Chapter fourty one

Nick was not thinking with his head.
He had felt anger before. He had known rage. But he had always known how to approach the situation with lethal control.
This time however... he approached it with nothing but downright fury.
He had touched her!... he had hurt her and he had made her cry! He didn't care whether he was her father. That man had no right to lay his hand on her. And neither did anyone else.
" What the hell do you think you're doing! " Mr. Lockwood demanded once the door was kicked open. And when he looked at the person behind the action, standing there with a deadly look on his face, he frowned.
" Hilton! What is the meaning of this? "
Crystal appeared inside the doorway, and she ran to Nick and held his arm. Urging him to leave. But he didn't. He heard her loud and clear, but at the moment all he wanted to do was hurt Lucas Lockwood. And he would.
" Who the fucking hell do you think you are?... " he demanded. Crystal's dad looked at him, clearly trying to make out exactly what was going on.
" Nick! Please, let's just go, " Crystal pleaded as she tried to pull him out of there. But he didn't move an inch. Instead, he tried to charge at her dad but she blocked his path. Her hands on his chest as she looked up at him. All he saw when she did that were the dried tears. And they fueled his anger even more.
" He hit you....Crystal. And I'm going to make it such that he never lifts his goddamn hand again! " Nick said in a low and threatening growl. His eyes now fixed on her dad.
" Hey! Do I need to remind you who you work for? I hired you - "
" Shut the bloody hell up! " Nick growled as he attempted to charge at him again, but Crystal refused to let him. And even though he could have easily moved her aside, he chose not to. Her touch was slowly making him calm down. The anger was still there, but he didn't feel as consumed by it as he previously had been .
" That's it! I will not allow this kind of disrespect in MY house! You are fired! "
The news didn't at all surprise Nick. He was unaffected by it completely. Crystal on the other hand refused to accept it.
" Dad please, he didn't - "
" Crystal!... " Nick called, his tone almost like a feral warning. She turned to him, and he placed his hand on hers. Then he shook his head.
" Don't dare beg him... " he said. Then he turned to her father with eyes so cold, they made the entire room feel chilly. " He doesn't deserve it! " he added. Trying to steady his breathing for her sake.
" But.... you can't go, " she sniffled back a cry. Refusing to accept that possibility .There was no way she would be able to survive in that house without him. It was impossible. He was the only person that gave her something to look forward to each day. And if he left then she would be lost. She loved him too much to bear losing him like that. It didn't matter whether she had to beg her dad, he just couldn't leave.
" I want him gone now! " her dad boomed. She turned to him, then to Nick with that hurt look in her eyes that he couldn't stand to see. It ravaged him from deep within his core.
" Nick, you can't leave..."
" And why can't he, huh? What exactly is it about him that makes him so damn - "
" I LOVE HIM!! "
She yelled the words at her dad. And he seemed as if he'd just been struck by them.
" What? "
" You heard me! I said that I love him and I won't let you fire him! " Her dad shook his head .Then he scoffed before asking Crystal whether she had completely lost her mind. And Nick fisted his hands. He knew that Crystal, for whatever hellish reason, loved her father. And it was out of respect for her that her dad was still standing... and possibly breathing. Because the things running through his head as he stood there were purely animalistic.
" No, " he said as he held Crystal's hand and made her stand behind him.
" I WILL leave... " he said. And he heard Crystal's muffled sound, he could all but see her pained look, so he turned to her and added, " but I'm taking her with me! "
And he didn't wait to hear her dad's reaction but rather took her hand and led her out. She followed behind him as he made his way past the hallway and to the other side of the house where their rooms were. Only stopping once he got to her door.
" Nick? "
" What? Did you think I was just going to leave you here? " he wrapped his hand around her nape and moved closer, burying her head into his chest.
" No way! " he firmly declared before placing a kiss to the top of her head. She was confused and still in the process of trying to figure out what had just transpired. And she wondered whether she was really going to just leave the house like that.
But then she looked at him, and she saw the way he was staring at her. And the unsaid love he had for her was clear. She would go with him. It didn't matter where or why or when. Because she belonged wherever he was, and she couldn't picture herself staying another day in that house. Especially if Nick wasn't there. And he had basically just informed her dad that he was taking her along, something she found utterly romantic if she could say so.
" Or don't you want to go? " he asked once he noticed the conflicted look she wore. He didn't know what he would do if she chose to stay. Most especially because his life now seemed to revolve around her entirely. But then she placed her hand on his wrist and smiled. It was full of pain and hurt, but it was also tinged with relief and joy.
" Of course I do, and even if I choose to stay I'm sure that you'll most likely find me in your house tomorrow, " her heart was so sore that she found it impossible to even fake a laugh.
" Then why don't you pack up and I'll save you the trip. " he said with profound seriousness. But then his actions... they were so sweet and tender. Like how he pulled her in for a hug and held on tight until he felt like she had eased up. He intended to take her away from there, and once that was done, he would try and make that glorious smile of hers return.
He lived for that smile.
It had a way if making feel like a better man. And he wanted to be better.... for her, he wanted to be anything he had to!
Pulling away, he kissed her lips in a soft and intimate caress that made her heart feel lighter.
He watched as she entered her room, then he proceeded over to his where he took out his phone to call Matt. He asked him to stop whatever he was doing and drive over there. And that was precisely what Matt did. It took less than fifteen minutes for him to finish packing. Then he walked over to Crystal's room and found her almost ready to go.
So he waited until she was done and held her hand. Then she looked around and huffed out a breath. And together they left. She didn't stop to think. She would do that later, at the moment all she wanted was to be out of that suffocating house. She hugged her nanny who was both shocked and confused to see her walk down the stairs with her suitcase. As were all the other staff members.
And once she got to the front door, her dad's angry voice was heard from the top of the staircase.
" Crystal! Walk out that door... and don't ever bother coming back! " he said.
She turned her face to the side. Catching sight of him from the corner of her eye. Then she tightened her hold on Nick's hand and closed her eyes, needing to feel that contact.
" Don't worry, I won't. "
And with that, they left. Matt was already waiting for them outside the gate, and although he wore a curious and puzzled look, he didn't ask anything apart from where they wanted to go.
" My place, " Nick said.
Then he draped his arm around Crystalb and willed her to rest her head on his shoulder . He had her. And that was all that truly mattered to him. The rest they could figure out later, but at the moment, he was just glad that she was with him.