Nadine Book 7

8. Out The Window

I wake up and stretch. Johen's already gone. I'm sleeping on Elek's back. I snuggle into him.

I feel him look around. He half turns and dumps me into the center of the bed. Then he rolls to his side and pulls me into his chest.

I snuggle against him and take a breath. He's warm and smells so good.

I feel him take a breath too. Then he relaxes some more.

I roll to my back and stretch big.

"No. Don't wake up yet." He puts his lips against mine. I close my eyes, and he gives me a sweet kiss. "Good morning."

"Good morning." I throw my arms around his neck and steal a real kiss.

He rolls on top of me and gives me a deep kiss. I hook my legs on his hips and keep the kiss going.

"WHERE THE f**k IS HE ELROY?" Dipak is about to break my door in. I freeze.

Elek does not freeze. He jumps from the bed out the window, and over the balcony rail. I guess that worked.

I lay in his warm spot and take a breath as the door flies in.

"WHERE THE f**k IS HE WOMAN?"

"I don't know."

Dipak looks under the bed then goes back out. I go to the sitting room. Omar is watching Dipak over a piece of paper.

Elroy is climbing out of his bed. "Good morning."

I nod. "Good morning."

"Where is Elek?"

Elroy stretches. "Last I saw him, he was on the couch."

"We were watching the office. Samson and Darick sat in your seat."

Elroy looks around. "Where is Johen?"

I shake my head. "Maybe him and Elek went somewhere."

"Maybe."

Elek comes in carrying a whole damn pineapple.

"Where the hell were you?"

"Getting some food and I wanted to try fresh pineapple."

I look at Elek. "Where is Johen?"

"He went to therapy this morning."

I nod. "I guess we found everyone."

Elroy smiles. "Good job."

"You too."

Omar rubs his eyes.

Dipak shakes his head. "I'll be back."

"See you soon love."

I turn slow. "What the f**k was that?"

Omar chuckles. "It seems Elek made it through Tye. Now he gets to face off with Dipak. Dipak don't f**k around. You had better be on your toes."

"But he..."

"Save your breath, Nadine. With that window there. I can see damn near the whole balcony and anyone who has to jump off it."

Elroy loses it. "You jumped off the balcony?"

"I sure as hell wasn't getting caught in bed with her by Dipak."

Omar nods. "Wise decision."

Elroy rubs his eyes. "Johen left you 2 alone in bed?"

"Yea, we're blaming him."

Elroy shakes his head. "I'm hungry."

"Me too."

After breakfast, Elroy and I lay on a bed in the sitting room and make more sketches for China. Elek watches a movie and looks at the sketches occasionally. Omar reads.

"I AM WATCHING YOU."

I sit bolt upright. I must have fallen asleep. Elroy is lying beside me still sketching.

"Who are you watching? I think I was sleeping. What happened?"

"Nothing, sweetheart. I'm sorry I woke you up." He kisses my head. "I love you. Lay back down and rest your eyes." He fixes my pillow. I love him. "I mean it."

Omar shakes his head. "He's so worried about you, I don't even know if he realized he put her to bed by your brother."

Then Elroy laughs. "He's such an asshole to everyone. But he babies her so much. Did you hear him talking to her? Sorry for waking you up sweetheart. Rest your eyes. I love you. He's a damn teddy bear. Anyone else, he'll rip their head off no problem."

Elek says, "Tre is the same way. He's even worse about it though. She knows who Dipak is. He'll yell and fight people in front of her. Tre won't even do that. I was surprised he beat Corbin and Victor last night. He knew we could see them."

"They are all like that. None of them really show her the violent part of being a king. If Dipak had decided to kill those boys last night, we wouldn't have seen it, no matter who did it."

"She knows who Tye is. What about Marcus?"

