After filling in Jack on the morning's scuffle, Nolan was obliged to give a more carefully edited account of the fight to Declan, who had emerged from the storeroom with a crate-stacked dolly.

Being younger, Declan was more impressed than concerned to learned that Nolan Ross, he of the kind eyes and gentle nature, had held his own in a fight with Daniel Grayson. It made the day suddenly more interesting.

Neither Jack nor Declan cared too much for Daniel, as he often became rude to both them and the waitstaff when he was out for a night of slum drinking on the docks with his friends.

"So what happens now?" Declan asked, unknowingly mirroring Jack's question from minutes before.

Nolan shrugged and winced anew, recalling having dodged one of Daniel's punches, only to have it land on his arm rather than his face. "I'm going to check the video feed from the dock cameras, and then I'm going home to wait on a visit from the security guards."

Declan furrowed his brow, "What about Emily? I mean, are you going to tell her what happened?"

Again, Nolan shrugged. "One look at me and she'll put the pieces together. I do need to sit down with her, though. She's got some 'splaining to do."

Declan and Jack shared a quick look of concern, knowing that Nolan was taking a big step with this woman. As his friends, they could only hope she was worth it.

Later, when Nolan told them what had happened, the Porters thought their friend capable of accurately predicting the future. It was not two hours after he'd secured the video feed that his doorbell rang, and he opened up to find four men in security uniforms waiting to speak with him on the other side.

Nolan had done this dance before, the first time being with a bouncer back in his clubbing days, right after the launch of Nolcorp and his own fortune. It was not a skill he'd enjoyed learning, but nonetheless Nolan had learned how to handle such situations in a delicate way to provide for the people who approached him and ensure their loyalty.

In this case, he knew the men had not approached the Graysons yet and so had armed himself with the information to gain them as allies, and perhaps even as future friends.

Nolan sank down into the center of his sofa and spread his arms along its back. He had erased the video feed on the security cameras that had captured the fight, though he'd kept the footage for himself. After that, he'd had a sandwich. After lunch, he had wasted no time in pulling the employment records to find out who was working the docks that day and dug into the financial records and most recent searches from each man to get a better picture of what their price would be.

Every man had a price, even him, even both the Porters and even David Clarke, but it wasn't always about money. This was something the Graysons would never be able to understand.

Nolan looked at each man in turn, sizing them up with his icy eyes, readying himself. He wanted these strangers out of his house as soon as possible so that he could rest and ice his bruises. He and Emily would speak before the day was done, that much he knew, though whether it happened at his home or hers remained to be seen.

Clearing his throat, Nolan pointed the the man the furthest to his left, a fellow blonde with light brown eyes and a small scar on his chin. "Mr. Thomas, you're behind on the mortgage and the bills. $50,000 should get you all caught up and be a nice start to some savings. Maybe you should let your wife handle the finances from now on though. Just a thought." He winked at that last comment, keeping things light.

Next to him was a taller, more muscular black man. Nolan recognized a military past in the man's stiff posture. "Mr. Dean, you think that your kids will be better off in a private school. I play online chess with the Headmaster of New York Charter. I'll make a donation, your sons will be in by the fall semester, or by next summer if you want them to finish out middle school with their friends. He'll be in touch."

The next was a Hispanic man with a solid build; no wedding band on his finger yet, and there never would be if he and his fiancé couldn't put together a proper wedding with their meager funds. Nolan slipped a card out of his shirt pocket and held it out to him. "Mr. Rodriguez, take this card, call on Tuesday and ask to speak with Angela. I'll shoot her an e-mail, and I promise that you'll be able to give Maria the wedding of her dreams. Trust me on this, Angela is the best."

Nolan looked over the last of them, a brunette man, and likely the youngest in the room. From the information Nolan had pulled, the man had been Googling several universities in the state and also, regrettably, been declined on a few student loans applications. "And lastly, Mr. Sark. You want to go back to school. I didn't have the patience for it myself, but if earning a degree is your dream, name the school and the tuition is on me."

These men, good men, all of them, were his now.

They left, shuffling out of his house with the dazed realization that the problems that had plagued them for months were suddenly solved.

