'Come on, let's go for a late-night dive!' Brandon shouts as he pulls me out of the house. He's definitely tipsy from all the wine he drank.

'You'll probably drown.' Killian says jokingly, even though he might.

But I'm sure Brandon will manage. Plus we'll all be around to help since everyone walks out of the house and sits close to the pool.

'It's the perfect night to go skinny dipping!' Brandon exclaims, pulling his shirt over his head.

I can't contain a little laughter and look at him as he fights Marco to get to the pool. 'Brandon, you're drunk. Come sit down, please.'

He pouts, but drops down next to me, and wraps his arms around me.

'You're insane.'

'You've been worse you know.' He mumbles against my stomach. 'I really want to go skinny dipping one day.'

'Have you never done that before?' Vincent asks as he downs his glass of water.

Vincent isn't really a drinker.

'No, not really.' Brandon shyly admits. His cheeks flush red and I can see him trying to look at Killian without anyone noticing. But I feel like we all do.

'Neither have I, now that I think about it.' Vincent says, chuckling a little. 'Have you?' Brandon looks up at me, making me laugh because it looks absolutely ridiculous.

'I have.' I admit, pulling him closer.

He's warm and it's kind of cold tonight.

'With who?' He asks curiously.

'Abigail Parker.' All their eyes widen and they look at me in shock, all except Brandon. 'You went skinny dipping with a girl?' Killian asks, while Nikolai rolls his eyes and heads over to Rio, who's still talking on the phone.

I have to talk to him about something.

'I did.' Marco's eyes widen even more, while Vincent looks at me with a questioning look on his face. 'I was eighteen and we were both drunk, but nothing happened besides that.'

'Neveah, can I ask you something?' Marco shyly asks, and I nod. 'Are you... Do you-' 'What my idiot brother is trying to ask, are you bisexual?' Brandon says a bit annoyed.

I think about it for a second and shrug. 'I'm not sure.'

'Were you even dating that girl?' Vincent asks curiously. I shake my head and watch as Brandon turns to face me again. 'So you just went with a girl you barely knew?'

'No, we were friends and decided to have a fun night, but nothing happened after that. She moved actually. And to answer your question,' I say, looking at Marco again, 'I'm not sure if I'm bisexual or not. I've never thought about it before if I'm being honest.'

'So you're telling me you've never thought about marrying a girl?' Killian asks a little too curious if you're asking me. 'The only person I ever imagined I would marry ended up being abusive ass hell, or ended up getting me in more shit.'

'Drew and Leon?' I nod and rub Brandon's back as he smiles at me. 'I'm team Neveah and Leon all the way, so don't you dare!' He exclaims before slowly closing his eyes.

Is he really going to sleep out here?

'Brandon, maybe you should head to bed?' I ask, trying to keep him awake. Everyone chuckles, because he simply wraps his arms around me tighter than before.

'I love you Neveah.' My heart melts for a second and I can't help but smile. Even though he's drunk, I know he means it. 'I love you too Brandon, but I truly think you should go to bed.'

'You're right. Tomorrow is a big day!' He's going to finish that dress tomorrow. He has been working on it for a while, but I'm not allowed to see it until it's finished.

A surprise.

Killian takes Brandon back inside, probably taking him to his room, before heading to bed himself.

'I think we should all head to bed, tomorrow will be... Eventful...' Vincent says as he climbs out of his seat. I frown when Marco also climbs up and looks at me like I'm insane for staying up a little more.

'What's tomorrow?' I ask, not understanding why tomorrow would be important for the two of them. 'In less than twelve hours, we'll be flying to Russia for Alexander Aslanov's party.' What?

'Why did no one tell me about any of this?' They look at each other, before turning to Curse, who's talking to Nikolai right now.

Motherfucker...

'I think he didn't tell you because you were too busy with Victoria and-' Marco tries, but Vincent silences him by saying: 'That doesn't give him the right to not tell her. I'm sorry, I thought you knew.'

'Thanks for telling me, I guess. I'll be back.' I jump up and head to the other two men talking in the garden.

'Can we help you, Neveah?' Nikolai asks, looking at me with that murderous gleam again. 'He can.' I point at Curse and frown a second. 'What is it now?' He groans, emptying his glass, before jumping to his feet.

For a second, I forgot how tall he was.

'Why didn't you tell me we were going to Russia tomorrow?' I ask, crossing my arms.

He chuckles and looks at Nikolai, who's smiling and shaking his head as well. 'You were busy with that kid of yours.'

'That's no excuse.' I have been spending more time with Victoria, but that's because Rio won't let me help.

Even after I accepted the blame, he still won't let me help.

It's as if me finally accepting that it's my fault, made him more and more annoyed by the day.