"Marcus hides a lot of who he is. I think he has a lot of fear about losing her. But it still sneaks out. Like when he attacked his dad. He had no control over his anger. The only person who could have got through to him was Nadine. She did perfect. Tye has far less control of his anger and strength. That's how everyone sees him so clearly. Tre has a great amount of control. That's why most people have a hard time seeing him as being violent. Dipak has great control as well, but he doesn't hide any of his strength, ever…"

Elroy asks, "How do you think Johen will be?"

"I don't know how Johen or Tye will end up. They will learn to control their emotions more. But who they end up like is anyone's guess. As closely as Tye follows and mimics Dipak though, I assume he'll end up more like Dipak. Tre watches and follows Marcus. Johen doesn't seem to be following either of them, so I don't know. Johen might come out completely different."

"What about Elek?"

"Elek has decent control. On occasion, I will see him try and calm down. But for the most part, he's getting it. In a lot of ways, he seems like Marcus or Tre. But when he gets mad, he quickly turns into something more like Dipak. That really could be an interesting combination."

"What about Nadine?"

"I don't really know. Her and that dragon pass the power back and forth. I never know when she has it. It's hard to see how she's developing with it because of that. I'm sure that will change as she gets stronger."

I roll over and stretch. Then I fall out of the damn bed.

I get stuck between the wall and the bed. I can't get out and panic.

"Elek fix her. I can't get to her."

"Get off the bed. Fucker bolted the frame there."

"Move the mattress."

I cry louder.

"Hold on, Nadine. He is getting to you. I'm sure you're fine."

I half scream and half sob. I kick my foot and must kick the side table. That hurts too. I cry harder.

It takes Elek a minute, but he pulls the mattress and the part underneath it off the frame. Then he picks me up off the floor and puts me on my feet.

I raise my arms and cry, so he picks me up. I wrap around the front of him. I put my arms around his neck, hook my knees to his hips, and lay my head on his shoulder. I hold him like that and try to stop crying.

Omar looks at me. "Are you injured?"

I cry more.

"She's either young or still tired. I can't tell."

I snuggle Elek. He's so warm.

"I'm sure this will be a fascinating story."

I turn and see Tre. I cry again.

He takes me from Elek and I wrap around him the same way. "What happened baby?"

I cry harder.

"She fell between the bed and the wall while she was sleeping. She got stuck there. I had to move all that and Tye has the frames bolted down."

"You're alright, baby." He rubs my hair. "You need to stay in bed while you sleep."

I throw myself backwards. Tre and Elek catch me as I fall.

"Damn it woman." Tre pulls me back against his chest and smacks my butt twice. "You do not do that. You know better." Then he puts me on my feet. I lift my arms out to him. "No, you can stay down if you're going to act like that."

I reach for Elek. "No. I'm not going to hold you if you're going to throw yourself like that."

I drop to the floor and sob into it.

Omar stands up. "Tre, I don't think this is a melt down. I think she's young."

"Bring me a stuffed bear or any animal out of the shop."

"Yes sir."

Johen comes in.

Tre gives him a double take. "What happened to your eye?"

"I got hit or kicked in the eye while I was asleep. It's fine. What happened in here?"

"She fell out of bed while she was sleeping. Got stuck between the wall and bed."

"So meltdown?"

Tre shakes his head. "I don't know yet."

I cry even harder, then I stand up and put my arms out to Johen.

He picks me up. I wrap around him like I did the other 2. I lay my head on his shoulder and wipe my eyes.

"Careful she lunged back."

"You didn't really, did you?"

I cry and snuggle him.

Tre hands me a stuffed pink thing. It has no feet. It has a lot of legs though. And 2 big eyes. I sit there flipping it around in circles.

"Blame Tye baby. It's something from the ocean, I guess. It snuggles the same."

I hug it so tight and snuggle into Johen's chest at the same time.

"Do you feel better with a stuffie?"

I nod.

"I AM... Not needed here at all." They all turn and stare at Dipak. I rub my eyes. "Do you need attention?"