Nolan watched from the kitchen window as the men left his driveway, then filled a Ziploc bag with ice cubes and pressed it over his face. He was tired; with the harsh adrenaline spike of being attacked and holding his own in the fight, Nolan wasn't sure if he wanted to eat his whole kitchen or just sleep for the rest of the day.

He went into the guest bathroom, taking in the sight of the damage again. It wasn't too bad, all things considered: a darkening bruise under his left eye, a cut to his lip, another bruise on his shoulder, his knuckles had been sliced by Daniel's teeth, there was a bruise over his ribs and there just beside it, that first bruise gifted to him from David.

It would all heal, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Daniel assumed he was a man to take disrespect laying down - he had been, once. That time was over, and had been for years.

It was time Nolan reminded the Hamptons of that.

It was close into the evening when Nolan's doorbell rang yet again, the woman waiting on his answer being just the one he'd been hoping to see. Yes, he'd wanted to see her, but he wished that she'd texted to let him know she was on her way to visit.

After eating half the kitchen earlier in the day, he'd fallen asleep on the sofa. On waking at the sound of the bell, he'd rolled off the couch and ran to answer the door, so he must look worse than he thought as Emily exclaimed, "Nolan! My God, what happened?" the moment she saw him.

She, of course, meant his bruises rather than his messy hair and wrinkled shirt.

Nolan dismissed her concern as he stood aside to let her into the house. "Oh, nothing much. Boardroom meetings can be pretty brutal this time of year."

Unimpressed, Emily fixed him with a stern look. "Don't joke, tell me what happened."

Nolan gave her an equally stern look in return, a subtle assertion that he wasn't yet willing to discuss what had lead to the bruises marring his face. "Emily, leave it alone."

Pointless, really, as his warning only left her with more questions. He should have known better. Emily stepped in closer to him, reaching to touch his face, only enough to tilt his chin so that she could have a better look at the bruise that spread over his left cheekbone.

"Do you really think I'll do that?"

The stony expression, an unnatural thing, lifted from the man's face. He was only ever serious when it came to his company and the well-being of his employees. Emily, though, was changing that. He was serious about her.

He leaned into the hand that still tocuhed his face. It was all bittersweet but for the moment, he was happy to have her with him, even with the black cloud of the truth hovering on his conscience.

He sighed, turning his head and quickly kissing her open palm. "No. No, but it was worth a shot."

He stepped past her, heading to the kitchen to find something to offer his surprise visitor. He might have to get creative, seeing as he'd eaten his way through most of the groceries only hours before.

Emily watched him rifle through the refrigerator, sensing the tension in him and growing more worried with each second that passed in silence. "Nolan, please tell me what happened. Did you get mugged?"

"I'm starting to to wish I was." Nolan said blandly, turning back to her with the offer of a bottled water.

He could feel his stomach knotting in anxiety. There was no stopping it now, he refused to lie to her any longer, and he couldn't evade the rain of questions he knew were sure to come.

The truth has to come out, she'll leave, it'll all be ruined...but after everything, she deserves to know the truth about me.

"What do you mean?"

Nolan looked down at the cold bottle of water in his hand and turned it over a few times, full of questions for her, but he knew that his secret could trump any of hers.

"Emily, I think you've figured out that I have a habit of snooping but for you I wanted to respect your privacy." He raised his eyes to her then. "But when your past comes at me in the middle of the day, I have to ask you now just what is going on between you and Daniel Grayson?"

"Daniel did this to you?"

So that's why he came to the house, why he said those horrible things.

A streak of rage woke within Emily, to know that it was Daniel, Daniel, who had attacked her Nolan. And why? Just what the hell did that idiot think he could accomplish by hurting the man she cared for?

And she did care for him, so much. She was just scared.

Nolan set her water on the counter and moved into the open space of the living room. It was petulant to brag about his prowess as a fighter, especially as his life's experience amounted to what went down on the docks, but he couldn't stand to have Emily think that he'd been attacked and incapable of raising a hand to defend himself.

He flicked his hand, making the gesture of dusting dirt off his shoulder. "This isn't too bad, you should have seen the other guy."

"I did see him." Emily told him quietly.

Nolan stilled at what she said. "You saw Daniel? When?"