'I never said it was, North.' He grunts, making me want to hit him again.

'So what? We're just moving to Russia tomorrow?' He nods and walks past me, back to the house. 'What about Victoria?'

I am not planning on taking her to Russia if that's what he's thinking. 'I'll send her to Celine until we get back.' Of course, he already thought about it.

'Now get some sleep, we have a lot to do tomorrow and I don't want to hear any complaints about anyone being tired.' He mumbles as he heads back inside.

I don't like this.

Not one bit.

But I'm not going to keep complaining.

If Rafael thinks it's a smart move to go to a freaking party, we'll go to a fucking party. Even though I doubt that will bring us any closer to getting Cataleya back.

Now that I think of it, none of his missions has brought us any closer to finding out where the fuck she actually is.

And it has been over a month.

'He's right you know.' Nico chimes, jumping to his feet as well. His eyes pierce through mine again and I freeze, feeling something cold creep up my back, 'You should go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be wild.'

When he averts his gaze, I'm finally able to move again.

I step away and head back inside, straight to my room, and close the door behind me.

Nikolai Brovsi still creeps me the fuck out.

When I turn to the bed, I notice that Victoria is sleeping in my bed again. She tends to do that from time to time.

I make my way to the bed and hear something move in the corner of the room. When I look over, I realize someone is sitting there. Fuck...

So far, everyone went to their rooms, so who- Adrian?

No. I killed him.

I reach for the gun, hiding in the drawer of the nightstand, and point it at the person sitting in my room.

'What are you doing in my room?' I ask, trying to sound as scary as possible, but I doubt it sounds intimidating at all. 'Woah! It's me! Put it down!' Kai shouts, raising his hands in the air.

He quickly turns on the little light on the desk and turns back to me with fear in his eyes.

'Kai?' It took me a while to process what the fuck is going on, but now that I do, I lower my gun and look at him.

He lowers his hands and drops back into his seat, placing his hand on his heart before mumbling something.

'What the fuck are you doing in my room?' I ask, placing the gun on the nightstand as I take a seat on my bed, 'And why were you sitting in the dark?'

'I wanted to talk to you and I have a headache.' He says, his breath shaking a little.

I should apologize for pulling a gun on him. But he shouldn't be in my room at this time of day, sitting in the fucking dark. Plus, he doesn't deserve an apology after what happened.

'Get out of my room.' I don't care that he wants to talk, I don't want to hear anything from him.

And since both Curse and Nico say that I should rest, I should get as much sleep as possible.

'Just give me a minute and I'll go.' He says desperately. I wonder what it is he wants and tilt my head a little. 'You have sixty seconds.'

'Okay, I just- God, I don't even know how to-' I roll my eyes and head to the closet, grabbing a shirt to wear as a pajama. 'Thirty seconds.'

'I just wanted to say I'm sorry.' I slowly turn around and lock eyes with him. 'What?'

'I know I should've done this a long time ago, and I know it won't change what happened. But I'm sorry for what I put you through and I want you to forgive me.'

'First of all, where is this coming from?' I ask as I walk back to the bed. He watches me attentively and looks a little ashamed. 'After you killed Adrian, pieces started to fall in place and I feel responsible for what happened to you.'

'That's because you kind of are.' He nods, still ashamed, and looks at the ground. 'I promise I'll help get Leya back.'

'Just like you promised to help us get to Hunter, right?' I ask sarcastically.

He doesn't know how to respond to that and looks back at the ground again.

'Just go to bed and get some sleep, apparently, we have an early flight tomorrow.' I groan as I drop back on the bed.

I hear movement and a door opening. 'I won't let anything bad happen to you Neveah.' What?

Before I can even look at him or ask him what the fuck he's talking about, he's gone.

What's up with him?

I mean, sure. No one really treats him like a person besides Brandon and Victoria. Marco and Rio hate him just as much as I do, maybe even worse. Killian, Nikolai, and Vincent barely know him, and they're hesitant because he used to work for Hunter.

So maybe he's getting lonely?

I'm just happy that he didn't wake Victoria up.

After a few minutes of rolling around, finding the right position to fall asleep, I finally do.

But it doesn't take that long for me to wake up because of Victoria.

She pokes me in my arm and smiles when I slowly open my eyes, letting my eyes adjust to the light since she apparently already opened the curtains.

'Goodmorning.' I groan as I pull her into my arms. She giggles and doesn't even fight back. I notice that she's wearing a cute white dress, something Brandon picked out when we went shopping for her.

'You're already done for today?' She nods and looks at me again.

She's the cutest kid to ever exist.

And she's so kind and innocent and sweet.

'Brandon helped me.' She chimes as she tries to pull me out of bed. 'Rio is waiting.' Oh god...

