of his khaki pants and tank, Billion grabbed his wallet and a cardigan before prancing out of the bedroom.

He rushed down the stairs only to bump into Chanel who was coming back from her morning jog. Pulling her earpiece out, Chanel gave him a quick staredown. 

"Where to?" she asked. 

"Tell my mom I'm leaving for Manhattan but I should be back before tomorrow."

"Wait, don't you have work tomorrow..."

Without another word, Billion sidestepped her and made his way out of the house. 

"Well, don't forget to talk to Cullen if you get the chance!" Chanel called after the raging man. 

Throughout the ride to the airport, Billion did his best not to look at the nerve-racking image on his phone. 

I'll always come first, Dekker. Don't forget that. 

And here he was, praying every single day that he would not fall prey to his old self, and ruin what they have. 

She is worth the wait. He would tell himself time and time again. For Emery, he would do anything just to be a deserving man. But it'd always been Nicholas this, Nicholas that. 

Am I even worth anything to her?

For a fleeting moment, Billion almost asked the driver to turn the car around and drive back to the estate. But it was high time Emery set her priorities straight where he and Nicholas McLean were concerned. 

And it starts or ends today. 

To regain his composure, he rolled down his side window. But the simpering breeze and the grand terrain did almost nothing to thaw his raging heart. 

When he arrived at the Linate airport, their pilot and his team were waiting eagerly for him. But with his dark mood, Billion did not even glance at any of the flight attendants before bowing his way into the private plane. 

· · • • • ✤ • • • · ·

It was the nipping morning breeze that roused Emery from her deep slumber. Unconsciously, she patted the bedding for a duvet but her hand only landed on a hard surface. 

For the briefest of seconds, she laid still on the solid body before her defense instincts kicked in. Emery's eyes snapped open, her heart skipping a beat when she saw the shirtless man in her bed. 

What the hell? 

"I'm glad you are awake." 

Nicholas's groggy voice sent a cold shiver across Emery's skin. No. No. No. What the hell was he doing in her home? And in her bed of all places?! Fear washed over Emery and as quickly as she could, she untangled herself from the sheets. She almost fell off the bed but Nicholas easily caught her by the waist. 

"Careful, love. We wouldn't want to cause another-"

"Get your hands off me!" Emery snuggled out of his hold and scurried off the bed. 

The sudden hasty movements sent jolts of pains through her skull. but that was the least of her problems as she tried to come to terms with her current situation. 

"Why are you in my house? And why the hell are you naked?" 

As if Emery had been kicked back to the present, her eyes snapped up to Nicholas. "No no no, please don't tell me we-" she gestured between them. 

"For Christ sake, just relax. I lend you my shirt cause you were shivering in the middle of the night..." 

With knitted brows Nicholas raised himself on his elbows. "Wait, you don't remember anything from last night?"

Emery took a deep breath to simmer down, and to collect her thoughts but nothing seemed to be coming forth. Her mind was just blank. 

"My head hurts," Emery mumbled. "I don't remember taking any alcohol…except..." 

Instinctively, she wrapped her hands around her tummy. Fear gripped her when her mind decided to supply her with some disturbing memories from the previous night. 

God no.

"Please don't tell me you spiked my mocktail..." Emery asked anxiously.

Releasing a sigh, Nicholas edged off the bed and strolled over to her. "Em, please calm down-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! What the hell did you give me?!"

"Look, I didn't mean to-" Nicholas made to grab her.

"Don't touch me." Emery swatted his hands away. "God, I can't believe I trusted you."

"Em-"

The argument was brought to a standstill when the doorbell rang

─────────────•••──────────────

ᴡʜᴏ ɪs ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴏʀ?

ᴋɪɴᴅʟʏ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ sᴏᴍᴇ sᴜɴsʜɪɴᴇ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ. ||ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ, ᴠᴏᴛᴇ, & sʜᴀʀᴇ||

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋs ғᴏʀ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ sᴜᴘᴘᴏʀᴛɪɴɢ, ʟᴏᴠᴇ.

ᴍᴏʀᴇ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇsᴛɪɴɢ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴀʏ sᴏ sᴛᴀʏ ᴛᴜɴᴇᴅ.

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