Blue Ribbon

Chapter 39 - Surrogate father

"And I was never sure whether you were the lighthouse or the storm."

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Lilly's POV

"I will ask something and I need you to be honest," Nikolas's sudden unexpected request had me shift in my seat, anxious at what he could possibly ask me about.

Christian? Nathan?...or maybe even Chase?

I looked at him and nodded my head, my hand fisting over the hem of my shirt, "Uh, yeah, sure."

His eyes flickered to my tight fist before they went back to my face, almost like he was analyzing my body language, "Did he try to contact you since we got back from Italy?"

"By he, you mean Lou..." I shook my head, "You mean Nathan, right?"

My throat bobbed heavily when he nodded his head and I hesitated. I looked down at my lap, not answering right away as my mind took me back to the creative message he had left for me and the way he painted my car red. I so badly wanted to say it out loud, maybe it will decrease some of the fear ripping over my inside. But telling him would mean telling dad, and god knows what they would do after, probably lock me up somewhere just in the name of keeping me safe.

I met his eyes again and shook my head, "No," was the only word I could say without having my voice shake. It felt convincing coming out of my mouth and I hoped he would drop it and not question me further.

He stared at me for a second too long, almost like he could see right through my lie. I averted my gaze away from him and back to the car's window, pretending to be busy as I focused on the trees we passed by like they were the most interesting thing in the world. My heart knocked it up a notch, feeling as if I was caught red-handed. I shifted in my seat, uncomfortably. There was something off about them both when I arrived at the company, and now his question proved my theories right. Something did happen.

I turned to look at him, and my eyebrows pulled closer, "Did something happen?"

He met my eyes, and his eyebrow raised, almost like he was calling me off on my previous lie. He shook his head, "No," Was all he said, imitating me. Yup, he sure knows I lied. Damn it, he is no easy man.

"Uhuh," I mumbled, sinking into my seat with utter shame.

I couldn't be happier when we reached his place. He parked the car in the driveway and I immediately went down, more than ready to change the subject before he scraps the truth right out of my mouth. He opened the door to his house and ushered me to get in. He followed right behind me, his eyes flickering around, and searching for them.

"Natal-" His voice died when we reached the living room. Natalie was there, she was sitting on the couch, her elbows pressed over her knees and her head in her hands, her shoulders so tense and something so negative radiated off her in waves. Little Maria was sitting beside her, her little hand soothingly caressing her mother's arm.

Nikolas rushed forward toward her, understanding that something was not right. Maria lifted her eyes up, she pouted when she looked at her father, "Mommy is sad," She whispered and Nikolas crouched by their side, his hand resting over her arm and hand, urging her to look at him, "Natalie, what's wrong?" He whispered, the panic slowly building up in his being.

She lifted her head up, and her sad hurtful eyes met him, the tears flowing down her cheeks had his eyes fire up in utter bewilderment, especially when he noticed the redness covering a portion of her chin. He brought his hand forward and gently caressed the red area. His jaw ticked, "Who did this to you?!" He grated out, his voice though low, it harshly vibrated off the four walls.