I stretch out and roll out of bed, watching as Victoria rushes out of the room, leaving the door open.

Vincent appears in the hall, slowly entering the room, and smiles

'I can see you're finally awake.' He jokes, closing the door behind him. 'Is it really that late already?'

'It's eleven am.' Oh shit. 'Killian tried to wake you up earlier, but Victoria wasn't having it.' He says, laughing a little. 'Really?'

'I honestly think he's kind of afraid of her.' Killian? Afraid of a six-year-old?

He walks over to the chair Kai was sitting in last night and takes a seat. 'She's very protective over you.'

I can't help but smile, because she is. But for some reason, I'm very protective over her as well. 'She'll call you mommy soon.'

I roll my eyes and climb out of bed, heading to the closet to grab some clothes. 'She won't.'

'I heard what happened before you got us involved.' I stop and slowly turn around, frowning at him. I'm not going to give anything away, because he might be talking shit, but I trust Vincent. 'Don't you start too, please?'

'It's a lot to handle at once Neveah, first your best friend, then your lover, then-' 'Vincent, please.' I say desperately wanting him to stop.

I doubt he's trying to hurt me, but if he continues, I'm going to end up in tears again.

And I don't want to.

'Neveah, I'm here for you okay. Even if Rio is forcing us to not talk to you and shit, I'm not-' What? 'He's what?' I quickly grab a simple shirt and pants, knowing I'll probably have to change later again.

'Rio doesn't want us to tell you too much because he says you're annoying. But we don't really care about that anymore.'

As much as I wish I could kill Rafael right now, I won't.

'Where is he?' That doesn't mean I'm not going to talk with him about it. 'He's fighting with Nico, let them be. He was annoyed this morning so Nico thought it would be a good idea to push him a bit more and then they started throwing fists.'

'Why is he angry again?' I quickly walk to the bathroom and change. 'I think it's because he's tense because of the party.'

'And why are we going again?' I ask as I start brushing my teeth and lean against the frame of the door. 'He's not telling you much is he?'

'Don't tell me you just noticed that.' I joke, walking back to the sink so I can spit out the toothpaste. 'We need weapons that only Nico's uncle has and he has files on everyone, just like Johan, something that might come in handy as well. And he's a very busy man, so the party will be our only way to talk to him.'

Finally.

Someone explaining to me what it is we're going for, instead of dragging me places without informing me.

'Thank you for telling me.' He smiles as I get back to the bathroom to quickly wash my face. 'It's your friend we're after, it's just weird he won't include you in it.'

Right... Whoever told him some of our backstories didn't fully tell him yet.

'So that's why you came to talk to me?' I head back to the bedroom and look at the smiling Vincent, 'To inform me?'

'That, and to tell you that today won't be easy.' He jumps to his feet and steps closer to me. 'How so?'

'Nico will act... Differently. Heartless, cold.' I scoff and quickly redo my hair in a bun. Brandon will probably fix it later. 'Isn't he already?'

Vincent's facial expression doesn't change. Not one bit.

'I'm serious Neveah, he's going to be a version of himself he doesn't want to be.'

'And what does that have to do with me? I mean, I could stay out of his way for the entire trip, right?' He inhales sharply and steps around me, heading to the door. 'You should talk to Rio about that.' What?

He told me so much already, but he won't tell me this?

I follow him into the hall and hear Rio's deep voice, while he's talking to Marco about something that obviously annoys him.

'I got her out of bed and ready.' Vincent chimes, even though he didn't do any of that. I'll let him have his moment.

'At least someone that does as they're told.' Rio says, rolling his eyes as he looks at me. Everyone is dressed and ready to go as if they were waiting for me.

Which they probably were. Shit.

'Hope you had enough sleep for the next week because we're going to be moving a lot.' Brandon groans, walking over to me. I keep my eyes on Rio, since he's basically doing the same, and stay right by the door.

'I think we should go, or we'll be late.' Marco says, desperately wanting everyone to get out of this tiny room.

We're too close to each other, stepping on each other's toes ever since we stayed in here for longer than a week.

'What do you have to say for yourself?' He asks, ignoring Marco's plea to get going. 'Rio, don't do this right now.' Vincent mumbles, heading for the door as well. 'You know how much this means and yet you're fucking it up already.'

'She just overslept, it's fine.' 'No, it's not. And she knows it. She's doing it on purpose because she's being ignorant and selfish again.' His words hurt and it takes me every cell in my body to not stumble back.

They all start rambling, mostly Brandon and Vincent and Rio, but the others try calming Rio down as well.

But he's right.

This is important, otherwise, he wouldn't have done it. Because he wants her back just as much as I do, I think even more than I do.

And I overslept.

'I'm sorry, it won't happen again.' Everyone goes quiet and looks at me. 'That's what you said the last time you fucked it up, but look where we are.'