"It was earlier today, he came over and..." She hesitated.

"Yes?" He prompted.

She shook her head. "It was nothing. He just came over...I saw his face was bruised but I didn't think to say anything. You fought each other? Nolan, I never would have thought-"

"Yeah, me neither." He confessed.

He'd imagined wiping that smug, entitled smile from Daniel's face many times, but to stand in the aftermath of that reality - having to explain himself to his friends, erasing the evidence so Daniel could not use it against him, making the effort to gain the loyalty of the security guards - was all very strange to him. Surely this wasn't how other men handled a fight over a woman?

"You want the details? I'll go first and then you can tell me your story." Nolan offered. He was being polite, in his way, putting off the pressure on Emily to tell him about her past with Daniel.

Still, he had his own secret that he wanted to stall in sharing, so he wasn't too proud of himself on that count.

Emily nodded her agreement, eager to hear his account of the fight despite herself.

The man cleared his throat, "Not a lot to tell, really. After I took you home I went to the docks to look at a couple of boats and Daniel showed up. We had a few words and then he came at me." Nolan paused to share with her a quick, sly smile. "I think I've proven to you that I'm a lover, not a fighter. Give me the choice and I'll take a date over a death match any day, but you saw Daniel. Turns out that I can hold my own when I have to. We went at it for a while before security came and broke it up."

"Were you fighting about me?"

Nolan stepped forward and took her hand. "It started off being about you but Daniel didn't need an excuse, he's hated my guts for a few years already. I'm 'new money', remember? He doesn't like having to share his Hamptons with me."

"Nolan, I'm so sorry." Emily hugged him and was relieved to feel his arms come around her. "I hadn't thought he would go after you."

Nolan bent his head and kissed her temple. "It's your turn, Ems. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, if you would be so kind." He urged her words, not because he particularly cared what had went on between them, he only wanted to quiet the doubts that Jack had stirred in him with the question of whether or not Emily and Daniel were finished.

Emily moved to sit on the arm of his sofa, taking a deep breath before explaining herself. "Daniel and I have a past, you know that. It was back at school. We had gotten to know each other over the last two semesters, and I...Nolan, I had been a virgin before Daniel. But it was a mistake, us being together. We had been fighting before this party, but we started drinking and...and it wasn't the way I'd thought it would be. We didn't talk about it, we left it all unfinished. It was my fault, I should have told you. Nolan, I'm sorry. He came to the house today to...I don't know, warn me away from you."

He had suspected as much, a bad break-up of college sweethearts, but Nolan felt cold dread creep up his spine at what Daniel might have said to poison her against him. "He warned you...and what, uh, what did he tell you about me?"

"Just to stay away. He said something about you being on the docks a few years ago-"

Nolan rounded on her, his temper flaring as memories of that night, the worst night of his life, came over him. "Oh, I'll just bet he did! What did he say? Tell me!"

Emily raised her brows at him, surprised. "Nolan!"

He quickley calmed himself, embarassed to have raised his voice at her. It wasn't Emily he was upset with, it was Daniel and the memory of a night spent in pain, fear and shame.

When he spoke again, his voice was relaxed once more. "I'm sorry, Ems. Really, I'm sorry. I just...please, tell me what he said and I'll tell you what really happened that night."

Emily watched his face, returned now to its earnest expression. Nolan was a gentle soul, but Emily had seen it just then, that even the softest among them could have a moment of anger and, when under intense pressure, be driven to violence. She tried to ignore the jump in her pulse at seeing him that way, the spark of arousal he'd brought forth in her by showing a flash of danger.

"He said that a few years ago you were...you know, working the docks."

At that twisted retelling of the night he'd first encountered violence with Daniel Grayson, Nolan couldn't help but to allow himself a bitter smile and a sick laugh. "So I'm, what, I'm the gay hooker of the Hamptons now? Daniel really shot for the moon with that story."

"What really happened that night?"

Nolan went still and quiet, sweeping a nervous hand over his face. This was it; he had no choice but to tell her the truth, no matter the outcome. She deserved the truth, and she'd deserved it before he'd taken her to bed the night before. That had been his failing, and he hoped it wouldn't cost him this new happiness.

