Chapter 46: #FORTY-SIX

Nicholas’s POV

The room stayed quiet after Elijah’s voice drifted down from the staircase.

He descended one step at a time, both hands buried deep inside the pockets of his hoodie. He didn’t look at me once. Typical.

Roman slowly uncrossed his arms and straightened from where he’d been leaning against the fireplace. "What happened?" Roman asked quietly.

Elijah stopped in the middle of the sitting room, exhaling through his nose before answering. "After school, Nicholas called Jayden because he never showed up to class. He answered almost immediately and said he was sick. Nicholas wanted to check on him." His eyes flickered toward me for barely a second before drifting back to his brothers. "I wasn’t comfortable letting him go alone, so I went with him."

"And?" Adrian folded his arms. "What did you find?"

"He wasn’t lying about being sick." I spoke up, my voice harsh.

That answer seemed to surprise everyone and Adrian turned to Elijah to confirm.

"He could barely stand," Elijah nodded. "He looked terrible. His face was flushed, he kept coughing every few sentences, and when Nicholas checked his temperature..." He paused briefly. "...he really was burning up. I don’t know what the hell that means."

Cassian frowned. "So why did things go south?"

"Because of the portrait." I felt every pair of eyes shift toward me and Elijah didn’t look too happy to be interrupted.

"It was gone," Elijah continued. "The framed picture Nicholas told us about— the one with Jayden and his brother. The first thing Nicholas noticed when we walked into the apartment was that it wasn’t where it used to be."

Roman’s brows knitted together. "What explanation did he give?"

"He claimed there’d been a fire a few days ago. Said some furniture was damaged and the portrait burned with everything else." Elijah rubbed the back of his neck before continuing. "Nicholas only asked because he wanted to show me what Jayden’s brother looked like and nobody was accusing him at that point. But come on, it sounded absolutely stupid."

"And then what happened?" Adrian prompted.

"He started crying."

The room fell silent and I groaned. Great.

"He said it was the only picture he had left of his brother." Elijah’s voice remained calm, but there was a hint of irritation underneath it now. "Nicholas felt bad immediately. He apologized for bringing it up and was ready to leave it alone."

Cassian looked confused. "That’s just weird. He was obviously trying to deflect."

"I know, I didn’t believe him. I asked him about the hoodie. I reminded him that the hoodie he’d given Nicholas was the same one the doctor believed had poisoned him. Then I brought up the other hoodie— the one the intruder left behind inside the mansion." Elijah sighed.

"What did he say?" Roman asked.

"He denied everything. He said the hoodie belonged to his brother. Said that’s all he knew. When I asked about the mansion, he swore he’d never been inside it. And when I mentioned the stalker, he said he had no idea what I was talking about."

Adrian let out a humorless laugh. "How convenient."

"Very convenient. I immediately said he was acting." Elijah muttered.

I finally looked up. "He wasn’t."

Nobody acknowledged me.

"He was trying to gain sympathy," Elijah admitted. "The more I questioned him, the weaker he acted, so I grabbed him angrily."

Cassian rubbed the back of his neck with an uncomfortable sigh. "You actually put your hands on him?"

"I grabbed his shirt and demanded the truth but he kept denying it."

"Of course he did." Roman grunted. "And Nicholas?"

Elijah’s shoulders stiffened. "He got between us."

The room fell silent once again.

"He shoved me away from Jayden and told me to leave him alone. Said he was sick and didn’t deserve to be treated like a criminal."

Roman turned toward me. "Is that true?"

"Yes." I didn’t deny it.

Adrian looked genuinely stunned. "You can not possibly think that..."

"He was ill!" I snapped.

Adrian stared at me in disbelief, almost laughing from frustration. "Nick, we’re way past coincidences. Everything points to him. That hoodie nearly kills you, and somehow we’re still supposed to believe he’s just the unluckiest guy alive?"

I buried my face in my hands. "I don’t know what I’m supposed to believe anymore."

"Then let us handle it."

"No." The answer left my mouth so quickly that even I hadn’t expected it.

Roman remained calm. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean nobody’s questioning him again." I repeated.

Adrian frowned. "Excuse me?"

"I’ll talk to him." I muttered under my breath.

A brief silence followed before Adrian stared at me as though I’d completely lost my mind. "You’ll what?"

"I said I’ll handle it."

He took two slow steps forward. "You nearly got yourself killed trusting people. The stalker is still out there. Somebody poisoned you. Somebody’s been watching your every move, and you honestly think we’re going to stand back while you go marching straight back to the person every clue points toward?"

"I’m not saying he’s innocent." My voice dripped with frustration.

"Then what are you saying?"

"I’m saying I don’t want another innocent person accused because everyone’s angry."

Adrian threw both hands into the air. "Nobody’s angry for no reason! We’re trying to prevent the next attack," he said. "Whether Jayden is guilty or not, questioning him is the logical next step."

I looked from one face to another, hoping— stupidly—that at least one of them would understand why I couldn’t just stand there and watch Jayden get dragged into another interrogation.