'I said, it won't happen again. I'll work on it, okay?' He rolls his eyes and stays put.

Everyone gets up and heads to the door, even Victoria is running out with Kai, but Rio keeps his eyes on mine.

Dark, anger, fury, evil. A curse.

A beautiful, compelling curse. God, I hate him.

'You better not mess this up North.' I nod and follow him through the door, closing it behind me. 'I have a question though.' I can hear him sigh as he enters the black van parked outside and almost slams the door in my face.

Victoria climbs on top of my lap and smiles at me as she buckles the belt around us both.

'What will happen to her?' I ask, looking at Curse again. He sighs deeply and looks at Marco, waiting for him to explain again.

Rio has never been one to explain himself.

It's as if he hates words when it comes to explaining.

Now that I think about it, he might hate talking in general. Especially when it comes to me...

'Kai and Vincent will take her to Paris, where they will stay with Celine until we get back.' What? I look at Vincent, who's smiling sheepishly. He's not coming to the party...

'Are you sure that's a smart idea, I mean Kai-' 'The decisions have been made already, accept it.' Rio sneers as he swipes through his phone.

'Someone said something about me not being able to stay away from Nico,' Everyone looks at Vincent, but I can feel Nico's eyes on me, filling me with pure ice, 'why is that?'

Marco rubs the back of his neck and smiles shamefully, before looking at me again. 'What is it?' I ask a little hesitantly.

Something's off and I don't like it one bit.

'They want you to act like his girlfriend as if you're some bait again.' Brandon groans, rolling his eyes as he glares at his brother and Rio. But Rio's too unbothered to care.

'What's it with you and pairing me with different men?' I ask, looking at him. He inhales sharply and looks up from his phone, making me wonder how it's not broken yet since he's gripping it so tightly.

'There are no women allowed without any link to the guests.' He says, trying not to drop his phone so he can hit me. 'And since you want to be involved so badly, I figured it would be the best thing to do.'

'Can't I fake date anyone else?' I don't care that Nico's sitting right across from me, I don't want to have to be around him the entire night and I doubt he wants it either.

'You'll enjoy it, zayka.' I still cringe at his nickname for me and feel Victoria shift on my lap. I pull her all the way back, allowing her to lean back and rest for a bit, as I keep my eyes on Nico.

'In your dreams.' His lips curl up and I can see something shift in his eyes. But still, he hates me. I can tell he's just doing this to annoy the shit out of me.

'You mean in yours?' He grins while everyone else continues to talk about other stuff. 'You wish.' I say, rolling my eyes as I turn back to Rio.

He's simply looking at me as if he's trying to study me or something, making me pull Victoria a little closer.

'We'll go in separate groups, it will be less noticeable.' He continues, tapping Marco's shoulder since he's too focused on talking to Killian about something. 'Oh, and you're going to have to act like you barely know us.' What?

'Why?' 'Less noticeable.' I want to ask why they did this again, but I told Rio I would calm down with the questions.

'Also, if you know anyone there, act like you don't. Rio doesn't want to say it, so I'll tell you in advance. He doesn't want you talking to people, like... At all. He's a complete freak about it.' Marco kicks his brother, the only one who doesn't seem too crazy about any of this as well.

'What? It's the truth?' He looks at me with a sorry smile and I smile back at him.

I am thankful that Brandon is here because without him I wouldn't have survived any of this.

'You'll go with Killian and Nico.' Curse says while Marco and Brandon fight about what just happened. Meaning he'll go with Marco and Brandon.

I nod and noticed the car slowly coming to a stop. 'I'll give you two minutes.' Rio says, jumping out of the car.

Everyone else follows, except for Victoria and me.

'Okay so, you'll be going with Kai and Vincent, okay?' She frowns as we get out of the car and keeps her eyes on me while I look at the two black airplanes in front of us.

'Why? Where are you going?' She asks, a little sadly. 'I'm going to do some grown-up stuff. But I'll promise you'll enjoy it.' I chime, pulling her into my arms before kissing her a million times.

I'll miss her, even though it will probably be for less than forty-eight hours.

'You'll finally meet Celine, she'll love you.' She starts giggling again, warming my heart. 'Is she nice?' 'Very nice.'

I put her back down and look at Vincent and Kai, who are walking our way. 'I need you to behave okay?'

She nods and smiles widely, before hugging me again. 'I will, I promise.' Good.

The last thing I need is for Celine to worry more.

'Come on, we should go.' Vincent chimes, holding out his hand so that Victoria can hold onto him. She lets go of me and slowly backs away, waving at me with her tiny hand.

I watch them for a while, before realizing that those two minutes are already over, and head to the other plane, running to the seat next to Brandon.

