Saturday morning, she woke up to the sound of the pouring rain hitting the windows through the blind curtains of the seemingly dark room. Nikita stretched and rolled over on the large mattress, expecting to be instantly wrapped in muscular arms after how amazing last night was but it was quite the contrary.

It was rather cold in the space next to her on the bed. She yawned lazily and pouted disappointingly. It felt like forever ago since she got to wake up next to her man, and after last night, Nikita was just kind of hoping Michael would be in bed next to her and they could just shut the world out for a while and enjoy making it this far back again with each other.

Many things were left unsaid last night, and though she was glad Michael got closure with certain things, there were still tiny little holes that weren't quite perfect yet but they agreed that from now on they would take things step-by-step.

After a while of waiting, still hoping that her charming beau would appear in the room, Nikita finally decided to kick out of her lazy stage and got out of bed. She stepped on the cold marbled floor and walked toward the windows naked as she was at birth. She pushed the blinds just wide enough to watch the birds chirping on the slimy berries of the spring season.

She smiled. It's been a while since she's felt so free. It felt like a while since she's been missing her other half and having him back is simply the best feeling in the world.

…

Nikita decided to go take a shower and clean up the room from the mess of last night. As she's standing under the shower, hot water sprinkled across her skin from head to toe. She moaned as it was so great to feel her muscles loosening and relaxing a bit after such a long week of hard work.

However, she was still surprised to find her shampoo on the metal shelf hanging just above the shower head. She rose on her toe and grabbed it. She squirt some into her small palm and washed her hair, giving her scalp a great massage in the process.

Sometime later, she felt clean enough to get out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around her slim body, she walked out of the bathroom to the bedroom and made her way through the large closet across the king sized bed.

She stepped inside the closet and the part of it she occupied was as neat as left it. It's like she never left and to her that was a surprise. She felt horrible for doing this to Michael. She felt horrible for having him wake up every morning looking at that closet full of clothing that belongs to her but yet she's wasn't there.

With a sad smile, she grabbed an oversized tee-shirt of Michael's and threw it on after drying herself. She pulled at her lingerie drawer and grabbed a pair of black panties.

She only had a few more minutes to spare cleaning the room and changing the sheets before the smell of strong coffee started to burn her nostrils. She replaced the dirty sheets on the bed with some clean ones and dumped the dirty ones in the dirty clothes basket in the bathroom closet.

And after what seemed to be forever, Nikita finally walked out of the room and strolled down the hallway to see what her beau have been up to. Instead of finding Michael, she was basically knocked to the ground by a big, excited dog she doesn't even seem to recognize anymore.

Lucky was lying on her chest on the cold floor and cuddling her affectionately. Nikita couldn't help the joy she was feeling.

"Hi baby." She cooed. It looked like he just got a fresh haircut judging by the amount of fur on his back. "Mommy missed you so much!" She said.

Lucky purred at her before hiding his head on the crook of her neck.

"I know." Nikita said. "I leave for a few weeks and I don't even know the little baby I adopted some months ago." She added almost tearfully. "You're so big now. What has daddy been feeding you, hunh?"

All Lucky did was give his owner a tighter hug because she might have been gone for a few weeks but to him it felt like years and he didn't plan on letting her leave ever again. At least not if he doesn't move.

"I'm quite jealous of this little scenario." Michael's voice came a few second later.

Nikita raised her head and looked at Michael's shirtless self who was standing above her. "Why's that?" She asked with a chuckle.

"I see how it is. No love for the one man who woke up early to make sure breakfast was ready for you before you wake up." He replied.

Oh that explains why he wasn't in bed next to her.

"Wait for your turn cowboy." Nikita winked.

By some miracle, she managed to get Lucky off her and she was able to stand up. She jumped on Michael, wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

"Good morning." Nikita whispered before bringing her lips against his as she brushed his cheeks with her fingers.