But it was clear that I was alone on this.

I felt completely alone.

"I’ll talk to him myself," I repeated, my voice quieter this time.

Adrian let out a short, disbelieving laugh, dragging a hand over his face before looking toward the ceiling as though asking for patience. "You’re still missing the point. This isn’t about giving him a comfortable conversation over tea. Because you’re standing here asking us to play nice because you feel sorry for a guy who happens to cry at the right moment."

"I feel sorry for someone who could barely breathe while you were all talking about torturing him." I snapped at him.

The room stiffened and Adrian’s expression darkened almost immediately. "Nobody said we’d torture an innocent person."

"I never said he was!"

"Then stop defending him!"

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. "I’m defending what’s right!"

"So are we!" His voice rose enough for it to echo in the room, but Roman lifted a hand before either of us could continue.

"Both of you, enough."

Neither of us listened.

"You weren’t there," I shot back, my frustration spilling over before I could stop it. "You didn’t see him. You didn’t hear him."

He looked back at me. "We’re still going to speak to him."

"No." I shook my head.

"Nicholas—"

My voice rose. "I said no."

"You don’t get to decide that." Roman sighed.

"I do if this is about me."

Roman sighed quietly. "This stopped being just about you a long time ago."

His words made me pause and he continued. "The person responsible didn’t only target you," he continued calmly. "They entered this house. They endangered everyone living here. Whether they meant to or not, this became our problem too."

I frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

"You keep acting like we’re trying to make your life miserable when all we’re trying to do is stop whoever’s behind this before they get another chance."

"I never asked any of you to—"

"No." Adrian cut me off sharply. "You never ask. That’s the problem."

The room went silent again and he took a slow breath before speaking, and though his voice was lower now, the frustration hadn’t disappeared. "Do you think any of us enjoy coming home wondering if you’ll be safe? Wondering whether today’s the day another anonymous message shows up or another hidden camera gets found? We leave this house for a few hours and somehow something else happens. Then we come back and find you crying."

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

Cassian finally stepped forward, his tone gentler than either of theirs. "Nick... nobody’s trying to take control away from you." He sat down on the arm of the sofa nearest me, resting his forearms on his knees. "You think we’re treating you like you can’t make your own decisions."

"Because you are."

"We’re treating you like someone we don’t want to lose." He corrected.

Right.

That’s what this was.

Roman finally broke the silence. "We’re going to continue investigating."

I shook my head immediately. "I don’t want any of you going near Jayden."

"We’re not asking for permission." Adrian didn’t look impressed with my answer.

"Well— I’m telling you not to."

Adrian threw his hands up again. "There it is."

"What?"

"You’re acting like the rest of us are the enemy."

"I am not protecting him!" I shouted, the words coming out louder than I’d intended. "I’m trying to stop everyone from making another mistake!"

"And what if you’re the one making it?" Adrian fired back.

Wow.

My heart sank. "So that’s it?"

Roman frowned. "What?"

"You’ve all already decided." I grabbed my phone from the coffee table before turning toward the staircase.

"Nicholas." Roman’s voice stopped me halfway across the room. "If you walk away now, this conversation isn’t over."

I didn’t turn around. "It is for me."

"Nicholas." Adrian sounded exhausted now instead of angry. "We’re trying to help you."

I tightened my grip around my phone and without waiting for another response, I climbed the stairs two at a time.

"...He’s acting like a complete dick." someone muttered and I stopped for only a heartbeat before moving on.

My bedroom door slammed shut hard enough to rattle the picture frames on the wall.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door. "Nick?"

It was Cassian. I closed my eyes. What did he want now?

"Come on." His voice was softer than before. "Open the door."

I stayed exactly where I was as he gave another knock.

"I’m serious. Let’s finish talking before this gets even more awkward."

He could fuck off.

The hallway fell quiet until Roman spoke. "Nicholas, nobody’s asking you to change your mind tonight. Just open the door."

"No."

Outside, the hallway remained quiet for several seconds before footsteps slowly began moving away.

"Leave him," Roman said at last. "We’ll talk tomorrow."

Finally.

I sat on the edge of my bed until the room grew dark.

Eventually, I reached for the phone still clutched in my hand and the screen lit up. Almost immediately, a notification appeared.

Jayden: Are you okay? Sorry, you guys left in such a hurry.

What was I supposed to say to reply?

Sorry? They’re suspicious of you? Are you lying to me?

None of it felt right.

After another minute, I switched the phone off again and placed it face down on the bedside table.

Tomorrow.

***********

The smell of toasted bread reached me before I even opened my eyes.

For a moment, I simply lay there, staring at the ceiling.

Ugh.

I groaned into my pillow. The first thing I’d do today was apologize.

With that decision made, I dragged myself out of bed, changed quickly and headed downstairs.

The house was so quiet it was concerning as I padded down the stairs. "Hello?"

There was no answer.

Confused, I walked into the dining room where I froze. "...Mom?" I croaked.

She looked up from the table she was setting, a warm smile spreading across her face.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Perfect timing. Breakfast’s ready."