'What is it with you and time?' Marco asks, smiling a bit. I shrug and look at an annoyed Brandon, wondering what he's so annoyed about.

As soon as everyone takes a seat, I realize that Brandon and I are mostly alone.

'Everything okay?' I ask as soon as we're up in the air. 'I don't like any of this. I just want Leya to be back, for Celine to pop out that child already and for all of us to go clubbing again.'

'I understand and we'll do all of that as soon as we get her back.' He shakes his head and looks at me. 'No, because you'll be leaving.' How does he- 'Or so I've heard.'

'I doubt going out once will make that much of a difference.' I joke, moving a little closer to him.

I'm already extending my stay.

'Don't go.' He looks at me and quickly pulls me closer. 'I mean, you don't have to go.' He continues, wrapping his arms around me to keep me from leaving this spot.

Not that I would.

Not with him.

'Brandon...' How do I explain that it's best if we do?

'Leon will stay out of your way and we'll all live happily ever after, wouldn't that be nice?' It really would, but it's still not safe.

It will never be safe with them.

'You know we shouldn't.' I mumble, trying to look up at him. 'You should, because it wouldn't be fair if you two left.'

'Why not?' I doubt Leya wants to stay after all that has happened between them. She's probably assuming that Rio doesn't care at all, which I completely understand after seeing and hearing what happened between them.

'Because you became a part of my family and I don't want to lose you.' He quickly says. As if he's ashamed to say it. 'What?' I lean back and frown at him, my heart stopping for a second. 'Don't make me say it again bitch.'

My heart melts and I can't stop smiling as I throw my arms around Brandon. 'Just think about it, okay?'

'I doubt my opinion will change, but okay.' He chuckles and leans back. 'I think it will as soon as Leon and you make up.' He says, wiggling his brows as he looks in front of us.

'We're almost there, we'll go by the house, get ready and leave for the party.' Marco says, who was apparently standing in front of us. 'First of all, how long have you been standing there, and second, you're telling me we're almost there already?'

He smiles and nods, dropping on top of me and Brandon, before moving next to me. 'Long enough to hear you two get all mushy and shit, and we'll be there in less than an hour.'

'At least I'm trying to make them stay!' Brandon sneers, pushing his brother as if I'm not sitting in between them. Marco pushes him back, almost squishing me in the process. 'As if I haven't been trying!'

'Wait, you want us to stay too?' I ask, quickly moving to the seat across from them, so I'll survive if they start fighting. 'Of course, I do.'

'But he has different reasons, of course.' Brandon chimes, pushing Marco again. Marco rolls his eyes and looks at me with the most serious look I've ever seen on his face. 'What Brandon said is true. So yes, I want you two to stay.'

'What happened to being mushy and shit?' I can't help but laugh as Marco starts hitting Brandon, and Brandon does the exact same to him.

'Barsetti.' Is all Rio has to say for them to stop. Mostly Marco, because Brandon hits him one more time, before moving over to my side as Rio takes a seat next to Marco. 'It's like you two are four years old or something.' He grunts.

Rio looks up from his phone, straight at me, and sighs. 'You better not mess this up North. Or you'll never get that list of names.'

He still has it. And he won't give it to me that easily.

'Why can't I go with you guys?' I don't want to sound too desperate, but I am.

I trust Killian and I trust Nico, I think, but I know I'll be way more comfortable with Brandon and Marco.

'Because I don't want you stuck to me the entire evening.' Rio groans, looking at his phone again.

'I could go as Brandon's date.' Marco chuckles and shakes his head in the process, while Brandon looks at me with a frown. 'You think they'll buy that shit?' 'I don't see why not.' I shrug and look at Rio again, who's looking at me with a frown.

'Now you're just being stupid. You're going with Nico and that's final.'

But I don't want to...

Not that he'll listen.

'And you'll talk to no one unless he lets you, understood?' I nod and look at Brandon, who has a sorry smile on his face.

I know he would fake being straight for me, but Rio won't allow it.

'Don't go all crazy because shit doesn't go your way, and definitely don't cause a scene, because I will-' 'Kill me. I know. And I won't.' I say, looking him dead in the eye. I'll try.

I just know it's going to be hard to fake being with Nico, because I still feel like he dislikes me just as much as Rio does.

The rest of the flight goes by quicker than I expected and we all head to the parked cars, waiting on an empty parking lot.

We make our way to a house in the middle of nowhere again.

'Brandon, go to your room and get North ready, we leave in an hour.' Rio says, heading to the other side of the house.

I sigh and look at Brandon, following him to a room with two beds. 'Apparently, this is our room.' He mumbles as he heads to the dusty-looking bed.

Our bags, which I don't remember packing, are laying in front of the bed, meaning they already planned this shit out.