Michael's response is a soft murmur, but there's a smile on his face and his expression is genuinely peaceful and happy.

"How long have you been awake?" He asked, clearly catching upon the cleanliness of her skin and clothing.

"Half hour or so." Nikita replied, running her fingers through his long hair. "I took a shower and cleaned the mess we made out of the room last night."

"Hm." Michael moaned with a nod. "You must be hungry then." He said.

"Very." Nikita agreed. "What'd you make me?"

"Something delicious hopefully." Michael replied as he walked a few feet across the living room to the kitchen.

He sat Nikita on top of the counter before he grabbed plates to serve her his delicious breakfast burrito that he put so much thought and effort into making.

"That smells so good." Nikita mumbled through a mouthful of healthy fruits.

"Mhmm." Michael nodded again. "Coffee?"

"Yes please." Nikita replied.

…

Over their breakfast, they talked; they laughed and joked about everything and nothing. But that was of course until Michael decided to have one of his moments. He was staring into Nikita's eyes, analyzing her face and expressions to determine how she was feeling. He's missed her so much, which brought him to wonder if it was just paranoia when he thought he saw an almost purple-ish color on her face.

His eyes grew filled with concerns after he saw the slightly purple color on her jaw line.

"What?" Nikita asked.

Michael tilted her chin up and turned her head to the side to get a better view of the right side of her cheek.

He ran his fingers over the bruise gently and Nikita winced.

"Where did you get this?" He asked.

Nikita smile at him to distract him long enough to remove his hand. "It's nothing." She said.

"No." Michael shook his head. "Don't play this game with me. You have a bruise on your face that wasn't there before you left me for a month. I wanna know what the hell happened and where you got it from." He said.

"Can we just drop this?" Nikita begged. "I already told you it's nothing."

"We're not dropping anything because you're lying to me right now." Michael replied.

Nikita rolled her eyes at him stubbornly. She didn't know why she thought it was a good idea to take her makeup off.

"Do you want me to lose my mind?" She asked.

Michael frowned with a raised eyebrow. "No." He answered, all the while wondering how they went from talking about the bruise on her face to her losing her mind.

"Then kiss me." Nikita said.

He gasped. "Wha-a-"

Unfortunately he was cut short and silenced with a kiss. A kiss so passionate, it made him lose his sense of thoughts.

But that was before he realized it was meant to have that reaction on him.

"What happened to your face?" He asked again.

Seriously?

Nikita shook her head with a smile against his lips. "We're not discussing my face anymore." She said.

Michael kept up with her repeated pecks that were stopping him from forming his sentences completely.

"Yes we are. You did not just-"

"I didn't do anything." Nikita murmured.

"Distract me." Michael finished.

"Take me to bed." Nikita commanded hoarsely and delighted.

888

Nikita woke up a few hours later from a deep sleep. She cleared her throat as she tried to remember the events of the past hours. All she can remember is being so exhausted and collapsing on Michael's chest after a blissful round of love making.

She tried to move her hand and scratch her nose but for some reasons she didn't have the ability to move her arm. She was completely struck and almost jumped; only she couldn't because both her hands were tied with a tie to the bed.

"Ugh, are you kidding me?" She groaned to herself.

This almost looked like a déjà vu of what she's done before and knowing how horrible that was; she didn't want to live that herself. But good thing she was in Michael's bed at the moment, which brings her to wonder where the hell he went again because she wasn't about to be tied to that bed, naked for hours if he wasn't here.

"Goddamn it, Michael!" She yelled loud enough to make sure he heard from wherever around the house he might be. Hopefully he's in the house.

It only took about thirty seconds for him to pop through the door with a smug smile playing across his cheeks. And Nikita was just dumbfounded because she didn't find anything hilarious about her being tied to that bed.

"I swear when you untie me from this bed I will kill you." Nikita said seriously.

Michael chuckled. "Uh. You're sure that's a good way to talk me into untying you?" He teased.

