The Secret Billionaire

Chapter 47

ERIS

He kept looking at me while I was sipping on the water. He was trying to read me. I knew he wanted to ask me what I was doing here, but he was respectful, and I appreciated that. I set the cup down and looked up at him.
"Are you feeling better?" I nodded and wiped my nose with the tissue.
"I'm sorry for barging in. I didn't know this was an office. I just needed to get away from everything,"
"Are you here for the Rylan building case?"
"How did you know that?"
He laughed and played with a pen in his hand.
"We don't get many visitors here, and I heard you were coming for the questioning,"
I laughed and looked down. "She got in my head. They told me not to go in. They told me she couldn't see through the window, and she still got in my head,"
"It's not your fault," I looked up at him."If she blamed you for anything, she's wrong,"
"Are you working on the case as well?"
"I was assigned to it at the beginning but got pulled into another case," He looked me up and down and smiled. "Ms. Cadieux?"
I nodded and smiled at him.
"You look so much better," He commented. I looked at him, confused, and he shook his head. "I might've taken a peek into your case file. I saw the pictures,"
My smile dropped. He was talking about the pictures of Darius's bruises on me. That day I confessed everything to Nathan we filed a police report. They wanted pictures of all the bruises. We sent the photos of that day, and I also had some previous pictures saved up throughout the years. I never showed those pictures to anyone. I had them saved on my phone just in case I had the courage to report him. Does everyone have access to the file? Is that why everyone was staring at me when we first came here?
He looked down at his phone and stood up.
"It's nice to know you're okay, but some people are looking for you," I stood up.
"You will be fine, and I'm sorry you had to go through that," He grabbed the cup from my hand and set it on his desk. "I hope everything goes well,"
He was dangerously close. He wasn't as tall as Mathew or Nathan, so his eye level was closer to mine.
I cleared my throat and stepped back, "Thank you,"
I walked over to the door and attempted to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's still locked," He reminded me as he walked over to the door.
I mumbled something not so-nice under my breath and turned the lock. I opened the door and smiled at him.
"Thank you for the pep talk, uhm. . ."
"Mike, Detective Whitlock," He shook my hand.
"Detective Whitlock, it was nice meeting you,"
"Eris," I turned around and saw Nathan and Mathew standing there.
"Hey! Sorry, I just needed to take a breather. Is everything okay?"
"Mind explaining why you're standing so close to her detective?" Mathew walked closer to us, and I turned around. Detective Whitlock raised his hands in defense and stepped away. "I was just trying to help."
Nathan grabbed my hand and pulled me away from them.
"Are you okay?" He asked. His arm was tight around my waist.
"Yeah, I just had some water,"
"Did he do anything to you?"
"We were talking. Nathan, he saw the pictures,"
"What pictures?" Mathew asked as soon as he caught up to us.
"At the beginning of this case, when I first filed for the police report, they asked for pictures of the injuries Darius caused me. I sent them the ones from that day and the ones I had saved up from when we were together," I explained quietly, making sure no one was around to hear that. Although who knows? Maybe they have a weekly class where they get together and go over everyone's cases.
"How did he see those?" Nathan questioned.
"He was assigned to the case at the beginning, but he was pulled out," I explained.
"There are pictures of what the fucker did to you? Where are they?" Mathew asked, and Nathan stopped walking. I stopped in my tracks and looked at him.
"It was hard for her to pull up those pictures from the past and relive those moments." He looked at Mathew. "That's something no one should ever see. We won't talk about this anymore,"
Mathew opened his mouth to say anything, but he looked away.
We walked into the room, and Elijah ran up to me.
"There you are!" I picked him up, and he giggled. "How are you?" I walked over to Alana, who was feeding Emma.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"No need to hover," I looked between them. "I am fine. What happened when I left?"
"She admitted his name. Darius Lennox," I sat back, and Elijah lay on my chest. "She was going on about how they were in love. He convinced her if she helped him do this, they would run away together," Mathew explained.
"Darius wanted to kill me? If he is out there, that means he is looking for me," I said.
"Watch your words, please," Alana looked at Elijah, who was falling asleep. I shot her an apologetic look and sighed.
"What's the next step?" I looked up at Nathan. "We leave town? Go into hiding?"
"We are finishing the last details of our plan. I am going to fix this, and everything is going to be okay," He said, and I nodded. "I'm ordering dinner. Let's go home,"
On the ride home, I couldn't help but feel anxious. I kept looking around to make sure no car was heading toward us. I kept looking at the kids to remind myself that they were okay. I grabbed Nathan's hand, and he kissed my head. I looked at Mathew through the rearview mirror, and we made eye contact. He looked away and turned his attention back to the road.
He adjusted himself in the seat and cleared his throat. We both admitted to the kiss not being a mistake. He turned to look at me again and winked at me. I turned away as I felt my cheeks heat up and looked out the window. I still didn't know what to do with this feeling toward him or that he made me nervous. My thighs press against each other to stop me from imagining scenarios with him.
By the time we got home, dinner was already there. It felt like a long time since we all sat together and enjoyed a meal. For once, no one was fighting, throwing food, or discussing plans for our future. We were living in the moment and appreciating each other.
This is the kind of life I wish we had. Instead, we had to worry about an abusive ex-boyfriend and crazy mafias.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in my apartment observing people as they walked by. Imagining extraordinary lives for all of them.
The mysterious stranger turned out to be the love of my life. With a wonderful sister who has two beautiful kids. A very obnoxious brother with whom I have immensely confusing feelings.
The moment I met Nathan was the moment that changed my entire life. I had been alone for so long, and now I have them. I love them so much that I would give up my life for them. I would take a bullet for any of them. We will get through this, and we will be able to live our lives together.
I complain about the smallest things, like my last name and my life, all the time, and I lose sight of the good things in front of me. Now, I have a loving boyfriend, a new sister, and an unusual relationship with Mathew. I'll get over it.
Besides, I'm Eris Cadieux, a little fighter, goddess of chaos.
They will regret messing with my family. I intend to personally make sure they pay for what they have done.
Agonizingly.