It had been different when he'd told Jack. They had known each other for years, more family than friends, and of course, they had never been involved on such an intimate level. Jack's loss, as far as Nolan was concerned.

Emily may not reject what he was, but she may reject him for keeping the truth from her.

He took a deep breath, unsure of how to start. "I...Emily, this isn't how I wanted to tell you..."

Emily's eyes widened, recalling both Daniel and Ashley's suspicions about the man, her mind jumping to the irrational thought that Nolan was indeed, a full homosexual, and perhaps had only been using her as an experiment the night before.

"You're not, I mean, you can't be gay." She blurted. Her cheeks heated, thinking of how he'd asked for her trust, how she'd given it, and how he'd tended to her after it was done. "Not after last night."

Nolan felt anxious heat rise over his skin, a wash of embarrassment flooding over his face, throat and chest. All he wanted was to lie his way out of this, or kiss Emily into submission. He did neither; instead he tried for the brave thing, and told Emily a truth he'd only shared with those closest to him.

"No, I'm not gay. I'm...I'm a - I'm bi."

With the words out, a sudden relief came over him. There, the truth was out, and so was he. The dark cloud hanging over him was lifted. The world didn't end, and Emily didn't scream or recoil in disgust.

If anything, her eyes grew warmer with an understanding that he'd seen only once, when he'd been left with no choice but to tell Jack.

She stood up and stepped close to him, offering her hand. Nolan took it, but he was still wary.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.

"I don't know. I just...I didn't know how to bring it up and I wasn't sure if you would still want...Emily, I'm sorry."

Emily shook her head and reached up to sweep the hair from his eyes, "Nolan, I understand. Even now, it's not always an easy thing to talk about. And I can see how hard it was on you to tell me, so thank you for trusting me. But what happened that night?"

Nolan groaned lightly. He hated that night more than any other, but he had to relive it now, it was the cost of being honest. "All right, well, first thing's first. Obviously, I wasn't working the docks, I wasn't doing anything. I was just out there trying to relax during a late shift at the bar, that's all. One of Daniel's friends, I guess it was his roommate at the time, he and I got to talking whenever he would come up to the counter to get another round for the group. We were flirting, just a little. Anyway, I left for my final break before we closed up for the night. He followed me out there and we started talking, then he kissed me. Daniel and the others found us out there and the guy I was with turned on me, accused me of coming onto him and trying to steal his wallet."

Emily tightened her hold on him, "That lying little - Nolan, your scar?"

Again, Emily was so quick to make the connection. She reached around him, laying her hand over the scar spanning his back through the material of his shirt, and she could only ask herself: How? How could she have given herself to Daniel, when he had done something so horrible?

He bent his head, pressing his cheek to hers. "One of them pushed me into a dock post and I hit an exposed nail. It cut down my back when I fell. Jack came outside and helped to break things up. I was bleeding...he had to take me to the hospital. Declan was barely more than a kid at the time, he thought it was just my big mouth that lead to them attacking me. Jack knew that there was more to it, so I had to come clean."

"Did you feel better after he knew?" She asked him.

Holding each other, they started to sway, almost as if dancing there in his living room.

"I...it didn't change things after I told him. He was still the same old Jack to me and I was still the same old Nolan to him. When he found out, it didn't change a thing."

"Then why were you so afraid to tell me?"

"Because Jack was the only one I've ever told. Declan, well, Jack explained it to him but I don't know what he said."

Emily furrowed her brows, "You mean your family doesn't..?"

Shrugging, Nolan shook his head. "They're few and far between, Ems. It's just me, but I know you can understand why I don't let many people in."

Emily hugged him tight. "I understand. And I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I should have let you know before-"

Emily shook her head, cutting him off. "I don't care about that. I care about you. Don't you care about me?"

Nolan held her eyes with his own. "From the very first day."

Both pairs of eyes slipped closed as Emily leaned forward and kissed him, just so relieved that things were now clear between them. An idea occurred to her then.

"There's only one thing left to argue about."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Emily smiled at him, her voice all faux innocence. "Just how exactly how are we going to get back at Daniel?"

Nolan saw it, that sly spark of mischief in her eyes, and he knew he would be helpless to resist.