Chapter fourty nine

The next couple of days had gone by smoothly. Everything, including the weather had been good. And after a nice breakfast where they had shared the last remaining pieces of the cake that Crystal had baked the days before, they had both left the apartment.
Matt had called Nick, asking whether he was free and wanted to grab some coffee or something.
Personally, Nick knew that his friend was simply trying to catch up. To ensure that admist all that had been going on, Nick would not completely forget about him since apart from his daughter, he was the only family Matt had. He might not appear to be, but Matt was actually a rather sentimental person.
" So we're meeting him at the diner? " Crystal asked as she buckled her seatbelt and Nick nodded.
He would not leave her sight despite the situation. He looked at the floral dress she had on, with delicate cup sleeves edged with lace and reaching just past her knees. Her hair in a messy up do and apart from lip gloss, her face was bare of any other hint of makeup, which was secretly how he preferred.
She looked so hot!.. so tempting as she fixed the clasp on her silver bracelet. They had spent the last two days locked up in the apartment. And the memories of all they had done were glued to both their minds. Crystal doubted she had ever heard him laugh as much as he had. They had played games, and watched more of the movies she knew he found awfully depressing but still sat with her and powered through them all.
She had told him he could choose whatever he wanted. But he had refused, " They make you cry, which gives me a chance to hold and calm you down, " ..he had said as he cuddled her closer to him on the couch.
He still wondered how he had ever managed to survive getting by with his life before he had met her. How he had lived each day without seeing the sparkle in her eyes and without listening to her voice. Touching her was a craving... loving her was a gift that he cherished with everything he had.
" You're wearing that look again, " she teased, leaning towards him with a smile.
" Am I? "
" Yap.... tell me, what exactly are you thinking about right now? "
" The same thing I'm always thinking of... you, naked and sprawled out for me to touch and taste as I desire to. You have no clue how much I want to rip that dress off you and simply thrust my cock as deep into you as I can. "
She sucked in a breath. Her toes curling in the flats she had chosen to wear. The lust filled huskiness of his voice making the hairs at the back of her head rise.
His eyes raked through her, intensely... wholy and completely focused. Dressed in black jeans and a black V-neck long-sleeved shirt he looked dangerously beautiful. Nick in a suit was unresistable and compelling... but Nick in casual jeans and a shirt was nothing if not breathtaking. But despite the clothes, that aura of undiluted alpha male power never ceased to drift off him. It was like a visceral part of him. The sharpened and well cut angles of his face, the concentrated feral glimmer in his grey eyes, and that dark spicy scent that seemed to swift from his very pores. Those were the things she had first fallen in love with.
The aspects of him that others feared but still felt captivated by. He was sexy as hell and as intimidating as he could be, and she knew that that was what had first drawn her to him even before she had actually known who he was.
" Crystal baby.... now YOU are wearing that look, " he said as he keenly eyed her, the corner of his lips twitching up with the promise of a smirk. She swallowed, clearing her throat as she turned to the window. She had no idea why, but she always felt like melting whenever he called her that. Knowing that it was something special between them, that she was the only one he referred to as such... it made her feel wonderful.
" You're such a fiend! " she jokingly accused. Leaning in, Nick kissed her temple.
" Kiss me, " he whispered afterwards, making her turn to face him with expectation on her features. She dug her hands into his hair, kissing him like she knew he wanted her to. Tasting the chocolate of the cake as well as the earthy tone that was so him. It drove her wild with lust that seemed to have been laying in wait for when she touched his skin so that it could roar to life.
He unwillingly pulled back when he so desperately wanted to give in. Giving her another quick kiss before he leaned back against his seat and started the car.
" And I'm supposedly the fiend, " he jokingly uttered as he pulled out of the parking lot.
" You asked me to kiss you! "
" But I can tell that's not all you had in mind. "
" Urgh... just drive, " she rolled her eyes.
" Don't worry, if we're lucky we might be stuck in traffic. And the possibilities of what we could do to pass time are simply endless. "
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Crystal hugged Matt before the three of them settled down in the booth. With her seated next to Nick and Matt right across from them. The two of them only ordered coffee while Matt had waffles and bacon with eggs on the side. Being there reminded her so much of the last time she had sat at that same booth with Nick. She had walked out on him furious and enraged, hoping that she wouldn't ever see him again. Even though she knew that that had been nothing but a lie she had told herself.
She had and would always want to see him again, despite the circumstances.
" So, how are you two getting along? " Matt asked excitedly as he wiggled his brows at the couple.
" You both have that ' morning sex ' look in your eyes so I take it you're going on well, "
" Matt! " Nick warned but the only response he got was a laugh, both from Math and Crystal.
" What? You're literally eye-fucking her as we speak. It's not my fault you have low self control. "
Shaking his head, Nick let him be. He knew Matt well, and there was no point in trying to get him quiet, the guy always said whatever was going on in his head without caring about how people would perceive it.
" So Matt, how's your daughter? " Crystal asked with an intention of changing the subject. Which she somehow managed to do.
" She's okay, I mean, she did get into a fight with a nine year old who tried taking her lunch at school and also won't shut up about some silly hover board thing that she so desperately wants me to buy but other than that, she's an angel, " he responded. And although one would think he was being sarcastic, Crystal didn't miss how his eyes warmed and his whole expression overflowed with fondness when he spoke of his daughter.
