Chapter Seven



Victor paced at the bottom of the stairs, grumbling under his breath. He noticed Brady coming down the stairs and greeted his grandson, not stopping in his pacing.

"I don't suppose you've seen my whore of a wife, have you?" Victor asked and an anxious and confused look passed over Brady's face as he shook his head. Victor didn't miss the look and silently cursed Nicole for sinking her claws so deeply into Brady. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep Brady from the toxic, deadly woman that he regretted ever having made his wife.

"When did she leave? Should we go look for her?" Brady questioned, unable to contain his worry. Nicole had been more distant lately, she was like ice, especially in comparison to the way she had acted around him before. She had been avoiding him lately and the night before at the Blue Note, she had spent the whole time with that guy. That black guy with that relentless smile, the one that hadn't left his face once.

"I don't know when she left. And I don't have any idea where she could be. She snuck out again, the stupid tramp. She's probably going after her next victim, being the murderess she is." Victor fumed.

"Grandad, stop it." Brady said sharply, "Nicole is not the killer and she is not a tramp." he heard his grandfather snort, "I am serious. You wouldn't have gotten involved with someone just because they were beautiful. There had to be some qualities about Nicole you liked."

Before Victor could reply, they heard the sound of motorcycle's engine outside the mansion. They looked through the glass windows of the front door and saw a black motorcycle parked outside with two people on the back of it. One of them was tall, slender and once she took off her helmet, she revealed a head of blonde hair. She gracefully climbed off the bike as Victor stormed outside. Brady was close behind him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Victor barked at both Nicole and the black man Brady recognized from the Blue Note. Nicole turned and beamed at Victor, not seeming fazed by the furious expression on Victor's face.

"Take it easy, man." Jason said, "We weren't doing anything wrong. I was just taking her for a ride. You know, a ride." he raised his eyebrows and began laughing hysterically.

Victor was growing angrier by the second, "I do not have to take this. Get off my property now!"

Jason held up his hands in protest, trying to stop laughing, "If that's really what you want. I was hoping we could have been friends but now-" he shook his head in mock sadness before beginning laughing even harder than before. Jason rode away from the mansion and Victor turned to glower at Nicole.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Nicole?" Victor demanded.

Nicole smiled sweetly in return, "Nothing." she said happily, "Is there something wrong with going out and having a good time with a friend?"

"Get in the house right now!" Victor shouted and she obediently turned and started towards the house. Brady and Victor watched as she skipped up the front steps. Brady could tell that there was something wrong with Nicole so he bolted into the house after her. He watched as she started to climb up the stairs, then lost her balance and fell. Brady hurried over to help her stand up again.

"Most people fall going down stairs, not up them." Brady commented, looking at Nicole carefully, "Are you okay, Nicole?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Nicole giggled, "I had so much fun with Jason." she opened the door to the linen closet, then closed it, "Oops, wrong door." she continued down the hall.

"What did you and Jason do?" Brady asked, hoping she would let him know why she was acting this way.

"He took me for a ride on his motorcycle." Nicole told Brady, in a tone that told him it should have been obvious, "Then he made us some lines of coke. It was great."

It finally sunk in, "Oh God, you're high. If grandad finds out, he's going to kill you." Nicole's head snapped up and she glared at Brady.

"Well he won't find out. Because it's none of his business or yours. Can you please get out now?" she asked him and reluctantly he left her bedroom. He knew that he wasn't going to let Jason near Nicole anymore. Despite every secret she had kept and every lie she had told him, he was still fiercely protective of her. He didn't want to ever see her get hurt.



Richard and Lucas sat in Lucas' apartment that day. Lucas was planning on spending that evening with Sami and Richard was trying to give him advice.

"You could have her if you wanted." Richard remarked, "It wouldn't be that hard. All you have to do is seduce her, no woman can resist a guy when they use all of their charm."

"Yeah, well, you don't know Sami." Lucas responded, "She can be very stubborn."

"She didn't look very stubborn when the two of you were dancing together." Richard said, "You just have to keep saying and doing things that make her feel good. I promise, it will work."

"But it isn't just about sex." Lucas told Richard, looking exasperated, "I mean, yeah, that would be great but I just want to be able to be with her. I want her to stop pushing me away."

"You can get her into bed and worry about all the emotional crap later." Richard said simply, "Trust me, getting a woman like her into the sac couldn't be that hard. Now that her daddy's gone, you'd be surprised what she would do for a man's attention."

Lucas stared at Richard in horror, "I cannot believe you just said that. That was terrible. Is that how you feel about Cassie? Because if it is, you had better stop stringing her along or I am going to-"

Richard cut him off, "You have to worry about Sami. Leave me and Cassie alone. Besides, it's true. I don't see why you bother. Women are all the same. They're like family, they don't really care about you, they just stick around because it's convenient for them." Richard's voice was hard and emotionless. Lucas just stared at him, wondering what could have happened to him to make him so hostile and bitter towards everyone. No wonder he wouldn't let himself be tied down to one person. He felt a rush of sympathy for Cassie. He wondered if she knew what she was dealing with.

"Oh, Jason was going around talking about how he took this blonde chick out on his bike earlier today. He said that he got her stoned and that her husband freaked out. I think her name was Nicole. Do you know her?" Richard changed the subject.

Lucas smirked, "Yeah. I didn't expect him to pull out the drugs so fast. She had it coming though. She's my ex-wife."

Richard raised an eyebrow, "Really? What happened?"

"She married me for my money. She got five million dollars from my mom." Lucas shrugged, trying to act like it didn't matter anymore, "It's too bad they didn't give her that contaminated coke. You know, the stuff Shaun, Freddy and Jason were talking about, the stuff that makes your nose bleed for ten minutes straight?"

Richard nodded in agreement, "That would have been excellent. See, she didn't care and Sami probably doesn't either. That's why you fuck her brains out, then try and see what else you can get out of her."

Damn, he was cynical, "You can do it your way and I'll do it mine." Lucas knew that if there was one thing he wouldn't do, it would be to take advantage of Sami like that. He wanted to know that she loved him and that she actually wanted to be with him for longer than just one night before he slept with her.

"Look, just try it okay?" Richard's voice was smooth, "Even if you seduce her a little bit, you'll make progress. Just say a few things, as long as they aren't too subtle."

He might be a cynic but at least he was trying to help. Lucas smiled gratefully, "Thanks. I'll remember that."