~ Bella ~"Mr Isaiah, I'm really sorry about last time but I had something very important to do over the past few days," I said to the man in the chair facing me.He shook his head. "I totally understand. But if you don't mind me asking, why did you change your mind?" he asked.I smiled. "This man," I pointed at Nikolai, "was kind enough to come to me and plead your case," I said."Thank you," Isaiah said.Nikolai smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. It was nothing," he said."I never caught your name the last time," Isaiah said."Austin Wireman," Nikolai said, shaking his hand firmly. "I'm Mrs Bella's assistant.""Nice to meet you," he said. "And this is my partner, Isabella Morov." He pointed at the woman sitting at his side.She smiled and stretched her hand out to me. "Thank you for agreeing to help us," she said."So are you like partners...or partners," I said, differentiating between the words by adding different inflections to each one.She laughed. "
~ Bella ~I swallowed heavily. "Nikolai, you--you can't say things like that."He sighed. "I know but it's the truth."I raised my eyes to his. "Please, don't say things like that to me. Don't toy with me like that.""I am not toying with you, Bells. I mean every word I'm saying," he said quietly.I could see something in his eyes like maybe...maybe he meant every word. Initially, I'd always just thought he was flirting with me because it was his habit.But now, now I wasn't so sure. But I didn't dare examine his motives.If I found that he really meant it. If I found that he had feelings for me... I couldn't trust myself.I wasn't sure what I would do so I did the only thing I could do.I turned my face away from him. "So how do we tackle this case?" I asked.He was silent for a few seconds. I could feel his eyes on me but I kept my face firmly turned away.After a few seconds, he spoke. "We should do some investigating. Find out why the writers are doing this in the first place," h
~ Bella ~"Oh my gosh, Parker, what's all this?" I gasped, looking at the sight spread out before me.Without even realizing it, my lips were hanging open. I slapped my palm over my mouth.He smiled. "I just thought I'd surprise you. You've been working so hard. You deserve it."The dining table was set with a new pink table cover. My favourite color! Dishes of food sat on the table covered with the cutest ceramic bowls. It also had pink flowers and trimmings.He'd added a vase of fresh flowers in the centre of the table and nice aesthetics candles on silver stands."This is so beautiful," I gushed, my eyes misting over. "When did you even get time to do this?"He pulled out a chair and pushed me gently into it. "I left work a little earlier to get everything done," he said.I knew he'd had a particularly busy day today. He'd had two court session that day and various meetings at his office.How he even had the strength to get all this together was beyond me."This is so beautiful, P
~ Nikolai ~I walked out of the house with a bounce in my steps that morning.Hell, I was even whistling as I went. I was in a really good mood that morning.The reason? Things were progressing really nicely with Bella.The last time we saw, which was yesterday, I felt like we'd really taken a step in the right direction.I hadn't been planning to confess my feelings to her just yet but it had just popped out unplanned.If you ask me, I think the unplanned confession was the best really.The fact that she hadn't slapped me or run out screaming was an indication that something had gone right.I smiled. By the time we saw today, things could really start progressing as long as I played my cards right."You seem to be in a good mood today, boss," Ahmad said, holding the car door open for me."Do I?" I asked and got in, thinking that was the end of the discussion.He hurried around the side and got in next to me. "Why are you so happy?" he asked.I sighed wearily. I should have known he w
~ Bella ~"Oh my gosh, I think he's angry," Maggie muttered fearfully.I knew the same fear I could hear in her voice was definitely reflected in my face as well."More than angry. He is furious," I said."Oh shit! Oh shit! I told you I wasn't interested in playing chaperone to you guys. Why, oh, why did you bring me into this!" she cried.I swallowed heavily and didn't answer. Maybe I hadn't made the best decision asking this of Maggie?It's just that after yesterday's events, I'd renewed my decision to stay as far away from Nikolai as possible and kill any errant feelings for him.And this was the solution I readily found. At least if we weren't alone, there was less of a chance of me doing something stupid.I didn't think it would make him this angry. It's not like he liked me or anything."He isn't going to hurt me, is she?" Maggie asked fearfully.I shook my head. I knew Nikolai. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Or Maggie. He would never do that.He might have misread my nervousness fo
~ Bella ~From the ground, I watched Nikolai drag Emily up against the wall. There was a horrid scraping sound of her flesh against the bricks. I cringed.He pulled her up until her legs cleared the floor. She dangled helplessly from his hands. I struggled to my feet but stood a few steps back, watching helplessly."I'll give you one chance to answer my questions," he said in a deathly calm voice.Her bravado had faded. She nodded, eyes wide with fear."N- Nikolai!" I stuttered in fear. Real fear. "You can't threaten a person. It's against the law and--""First question," he said, completely ignoring me. "Why are you suing Isaiah and Isabella?" She swallowed heavily. Meanwhile I was still in panic mood. We could get sued for this. Plus no information we got here would be admissible anyway because we're getting it illegally.But it was impossible to get through to him in this state. Oh shit!I'd known his anger against me would have to find an outlet somewhere and now I was seeing
~ Nikolai ~"Now, let's get some answers," I said. "Emily here has been kind enough to inform me that it was you who approached her with an offer to make quick money."Tony's eye darted to Emily. Even in the dark room, I could see the light of accusation in his eyes."N-no, that's not true," he said.Nikolai gave a world-weary sigh. "Listen here, Tony boy, I'll be straight with you. I already did one interrogation today. Let's save each other a lot of stress and just be truthful, okay?"He said everything in a calm, reasonable voice that was even scarier than if he had just yelled.Tony must've thought so too because he immediately nodded. "I-I'll tell the truth sir," he said."Good! Emily here was nice enough to inform me that she was offered some money to file the case against Isaiah and Isabella," Nikolai started.Emily made a choking sound in her throat. He ignored her.She continued. "Apparently, the person who did the offering was you. I'll like to know why.""N-no! I didn't do
~ Unknown ~I watched Nikolai storm out of the apartment building; his men with him.He looked furious. I wondered why. More importantly, I wondered what he was doing in a place like this.The great Nikolai Reese at a rundown apartment building downtown? Who would have guessed.I raised my camera and snapped a few pictures of him. In the next one, I made sure to get his men in the frame; Ahmad and Boulin...He got into his car immediately and they took off. I waited for a few seconds before I peeled out of the shadows to leave.Just then, I saw movement from the corner of my eyes. Someone else was coming out of the same building.I stepped back into the shadows and watched a woman step out and look around.I recognized her immediately. It was the female lawyer, the one handling Nikolai's case. They seemed to be spending a lot of time together for a lawyer and client. Very interesting!She seemed to be looking for something. Probably Nikolai. Did he abandon her? He'd driven off in a