C29 Rough and intoxicating

A week had passed and Luther was nowhere close to catching Susan, who by now seemed to be enjoying the cat-and-mouse game. she knew he was on her tail and she left Luther little clues for him to find, only for them to be dead ends.

The house was dead silent, Rose had taken Grace out under the pretense of grocery shopping. when she was not openly blushing at anything James said, she kept Grace as busy as she could manage, so much so she didn't have time to be alone or move around the house, and think about Neill.

James was drawing up the coming week's schedule when he heard someone coming down the stairs. he left his chair on the kitchen island

to investigate the intruder, and came face to face with Nicholas.

He looked at him like he'd seen a ghost. his hair was damp and he had a towel around his waist. which meant he'd been in his room all the time this morning.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here James" he chuckled, "with you and Grace and..." he left the sentence hanging.

"When did you get out?" James was visibly surprised to see him

"You locked me In," he walked past him to the kitchen, ignoring his question.

"Yes for security purposes, of course" they stood separated by the kitchen island "I couldn't risk someone going to your office and...you know."

"And what did you tell Grace, by the way, where is she?" he looked around the house

"I told her you had an urgent business to attend to, and Rose is here, so they went out for shopping or errands or something," he said with a wave of his hand.

"But how is she, any episodes?"

"I don't think she has the time, That little woman is a ball of energy." he smiled at the thought of

Roses's flustered face bosses Grace around

"you haven't told me when did you get back?"

" Last night, but I didn't want to wake you or run the risk of waking Grace up."

"I'm glad to see you, I was losing my mind, Mark was here to have a 'Chat' with you"

"Mark?"

" The chief of police"

" Oh...You on a first-name basis now?"

" No, but I did some digging."

"Huh. I see" his brow raised at him. "And what did you find?"

"He is close to retirement and he won't be a problem."

"Good." he was holding a cup but didn't seem to know what to do with it. he placed it on the counter and James poured him black coffee.

"I think it's about time I paid Amelia a visit," he said looking inside his cup of coffee.

"I thought you did that already, against my wise advice, if I may add" he was leaning on his side against the counter inspecting Nickolas closely.

"You know what I mean, last time I was solely there for my amusement." a smile played around the corners of his mouth but didn't fully form.

"And this time? what if you get trapped in that same amusement you went looking for last time?"

"If I was not up to my neck in quicksand, maybe."

This time he was serious as he looked at James, all jokes forgotten.

"We need to find Neill, James."

James only nodded in understanding.

****

"Can I get you anything, Love?" Amelia smiled seductively at her guest, who was sitting on the couch. after a week of total silence from Nickolas, today she received a text to say he was coming over, and she should get ready.

There was no greater way to end a horrible week than the one she had. and for Nickolas to choose to be with her in his time of need proved to her that there was more to them than lunch between friends the other day.

"No, come sit Amie, I just want to talk." he smiled but the smile did not reach his eyes. she didn't mind, she would take it.

"Still no leads on....?" she asked with all the sympathy she could master but he raised his hand at her question and she backed down, clearly it was still a sensitive topic for him.

He sat on the couch his long legs sprawled in front of him, his brow eyes a shade darker and his usually-kept black hair had a strand falling to his face. Amelia sauntered over to the armchair, making sure to give him all of her best angles.

"I just want to look at you." his eyes followed her to her chair and Amelia flourished under the spotlight.

"Is it too late to finish where we left off the other day?" she gave a little giggle at his words,

blushing at his bluntness. but she thought he would never ask.

"But first I need you to tell me, what made you come back to London?" his gaze was fixed on her face.

"You know what they say, there is no place like home."

"That's true, I'm afraid right now my home is more like a circus, my son is missing and Grace is on the verge of losing her marbles." he giggled inappropriately. there was something about his conduct today that Amelia had not noticed before, it seemed to her that he was teasing her with his words but when she tried to probe further, he withdrew.

"Amie, why did you mess with Grace's mind?" his tone was still playful as he wiped away an invisible fluff on his pants. the gesture was so simple and yet she felt her attention trapped by his simple hand movement.

When he noticed she would not be forthcoming, he leaned forward on his seat and pulled out a gun from his back, and placed it on the coffee table. Amelia felt her stomach filling with rocks as she tried to adjust her position on the seat.

"I believe this will speed things along." he sat motionless and looked at her knitted hands.

"You would shoot me for Grace?" a cold sweat ran from her neck down to the crack of her butt.

" You haven't answered me, do you know why you came back to London?" he put his long slender leg over the other knee.

Amelia couldn't remember seeing him seriously angry in their relationship, she didn't know what to expect, but this calm demeanor seemed more dangerous to her.

"Because I lured you back into the country." he continued disregarding her fixed gaze on the weapon.

"Then why are you asking me."

"I want to know the people you worked with at the Mansion to place those disgusting notes around."

"And if I don't tell you, what? you gonna shoot me and run off to your little Grace and live happily ever after?"

"but you are going to tell me, sweetheart, by the time we are through, you will be singing it all to me. you can also tell me where you keeping Neill"

" I didn't take your son." she burst out "Nickolas, all I did was love you, I would never do that to you."

"Then answer me this: How did you know about Grace's history with mental health?"

"I... I met with her previous employer, Mr. Morgan."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to get back at you for the way you left me, you dumped me with a note, a stupid note, do you know how humiliating that was?"

she had tears in her eyes she was fighting hard to contain.

"I know the note was low, but you have to understand Amie I never meant for any of this to happen, Neill is the only blood relative I have, I have a duty towards his mother to do right by her."

"Horseshit!! You could have set them up somewhere comfortable where you will have access to your son anytime but you chose to take them both, you wanted Grace, and you still want Grace." it hurt saying it but she knew it was true

She was shaking with rage. she got up and stood behind her armchair, she was breathing hard. this was the second gun she had been threatened with within a single week.

Nicholas stood up from his position and stood next to her, he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Who helped you with putting those notes for Grace to find?"

"That's all you care about, did you hear anything I said?"

"I did, all of it. but right now all I want is my son back and I want to know who helped you at the mansion, you couldn't have done everything from the south of France. so, who helped you, Amie?" he persisted, he was too calm for her liking.

She stared at his unshaven face, he smelled of his usual cologne mixed with...something else she could quite put her finger on, he looked rough and intoxicating. only if he didn't bring a gun to the play.

"Who helped you?" he did not shift his gaze on her face, and with nowhere to run, she swallowed hard and felt her impulse rise under his scrutiny, and she cracked.