Nikita sighed frustratedly. Fine. Alright maybe it wasn't. "Can you please untie me?" She asked.

"Yeah." Michael said. "As soon as you tell me what happened to your face." He promised.

Nikita knew there was no way in hell he would drop this and she had no choice but to tell him because honestly, she was starting to get annoyed. She didn't like the feeling of helplessness.

"I accidentally crashed into my office desk." She said.

But…

"The lies you tell." Michael mocked. "You must be very, very clumsy."

Who was she trying to fool?

He took a sit at the edge of the bed and gently leaned in to place a kiss on Nikita's cheek. "Look at me." Michael pleaded.

Nikita pouted. "Yes?"

"I'm worried about you." Michael told her. "It's good to have you back and I'm so happy. But I feel like there's more to what happened when you were gone that you didn't tell me last night." He said honestly. "I didn't wanna push it last night because I just got you back again and thank God for that."

Nikita just hates it when he gets so personal and sensitive with her. She hates showing vulnerability and for some reasons, all she can do is start balling her eyes out when he talks like that to her.

She swallowed hard with welled up tears in her eyes. "Yeah. Thank God." She repeated dryly.

"You have a bruise on your face and I can't help but wonder how you got it. Just last night I promised you I'd always be the person you can count on to care for you and protect you. I'm not asking you for anything difficult. I'm just asking you to tell me what really happened."

"Okay." Nikita shrugged. "Untie me so I can put something on then I promise I'll tell you what really happened." She said

"Okay." Michael agreed. He reached up and let the tie loose around her wrist before unwrapping it from the bedpost and taking it off.

Her wrists were red from the knot and Michael felt bad about that. He gently rubbed them with his palm before bringing her hands to his lips.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

He didn't mean to but it's the only thing he thought would be effective.

"No." Nikita replied.

It was suddenly so quiet in the room as she sat up at the edge of the bed and grabbed the shirt she was previously wearing from the floor. She tossed it back on before facing Michael again.

"I'm sorry." Michael whispered.

Nikita frowned. "I'm not mad at you." She said.

"Still." Michael mumbled.

"Stop doing that." Nikita told him.

"What?"

"This." Nikita pointed at him. "What you're doing right now. Feeling guilty when you didn't do anything wrong."

"Maybe-"

"Maybe nothing." Nikita shook her head. She cupped his face in her hand and pecked his lips softly. "Maybe nothing." She repeated.

"Kay." Michael said. "What happened?"

Nikita took a deep breath, scooted closer in his arms and Michael automatically wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her forehead because he had a feeling this was going to be a long talk.

"I left that night and I was just angry at you... angry at myself." She begin. "Angry at you because I couldn't understand why you couldn't trust me like I trust you."

But it never really was about trust. Michael knows Nikita would take a bullet for him any day and he would do the same too.

"Angry at myself because I didn't know why I seem to always screw up things between you and I. Nine years ago, and now over and over again."

"I'm sorry you felt that way." Michael kissed her temple and found her hand to intertwine their fingers.

"I was driving. I wasn't quite sure where I was going but I guess along the road I ended up at my old home… Owen's house." She said.

For once Michael did not jump when he heard Owen's name. He guessed part of it now is that he knew it was officially over between Nikita and him.

"I wasn't thinking straight. I was upset and all I wanted to do was crash somewhere for the night and think because I intended to come back to you the next morning." Nikita told him. "All week long Owen had already been blowing up my phone but I chose to ignore his calls because I didn't want that to cause trouble for me and you." She revealed. "Come to find out, he was almost expecting me because when I walked in that house that night, he was right there and I didn't say a word to him. I walked right past him like he was invisible or something."

"Then?" Michael questioned anxiously.

"Then he followed me upstairs to where I was planning to sleep."

Oh hell no!

"Followed you?" Michael repeated.

He just wanted to make sure he was hearing those things correctly.

