No Lies

23| Claws

Nora

When I'd calmed down, Nicolas sat me down on the couch, whipping up a quick lunch for me. I wanted to tell him how thankful I was for his mere presence in my life, but at that moment I was too choked up and emotional. He'd sat down beside me, watching as I ate. Holding the plate from my hands and keeping it down on the table, he intertwined our hands.

"I resigned." 

Both of his eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

I shrugged. "However much I say I love my job, it was coming for a long time. I should've resigned five years ago."

"What happened?"

I took a deep breath. "I was at the state prison today."

He kept his calm. "Yeah? Who were you visiting?"

"Kyle Dixon. He worked under me."

"He was arrested for possession and trafficking of drugs." Nicolas said. "Yes, I know of him. Why were you visiting him?"

I gave a small laugh, looking ahead. "Five years ago, Charlie introduced me to Nathan Razer. They'd been in business for a long time. He was my first ever client and I was fascinated with his work. Eventually it turned to something...more than professionalism."

Nico's grip on my hand tightened, his jaw clenching. "Did he use you?"

I eyed his blazer which he'd draped over a chair. "They offered me a million dollar bonus for a deal. I was new, I'd just started working. And money always attracted me. So I agreed. That was my first mistake."

Nicolas shifted his gaze to me. I continued, "Ultimately I made more. My second one was thinking my feelings for Nathan were too genuine, and that he felt the same. It made me put my relationship with him above my work and human principles. They used that against me."

"How?" 

"Nathan emotionally blackmailed me to draft the deal. Not a lot, but a few taunts here and there. In the end I settled for the easier route. It was a twenty million dollar shipment of cocaine to an underground firm that operated in Europe. Kyle was in charge of the smooth delivery."

"By his choice?" Nicolas asked softly.

I closed my eyes. "He was nineteen, Nico. He was barely legal, he didn't even understand what he was getting himself into. His choice didn't matter, it was our duty, my duty, to stop him. And I tried, I begged Charlie to appoint someone else for the deal, he didn't listen. They promised me everything would be alright. They told me they'd take care of everything."

"Kyle was his brother. I made my third mistake by comparing him to my family, thinking that Charlie would look after him like my family did after me. Nathan reassured me, spat lies to my face and I believed him like a fool." I exhaled deeply. "The deal went smoothly."

Nicolas scrunched his eyebrows. "What?"

"The actual problem began after the shipment." I gave a small chuckle, but it more in order to cover up a choke. "Nathan messed up the order. Some part of the shipment wasn't what they'd asked for. Charlie asked Kyle to hand deliver those things. When all along it had been Nathan's fault, Charlie knew there were risks and he didn't want to lose his associate. So he risked his brother."

"But he agreed, right? Kyle didn't say no." Nicolas said. "He might be barely legal but he wasn't a child. He knew what he was getting himself into. You can't blame yourself."

"I was out with Nathan the night they caught him. I was on a fucking date when they gave him a five year sentence. Charlie could have gotten him out. All he had to do was tell them it was Nathan. But he didn't. He chose money over family."