The Only Way is Up

Part Fifty Six

Chapter Fifty Six

Sleep, Nicole had no idea how she was supposed to do that when the man across the hallway was planning what seemed like a six day seduction. The temptation to launch herself into his arms was there...constantly, but she wanted more than anything to feel in control, and she hadn't felt that since he'd stepped back into her life.

When she'd first met him she'd been scared to get involved, scared to get hurt...plus there was the fact that he was the most handsome man she'd ever met, he was a model...and almost ten years younger than her. But that hadn't meant anything. She HAD fallen for him, she HAD let him into her heart and he HAD hurt her.

But unlike the depths of despair she'd fallen to when Vincent left her, she hadn't failed, she hadn't fallen apart. Partly because he'd made her realise that she wasn't under scrutiny of everyone, her parents, her brothers, her colleagues, none of them really mattered, and he'd made her confident, he'd made her see that she could be anything she wanted, and that a man like him could desire a woman like her.

And then she'd found out she was pregnant. Everything she'd ever wanted was to be a mother. She was happier that she thought possible, in between the floods of tears.

But now. Now her real reticence came down to that exact fact. How would she know if he wanted her, Nicole Stark as a partner, a lover, a life sharer, rather than a readymade happy little family with their baby?

She couldn't live a life wondering whether whilst he had come back for her, if he stayed for the baby. If she asked him, he'd quash any doubt. But she'd always wonder.

Not for the first time she wished she could turn the clock back six months. What would have happened if they'd both disappeared run off into the sunset, away from the control of Aleksi Guryanov?

But deep down she knew that it was never that easy, his father's ruthlessness and determination had known no boundaries. The only thing that could have saved the three of them was his father dying, true freedom. And whilst he hadn't been the man to squeeze the life out of his father, Maxim had been integral in his downfall. He'd done that for her.

He KNEW the lengths his father would go to. She shuddered as she thought about those images he'd found. The surveillance footage, images of her in so many places, and the emails...he would have stolen her baby, their baby. The thought brought tears to her eyes.

He'd killed Maxim's mother, hell in Florida he'd almost killed Maxim too. All those months they'd been together...they were as such a great risk.

It was hard enough for her to deal with those thoughts, but for Maxim...that was the action of his own father. How the hell did the poor man sleep at night?

Jumping out of bed she didn't care that she only wore her little pyjama shorts and a vest that failed to cover the expansive belly and rushed out into the lounge. It was empty, but there was a light on in Maxim's room.

Throwing open the door, she answered her own question, clearly he didn't sleep. He was sat at the desk, laptop open typing away but he must have sensed the door open despite his concentration, because he looked up as soon as she stopped to stare at him.Pinning her to the spot with his eyes.

Artur needed his agreement to formalise some last minute plans regarding his father's operation in Miami. Despite him being on holidays, they both had a need to clean their hands of the whole affair. But as he read the documents, sanctioning actions, he felt sick at the full scope of his father's reach. He had a hand in his friend Kyle's gym. It was several stages up a very convoluted path of investment, but he was there. Controlling his pawns in a calculated way.