"Yes." Nikita clarified. "He followed me and started talking, telling me that I didn't know how it made him feel or look because he was trying to save our marriage while I was just out there in the world doing things like it didn't mattered whether or not we still had something." She said. "And honestly, we didn't because at that point in my marriage with him, I didn't care. I was done with Owen… my heart was done with him the second you walked back into my life that night and kissed me."

That certainly felt great to hear.

"I got tired of hearing all his bullshit and straight up told him that I've been sleeping with you in great details because I just had to make him feel the pain I was feeling and the pain that I felt when I walked in on him with that woman." Her tone was bittersweet and emotional as she went on. "And I guess like any men who had to listen to their wife telling them how amazing it felt screwing another man and how he was never enough, he snapped. He just snapped and I had it coming. I just didn't think he would actually do it."

What the fuck…

"What did he do?" Michael asked. He had an idea. And God forgive him if all hell breaks loose when Nikita tells him what that bastard did.

"He snapped and punched me." She told. "I almost lost my freaking tooth."

Oh Owen will pay for that double time.

To Nikita's surprise, Michael was calm on the outside. But on the inside, she had no idea what thoughts were running through hi brains or how much anger he was consuming.

"Please tell me you called the cops, Nikita." Michael begged.

Nikita shook her head. "No. I didn't." She replied. "I couldn't."

Michael was confused. Why the hell would she let this man raise his goddamn hands on her and not have his ass put behind bars? Why?

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because I had to deal with him on my own." Nikita answered.

Oh no… no she didn't.

"I didn't wanna bring the cops into it because that was personal baggage." Nikita elaborated. "I left the house shortly after that. I then called you and told you that I was at a hotel and that I needed space. We did the whole pretend break up thing over the phone and I was just ripped. I was done. I had nothing left anymore."

Tears flowed down Nikita's cheeks finally. Michael could just hear his heart breaking for her.

"I thought I was gonna lose you forever." She broke down hysterically.

Michael had to hug her tighter, rock her in his arms and tell her that he was here and didn't plan to go anywhere that didn't include her. She's his everything after all.

"I'm here." He said. "I'm never going anywhere. Never ever." He promised.

He tilted her head up once more and wiped the tears away with his thumb before kissing her lips. "I'm not going anywhere." He repeated again.

That was enough reassurance for Nikita. She didn't plan on going anywhere either.

"I was a different person after that and that person I had to be scared the shit out of me." Nikita started again when she was calm. "He punched me and something inside of me just switched and I was different. I was consumed with darkness and that person I became for that one moment scared the living shit out of me." She said again.

Michael was just lost at this point in their conversation.

"I have evil inside of me, Michael." Nikita said through gritted teeth. "I became a monster and that monster scared me. It makes me question whether or not I truly deserve you in my life because you only know a part of me. That other side of me? It's a part of me that I never want to be again and I can't allow you to ever see it because it's someone I buried deep inside me because I'm afraid if it's ever revealed to you, you… you'd truly hate me." She told him.

Michael shook his head. "Never." He said. "Don't say that."

"But it's the truth!" Nikita cried.

"Okay." Michael said. "Maybe you do have evil inside of you. We all do. But like you said it's just a part of you. It's not all of you. It's just a part." He said convincingly.

"I don't know." Nikita ran her hand over her teary face and sniffled. "I just don't wanna hurt you anymore. I've done it too many times." She said. "You don't deserve to put up with all that crap."

"Like it or not," Michael begin with a soft sympathetic smile. "All that crap is mine and I can handle it." He told her. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

"God. You're too good to me." Nikita said unbelievably. "I don't deserve you."

"Well I'm glad because I don't deserve you either." Michael whispered.

This must be a freaking dream…

Nikita had to pinch herself to snap out of it because this perfect man is really hers and despite him knowing how much of a horrible person she can be, he still wants to be here.

"So how did it all end?" Michael asked, trying to get Nikita out of her speechless stage.