I nod and cuddle the pink thing.

"I'll give you attention for 10 minutes. Then I need to go back."

I wiggle down from Johen and run to Dipak. He picks me up. "What the hell is this?"

I shake my head.

Tre sits in a chair. "It's a stuffie, that's what we're working with."

"How old is she?"

"No idea yet."

Dipak carries me onto the balcony. He sits at the table and I stay on his lap. I cuddle the pink thing and him at the same time.

"Did you have s*x with Elek?"

I shake my head.

"Where was he this morning?"

"In my bed."

He tenses up. "Why?"

"I had nightmares. I couldn't sleep. Johen had him lay down, so I could try sleeping between them."

"Was Johen there when you woke up?"

"No."

"What did Elek do?"

"Kiss me."

He tenses up again.

I lean up and give him a sweet kiss on the lips. "Good morning." Then I snuggle into him.

"And what did you do?"

I throw my arms around him and give him a real kiss.

"And then?"

"He jumped off the balcony."

He looks at me. Then he starts laughing. "What happened when you took his shirt off?"

"We were kissing, and I pushed it over his head. He said my heart is broken and anything he does to me would be taking advantage of me. He's not going to do that. I can try again in a month. But he won't do anything now."

He raises his eyebrows. "He actually stopped?"

I nod. "I tried to snuggle him when we first got here. I wanted to be warm. He told me no again. Then I made him lay down because I was cold. I got snuggles."

"And why is the bed apart? Why is the bed always broken, woman?"

"I was sleeping on it and fell between the wall and bed. I guess the frame is hooked somehow. He couldn't get me out. Had to take it apart."

"Thank you for being honest."

"I don't lie to you."

"You told me you didn't know where he was this morning."

"You didn't say who. I thought Johen. I don't know where he was."

He smirks. "Sure. I think you may be bending the truth a little when you can get away with it then."

I smile and snuggle him. "I'm a good girl."

"I know you are." He hugs me and kisses my head.

"Did you hurt him really bad?"

He kisses my head again. "Yea, we f****d him up, sweetheart. We made sure he hurt."

"He hurt me too."

"I know. I'm so sorry."

"If he wanted to steal our stuff, then why come after me like that? Why couldn't he have left me alone? He could have taken our money and ran. That's what he wanted. Why lie and hurt me?"

"Some men want everything they can get from girls. They will lie and do whatever they can to have s*x. They don't care if they hurt the girl. I thought he wasn't like that because he was your mate. I thought you were safe with him. I'm so sorry."

"He hurt us all."

"Yes he did, sweetheart."

"Did you think he was trying to be honest at the end? Do you think he did care?"

"I don't know. But the damage was done. For all I know, he and Corbin had a plan for Corbin to kill everyone if he wasn't back by a certain time. Give us another sob story, so they could live. We have to watch and see. But I will not be manipulated by them again. I learned a lot from you. You burnt that letter, said you were done. You refuse to hear his words anymore. You learned everything you needed from his actions. That was the most queen thing I've ever heard anyone say. You are 100% right about it. I am so proud of you. You taught us all something."

"You were watching me?"

"Yea, we had the brain thing going. I needed to see your reaction." He pats my butt. "That was the only time we've done that. And we talked to you first. I won't break your privacy like that. Although maybe I should, then I could find who I'm looking for before he jumps off the balcony."

I giggle and wiggle.

"Did anyone else know he was in there?"

"Johen and I don't know. Omar said he saw him jump off the balcony through the window. All Elek said was he sure as hell wasn't letting you catch him like that. Omar said that was a wise decision."

"Yea, that was a wise decision. Why did Johen leave you?"

"Therapy."

"Why? He's always trying to avoid it. That makes no sense."

"He can take his dragon in 9 days. He figured out the therapy is helping him. Now, he won't leave therapy."

Dipak laughs and rubs his eyes. Then he signals for everyone to come out.