Dangerous 2

Chapter 11

Nicole carried her bags upstairs, she had bought new books and a new coat for the coming autumn. "Need any help?" Charlie asked as Nicole struggled to open the room to their common bedroom. Nicole looked at him through the hair the covered her face "If you just could open the door thank you."
"No problems." Charlie said and opened the door for her and then closed it behind her. To Nicole's surprise she saw Vincent sitting on the balcony and she slowly put down her bags. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful as he let the late afternoon sun warm his face. Nicole simply stood inside their bedroom watching him, unsure what she'd do. Before the wedding she wouldn't hesitated to walk outside and kiss his forehead but now all she could feel was pain of the nostalgic feelings that welled up inside of her.
 

"Are you going to stand there or will you join me?" Vincent said after a while without opening his eyes. Nicole walked out on the balcony and sat down on the empty chair next to Vincent who still hadn't opened his eyes. Vincent's phone was laying on the table between them next to an empty cup of coffee and a package of cigarettes. "How has your day been?" The question took Nicole by surprise and her silence caused Vincent to give her a small smirk as he reached for the package of cigarettes. Nicole was unsure why acted like this now when he had been so very cold this very morning. He wasn't drunk and there was no one around . "Can I offer you one?" His voice awoke her from her thoughts as she looked at Vincent who held out the cigarette package to her and she took one. "Thank you." Vincent didn't say anything but reached for his lighter and Nicole inhaled the calming smoke. "To answer your question, I had a decent day. How was yours?"
Vincent exhaled a cloud of smoke into the sky "I've had better ones." He then looked straight at her "Did you buy anything?"  Vincent could see the clear confusion on Nicole's face and he very well understood why she felt that way. This was their first conversation alone where they didn't threaten each other or yelled at each other, it was a nice change. "Yes, I bought a few new books and a coat for autumn." Vincent nodded approvingly and then said as he put out the cigarette and lit a new one "Can I see it?" Nicole nodded and went inside to fetch the coat, by this time she had no idea what Vincent was doing. It almost felt as it did before the wedding except for the fact that it wasn't before the wedding and they both knew it. "Pretty. It'll suit you well." was Vincent's answer as he saw the coat, it was a longer grey wool coat with a belt in the middle marking the waist. Vincent really believed that it would suit Nicole. "Thank you." Nicole said once again and remained standing watching the garden she had fallen in love the first time she came to the Giovanni mansion. The silence between the couple was broken by the sound of Vincent's cell and as he picked up Nicole left.

They had just finished eating and they were standing in the hallway. Vincent had his arm around Nicole as they watched Michel, Rico and Marco get dressed. Dinner had been easier to pull off than Nicole would have expected but she was glad that they were leaving. Michel pulled his son into a hug and thanked him for letting them stay there and then he kissed Nicole on both cheeks and said "Walk with me to the car, will you?" Nicole nodded and followed Michel outside while Rico and Marco was making fun of Vincent. Vincent saw his father walk towards their car together with Nicole and he was curious what he was telling her. "Dear Nicole, I know that Vincent isn't an easy person to love and he certainly hasn't made it easier for you since you reunited." Michel gave her a small, knowing smile and then said "He'd kill for you." Nicole felt like crying as she looked into the gentle eyes of Michel and with a weak voice she said "You don't know how bad I hurt him. I broke him."
"You can't break what's already broken but you can put it back together again." Michel squeezed Nicole's shoulder and stepped inside the car. The cars drove off and Nicole turned around only to meet Vincent's eyes for a fraction of a second before he turned around and walked inside. Nicole took a few deep breaths of the chilly late-summer air in an attempt to clear her head. Could Michel be right? How could he be so sure? He had only seen them when they were acting, he had never witnessed any of their fights and maybe if he had seen that he wouldn't have told her this? Maybe she should just confront Vincent with his father's words, would that be stupid? Probably but Nicole felt confident and with the decision made she walked inside the mansion again only to be met by Vincent, Charlie and Luca dressed in their coats. "Where are you going?"
"Out. Club opening." Vincent's answer was short and uninterested, he had clearly dropped their couple act the second his family left but it still disturbed Nicole. How could he switch so fast between his moods? This morning he had been cold, in the afternoon he had been or at least seemed interested and frankly kind of nice and now he was being a total douche. He hadn't even taken his eyes from his phone as he had answered her. "Can we please go now?" Charlie asked and dangled with the car keys in front of the others. Nicole kept her eyes on Vincent and said "I'd like to come with you."
This caught the three men's attention and Vincent studied her carefully "You want to come?" and Nicole nodded without changing her stern expression the slightest.
Vincent put his phone back in his suit pocket, gave her a small but mocking smirk and then said
"Fine. Be ready in ten."

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Aaah I am truly sorry for having you wait this long for an update! A big thank you for your patience and keep reminding me to post just as kind or aggressive as you want to, it's  motivational;))

Love to all of you,
Mary