Brandon starts unpacking, pulling a gorgeous green dress out of one of the bags in front of, apparently, his bed.

'Go take a shower, I'll leave this dress on the bed, and afterward, I'll do your hair and make-up.' He says as he rushes through the room, grabbing a bunch of different things. 'I'll do it myself, don't worry.'

He frowns for a second but knows that an entire hour won't be enough time for him to style the both of us. 'Fine! I'm going to use someone else's bathroom and take a quick shower as well.'

I nod and head to the other bags, grabbing some underwear, before heading to the bathroom.

I take a quick shower, wrapping my hair into a towel before looking at myself in the mirror.

The bruises are almost completely gone. The only one left is the S and a cut on my waist, too small to see from afar.

A night with Nikolai...

I just hope I get out of this night alive, because I know he wants me dead.

As I make my way back to the bedroom, I notice that Brandon indeed placed the dress on the bed, neatly letting it drop off the edge to show its full glamour.

Holy shit...

I am afraid to even touch the dress, in fear of ruining it in any way.

So I decide to first put on some make-up, some dark eyeshadow, and a little lipstick in a nude shade, before putting my hair into a tight bun with two loose strands. Nothing too much.

Someone knocks on the door, and I flinch as I quickly grab the robe wrapped around me. 'Can I come in?'

It's Brandon.

'Yeah.' He opens the door and looks at me as he buttons up his shirt. 'I hope you- why aren't you wearing the dress yet?'

'I didn't want to ruin it.' I joke, turning back to the dress as Brandon frowns at me. 'The dress is meant to be worn, Neveah.' He says, chuckling softly.

I nod and move my hand across the soft silky fabric. 'And I honestly don't want to go to this party.'

'Neveah...' Brandon steps next to me and sighs deeply, 'Maybe we can convince Rio to-' 'You know he won't listen.' I immediately say, knowing that Rio won't change his mind.

Once he sets his mind to something, it's the only way things can go.

According to his plan.

'I'm sorry Neveah.' This time I'm the one frowning at him, because Brandon shouldn't apologize for any of this shit. 'It's okay, it's not your fault. I'll manage.'

I grab the dress, and listen as Brandon moves around the room again.

Fuck it.

I step into the dress, pull it up, and groan when I realize it needs to get zipped up.

'Brandon, can you-' He's not here anymore.

I'm all alone and I wonder when he left.

So how am I supposed to close the-

As if hearing my unspoken struggle, Nico steps into the room, smiling at me.

He's wearing a jet-black suit with the same colored tie as the color of my dress.

Emerald green.

'You need some help with that?' He asks, grinning from ear to ear.

'If you have nothing better to do.' No. I shouldn't let him near me, he might- Calm down, jeez.

Nikolai probably just wants to help. I'm just thinking about this shit too much, fucking hell.

He slowly steps closer, looking at me through the mirror in front of me, and rests his hand on my hip.

'I do actually.' He whispers, his breath brushing against my exposed neck. 'Then what are you doing here?'

'You needed help.' He traces his fingers to my back, placing one on my skin, while the other hand slowly moves the zipper up, tracing my skin with the other.

'What are you doing, Nikolai?' For some reason, my heart starts beating like crazy, and it feels like my feet are glued to the ground.

He takes a deep breath and leans closer, almost pressing his chest against my back.

I look into the mirror, noticing that his eyes are on my slightly parted lips.

'I'm helping you.'

His eyes cross mine and I see the familiar glimpse of murder in them, as I feel his hand go up and up.

He's really taking his time with that zipper...

'Stop looking at me like that.'

'Like what?' He asks, gently brushing the still exposed skin because he's not done zipping yet. 'Like you want to kill me.'

A deep chuckle erupts from his lips and he shakes his head, before looking into my eyes again.

'I only look at you like that when you don't pay attention to me.' There he is again.

The flirtatious prick that keeps playing these stupid games with me.

And the fact that I always play along doesn't seem to bother him either.

'Then what would you call that look?'

'Like I would want to do something else with you.'

He finally pulls the zipper all the way up and steps back, still looking at me with all his attention.

'I don't think that's a smart idea, Nico.'

He steps closer again, placing his hand on my lower back, making me shiver for a second.

I don't like this. Not one bit.

But I don't know what to do to stop it.

'Are you sure?' He asks, leaning in so that his lips brush against my neck.

This is driving me insane. And I shouldn't be doing this. I don't want to do this.

'Positive.' I breathe, trying to fight the urge to lean into his touch.

He slowly lifts his hand to pull my dress off of my shoulder a little, and I keep my eyes on him.

'Really?' He murmurs, brushing his lips against my exposed shoulder.

He leans down, almost pressing his perfect pink lips against my skin, but I stop him by turning around and pulling my dress up again.