"Fast forward to what I did?" Nikita asked.

"I don't care what you did." Michael said. "The bastard deserves it."

"Well," Nikita sighed. "Turns out the ounce of relationship we both thought we had, it was all based on a lie." She summarized.

"How?" Michael asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We both lied to each other throughout our whole entire relationship." Nikita responded. "I lied about my childhood, lied about a lot of things and I felt guilty about them but that was way before I found out that I married a sex addict."

"Sex addict?" Michael questioned.

"Yes." Nikita chuckled. "That one time I caught him at the house…"

"Yeah?"

"I thought it was that one time but there was fifty plus and counting." Nikita said.

Ewe.

"Wow."

One way to conclude it all. Just wow.

"And then our last talk was the heart to heart I told you we had. He signed the divorce papers and now Owen Samuel Elliot is history in my book."

"I'm glad." Michael swallowed.

"Oh me too." Nikita breathed relieved. That felt good to get off her chest. She finally felt free.

They sealed that agreement with a kiss and that unbreakable bond that they have, they knew whatever was gonna come next, they could handle it together.

And Nikita was wrong. Before she left last time, she told Michael that she thought their love for each other was strong enough but it turned out she was wrong. Yes she was wrong because like hell their love for each other had to be strong enough to survive all that it did.

Nine years apart and let's not even mention everything that happened before that.

888

After dinner that night, things were very quiet. Due to all the rain outside, Nikita didn't want to step foot outside for any reason at all. Instead, the rest of the day was spent behind the couch in the living room with a fire and collections horror movies.

"I have a question." Michael paused and interrupted in the middle of their movie.

Nikita raised her head from his chest to look at him. "What is it?" She asked.

"Alex's wedding is in exactly two weeks, and I would really like it if you came to Atlanta with me." Michael replied. "It would be good for all of us. I think it's time you and Alex face each other and get closure on a lot of things because it's gotta happen sooner or later and I'd rather it be sooner."

"It's supposed to be her big day. I can't ruin that for her." Nikita said.

Alex is a hot topic for her now and she'd rather not talk about her until she really has to.

"Listen," Michael begin, "I know that you think that Alex might not want you there; that you will ruin everything but I really think if you're not there, when she has to walk down the aisle, she will stop and that's what will ruin everything because she's gonna remember that you guys promised each other you were going to be there for each other when that moment happens." He explained.

Nikita had to agree. She never thought of it like that before. It's just that she's gone through so many emotional shits lately, she feels like if she goes through one more, she'll lose it completely.

"So would you please come with me to Atlanta?" Michael asked.

Nikita sighed. She can't answer that right now. She has to sleep on it for a while.

"I'll give you a definite answer tomorrow." She replied.

888

The rest of that night was sleepless for Michael. He however enjoyed watching Nikita sleep peacefully as he replayed their earlier conversation about what happened between her and Owen in his head over and over again.

That bastard hit his girlfriend and cheated on her so many times. He just wants to be face to face with him for a few minutes and teach him a lesson. Michael just wants that one moment.

After a full hour of constantly replaying Nikita's words in his mind, he couldn't take it anymore. He silently and carefully slipped out of bed and grabbed his phone on his way out of the bedroom.

He went upstairs in the gym room and dialed a number. He knew Nikita wouldn't like that but this is something he has to do to feel right with himself.

'Gallagher? Yes man. It's Michael. Things have been alright. I hope all's good with business. Definitely, you have to keep the money coming in. yes boss. Remember how you said you owe me one? Well I sort of need a favor from you. Owen Samuel Elliot. Find everything you can about him for me as soon as possible. He and I have some… things to discuss. Alright man. Thanks.'

His phone call lasted about a minute and he just couldn't wait to get his hands on Owen.

888

Well here you have it for this chapter. I hope it was as enjoyable as it was long so please leave me a review and let me know what you guys thought. Until next time, xoxo!