" I don't see why you should complain.... " Nick began, "...you're the one that told her it was okay to punch someone if they tried taking advantage of her. "
" I don't recall ever saying that. All I said was that if she ever felt threatened when I wasn't around then she had my blessing to take the matter into her own hands and do what she felt was right, " he defended himself as he poured even more syrup on his waffles.
Crystal smiled, enjoying the conversation between the two.
The minutes passed with them discussing everything they could think of. And she also realized that Matt was the complete opposite of Nick. He was as loud and open as Nick was reserved and quiet. But she guessed that's why they got along so well.
" You know, I've known this guy for all my life and I've never seen him this invested in anyone before. You have to tell me what you did, " Matt said as he leaned into Crystal as if he wanted her to share a secret with him.
" I didn't do anything, he's just too perfect not to love, " she said as she turned to Nick. He reached over, linking their fingers together before he brought the joined hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles softly. His eyes on hers as he relaid the words he didn't say out loud.
I love you.
She smiled, wanting them to be back at the apartment already so that she could show him just how much she meant the words. Regardless of the fact that he already knew.
Perfect.... Nick thought about the word she had used to describe him. She thought he was without flaws, she thought he was ...perfect.
How wrong she was. He wanted to tell her, he wanted to just get it off his chest already and just confess the truth to her. And who knew? There was a chance that she would accept it and put it behind them. But deep down he knew that was just wishful thinking. And he feared that more than anything else. Which was why when Crystal excused herself to go to the washroom, he took the chance to very carefully ask Matt what his take on the issue was.
His best friend, his brother in every sense of the word run his hand through his brown hair before he blew out his cheeks. Matt did the same thing for a living. They were both contracted killers who had gotten into the dark trade at a desperate time in both their lives when they had no one but each other. Back when they had needed so desperately to find a way to survive lest they die due to hunger and the cold.
They had started out unsurely, taking slow steps after Matt had tried to steal from someone only to have it backfire. And that someone had turned out to be a dangerous drug lord who had wanted to kill Matt on the spot. It had been the first and last time Nick had ever pleaded with anyone. At the tender age of sixteen he had asked the man to spare Matt's life in exchange for anything.
" Anything... you say? " the man had asked, and without a second thought Nick had agreed. He had been scared, wary of what the man would ask of him. Then a gun had been placed on his hand along with an envelope containing a picture and address of a total stranger.
" Get rid of him. Make sure there are no witnesses! "
Those words had turned him into what he was now. Matt had wanted to do it himself but Nick knew that he wasn't strong enough. Or he hadn't been at the time since he had always been too attached to his emotions. But Nick..... even from childhood he had ways been detached... uncaring and free of remorse. And even though he had been a little scared and apprehensive, he had stalked the man in the picture, he had waited until he got home one night with groceries on his hand and a phone to his ear... and without stopping to think, he had pulled the trigger.
Twice to make sure he got the job done.
And after that he had been unable to stop pulling it. The feeling he had gotten as he watched the life drain out of his victims. Standing above them as they looked into his eyes with both horror and realisation, he had fed on their pain. He had silently marvelled at their anguish. And when Matt had decided to join him, Nick had taught him everything he needed to know.
" I think it depends on you dude, do you want to tell her? "
Nick had been sure that he didn't want her to know, but he also felt as if that would forever be a wall in their relationship.
" I honestly don't know! I don't fucking know! "
" Well, if you do tell her then you should be prepared to lose her. Is that something you can handle? "
" Of course not! But I feel like shit keeping it from her! "
Shaking his head, Matt buried his face in his hands and hung his head.
" But I prefer that to losing her, even if it means lying to her for the rest of my life then it's exactly what I'll do. She'll never find out the truth. "
" And if she does? " Matt asked as he slowly lifted his head.
" She won't, I'm an expert liar, I'll just put that into good use ---"
Nick stopped talking when he saw Matt's focus shift. Then he felt Crystal's presence at his back. And the look that Matt wore, it said it all.
With the panic starting to set in, he slowly turned around. And he caught Crystal's eyes as they stared at him with both shock and another emotion he just couldn't name.
" The truth about what? " she asked. And her voice.... it sounded broken. A hoarse whisper that proved just how scared and shaken she currently was.
" Crystal .." Nick stood, and when he reached over for her she took a step back.
" No!..just answer me Nick, what are you keeping from me? "
He had no idea what had just occurred. And he didn't know what to tell her. All he knew was that his heart was clenching tighter with every second that passed. And the look she was giving him was breaking him piece by little piece. And when he reached for her again and she took another step back, he felt himself start to lose it.
" It's nothing, Crystal just calm down and sit ----"
" You're lying to me, " she said the words in the same broken tone. As if it was a shattering revelation that her mind still refused to accept.
" Okay then, sit and I'll explain everything to you, " he cautiously approached her. But all she did was take another step back.
" Stop that! " he snapped, unable to bear it anymore. She was back to running from him and the fact bothered him tremendously.
Crystal along with everyone else in the diner jumped due to the impact of his voice. But all he saw was her, and after shaking her head, she turned and dashed out of there as fast as she could.