'Yes. Because it's not right.' He sighs, steps back, and looks at me again. 'How so?'

'I'm still dating Tiago.' Even though I'll be leaving when all of this is over...

He rolls his eyes and takes another step back, not once taking his eyes off of me.

'Right. That's still a thing.'

I ignore his annoyed tone and turn back to the mirror, while he silently leaves the room again.

Did that just happen?

I can barely breathe and I'm not sure if it's because of the fear of him or because... I wanted him to continue?

No. I did not. It was definitely the fear.

Brandon certainly didn't hold back on the dress, because holy shit.

The top is a little see-through, but gorgeous emerald green and the dress. Holy shit... It fits my body at the right places, showcasing the figure I kind of forgot I had.

It has short sleeves, but apart from that, I'm entirely covered in green. With a little trail behind me. Oh my god...

I look at myself in the mirror again, noticing that my cheeks are red as fuck, and try to stop my heart from racing like it is right now.

After a few minutes, I head to the front door, seeing that everyone else is already waiting.

'Late again.' Rio says as Marco opens the door and heads outside. 'I'm sorry.'

'Listen, North. All of this is happening because of you, so don't you dare mess this up.' He's blaming me again. 'I won't.' 'If you do, I swear to god I'll leave you in some kind of forest, despite everyone begging me to keep you, understood?' What?

I stumble back a little, almost falling because of these stupid heels Brandon picked out.

I mean, don't get me wrong, they're gorgeous, but they're going to be a pain in my ass.

I might even take them off at some point, the dress is long enough, so no one will notice.

'Get in the car. If I hear one thing about your behavior, you're done.' Rio says, heading to one of the other cars himself.

Rio said it so many times by now, that all of this is my fault, that I kind of started to believe it.

I know that it can't be entirely my fault, but most of it is.

So I won't tell him otherwise, because it will only make things worse.

'Come on.' I feel someone grab my arm and pull me to the other car, the one where Nico is already sitting in apparently.

He looks out of the window, avoiding eye contact at all costs, and keeps looking outside for the entire drive.

I barely process anything, not even entering the mansion, until Nico places his hand on my lower back again, laughing because of someone saying something which is apparently supposed to be funny.

There's music playing in the background and a lot of men walking around, some with a woman at their arm, but not one woman who's walking on her own that doesn't work here. Just as they said...

I nudge Nico away, not wanting him to touch me as I take another look around.

A lot of gold. A lot of light. And lots of smoke coming from cigars.

Killian is standing at a table on the other side of the room, which is huge, and I doubt I'll make it to him in less than five minutes because this place is packed.

'Go get me a drink.' Nico suddenly says, making me frown at him. 'Who the-' The other men that were standing around us are frowning at me. As if it's the craziest shit they've ever seen. 'I said, go get me a drink.' Nico repeats, a little harsher this time.

Don't cause a scene... 'Sure.' I walk away, towards the table where Killian is standing, because I notice someone pouring a bunch of drinks there.

Killian notices me in the crowd and almost pushes through the others to get to me. 'What are you doing?'

'Nico basically demanded me to get him a drink, and since Rio didn't want me to-' He pulls me closer, out of the way of a couple that's heading to the middle of the room to dance.

Just like a lot of other couples are doing apparently.

'You shouldn't be walking alone.' He says, taking me to the table. 'Well, he told me to go.'

He nods and looks at Nico, who's still talking to a bunch of older men.

Killian orders two drinks for us, as I look around, stopping at the big staircase leading to this room.

'This place is huge.' I mumble, more to myself since Killian is busy talking to the girl pouring our drinks.

I watch as a bunch of people, mostly couples, enter the room, slowly walking down the steps.

But my heart stops when I see her.

'Holy shit.' I stumble forward, quickly looking at Killian, who's looking a bit worried. 'What is it?'

I turn back to the stairs and watch as Cataleya walks down, wearing a simple red dress that fits her body perfectly, one arm hooked around a new guy walking next to her, with behind her... Hunter Steel.

'What the actual fuck.' I don't know what to say and immediately start walking her way, feeling someone pull me back. 'What do you think you're doing?'

'I'm going to talk to her, let go of me.' No causing a scene... But if Killian doesn't let go of me, I'm going to push him off.

There's no way- 'Maybe we should first tell Rio.'

'Just let me talk to her real quick, then we-' 'No. Come with me.' He says, dragging me to the other side of the room, away from Cataleya. 'Killian, please.' I lose her as soon as he drags me through a hall, leading to another room.

'We have a problem.' Killian says, making sure I'm not running back to the other room. 'I saw her.'

'What is she doing here?' Rio asks, taking a sip from his champagne as he plasters a fake smile on his face. 'Neveah, shouldn't you be with Nico?' Marco asks, stepping closer as well.

'She's here.' I say, keeping my eyes on Rio. Just as he's lifting his glass to empty it in one shot, he lowers it again. 'What?'

'Cataleya is here.' Rio frowns and keeps his eyes on mine, taking a long second to process what I just said, before almost stumbling back.

'We can talk to her, get her back, and get the fuck out of here.' Everyone looks at Rio, waiting for him to respond.

But just like I was glued to the ground with Nico earlier, so is he right now. And he's not able to say anything as well.

'I'm going to-' 'No, you're not.' I expected it from Rio, but since his lips aren't moving, I turn to the voice, it's Marco. 'What do you mean, she's right-' 'It's too risky. People will talk and we don't need more people on our asses.'

'She's right there!' I sneer, pulling my arm out of his grip.

Right now, I don't care about causing a scene. She's right here. Cataleya is right here.

'Go back to Nico.' Killian says, looking at me with the most serious look on his face ever.

'But-' 'Go back to Nico and don't even think about talking to Leya.' Marco sneers, basically pushing me away.

For fuck's sake...

A month.

More than a month actually.

Forty-six-fucking-days.

Forty-six days of searching.

And she's right here.

I make my way back to the other room and search for Nico, hoping that he'll let me talk to her. Even though I doubt he would, I'm willing to try.

The only problem is finding him again. Because he's not standing where he was five minutes ago.

I look around the room, searching for him, but only find someone else.

Cataleya.

She's laughing with... Hunter.

I keep my eyes on her, not caring that I'm standing still in the middle of the way to the drinks, because I can't lose her.

Someone taps on Hunter's shoulder, making him turn the other way, leaving her with the guy she came in with.

She glances around the room and stops when she sees me.

Her lips curl up and she waves at me, making the guy next to her look at me as well. He's pretty. Dark eyes, dark hair, and very tall.

I have to talk to her...

She nudges her head to the side, where there's another hall, and looks at me. She wants to talk.

I nod and head towards the spot, keeping my eyes on her until I can't anymore.

She went into another hall, which is a little further away from me.

I end up in an almost secluded hallway with a single couch and some bathroom signs on the wall.

I can see glimmers of Leya's red dress and follow her towards another door.

Just as I open the door to enter the lady's bathroom, someone dramatically clears his throat.

'What is a young lady like you, doing out here?' I turn around and look at the three men heading my way. 'I'm going to use the bathroom unless this is not the bathroom.' I chime, trying to laugh it off a little.

They all laugh and basically circle around me, cornering me.

Fuck.

'Who did you come here with?' One of them asks, looking me up and down as if I'm a hooker.

'I-' 'Zayka.' Before I know it, Nico's arms pull me closer, and he quickly kisses me on the lips, before turning to the guys in front of us.

It's a quick, meaningless, kiss, but I barely have time to process any of it.

'Here you are!' He says, keeping me close as he acts as if he's a bit tipsy. 'Cousins.'

The guys in front of us look a little... Scared and slowly step away.

'She's with you?' The third one asks, looking at Nico's arm around my waist. 'Mhm, is that a problem?'

They all shake their heads and slowly back away. 'Good, now give us some privacy, will you?' He turns me around, pressing me against the wall behind us, and leans down, pressing his lips against my neck.

What is he- I push him off of me, realizing that the guys left already, and hit him across the face.

'What the fuck was that?!' He chuckles and pushes me back against the wall, staying close enough for the couple that's walking past us to mind their own business. 'Don't cause a scene.'

'Don't fucking touch me.' I say, keeping him at distance. 'I told you I was dating Tiago and you kissed me!'

'I saved your ass, so be thankful.' He chuckles, brushing the loose strand behind my ear. 'Don't touch me, Nikolai.'

He looks at me, raises his hands in the air in defeat, and steps away a little.

'What are you doing here?' He asks after a while. I look at him again and realize that his cheek is getting a little red.

'I need to use the bathroom.' I don't feel bad for lying to him, because I need to talk to Leya.

'Better make it quick, because Rafael left.' What? 'And since we already have a start with what we came here for, it's best if we go with him.' I nod and act like I give a single shit.

All I care about is seeing Leya, who's waiting in the fucking bathroom behind this wall.

'It won't take long.' He nods and heads to the little couch in the hall. 'Hurry.'

I head for the door and take a deep breath as I enter the bathroom.

----

A/N: AHHHHHHHHH!!! Thank you so much for all the love, I FUCKING CAN'T WITH YOU GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOUUUUUUU!!!!

So. They finally see each other after more than a month... Will they get her back? And where did Rio go?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please comment, and don't forget to vote!

I'll see you in the next chapter, have a good day everyone!!!