Passion Plundered

Chapter Fifty

Tzuyu's Pov

Ten thirty-seven, the time on the  alarm clock said. 

I'd been sitting like a rock in bed, waiting. 

Two hours after Sana had left, I'd given up on waiting for her in the lounge with Nico. So I'd gone into the bedroom, changed into my nightwear and gotten into bed. Still waiting. 

Now, as I eyed the door knob of the door, hoping for it to turn, I knew I was going to go insane if she didn't step through that door in the next couple of minutes. So I got out of bed, slipped on my silk rob and stepped out of the room. 

Quiet, big and incredibly still, there sat Nico with his eyes glued to the little red book in his hands, like all was alright in the world. 

"She's not here yet?" I asked, gripping the robe to my neck as I stepped further into the room. Sana's teeth marks were still fresh and stark against my skin. 

He looked up at me, patient brown eyes acknowledging my presence. His deep voice was smooth and soothing. "No, ma'am."

I nodded slowly, trying and failing miserably to hide the disappointment and worry on my face. Understanding eyes smiled at me. 

"Trust me, if there's one person you never have to worry about, it's Sana. I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Of course." I plastered on a smile that we both knew took a lot out of me. 

But he was right. I had to trust Sana to come back to me, in one piece. 

"What are you reading?" I asked, lowering myself into a sofa. 

His lips twitched, but what was supposed to be a smile ended up being a grimace, the scars adorning his face hindering him. My heart broke into a million pieces.
 
"Anne of Green Gables," he said, flipping the book so I could see the typewriter-style title on the cover. 

"Anne of Green Gables?" I frowned. "I thought you were reading some kind of Pig Latin autobiography. You've been on the first page ever since I saw you reading it."

His eyes smiled softly, the slightest hint of sadness there. "Yeah, well, dyslexia does that to you." 

Punch to the gut. 

I facepalmed myself, floods of guilt assaulting me. How could I not have noticed? The way his eyes jumped around the page instead of side to side. His constant squinting, as though he was trying to focus. 

"I'm so sorry, Nico," I said, completely embarrassed.

He chuckled nonetheless, acceptance brightening his eyes. "It's nothing to worry about, miss. It was an honest mistake, you wouldn't have known."

"Really, you're not upset?" I asked, wringing my hands together. 

"Not at all—" He was interrupted by a frantic knock at the door. He immediately pushed off the sofa and went to open in. 

In the next second Jisoo was pushing past Nico. Without a word, she went straight for the remote on the coffee table and aimed it at the TV.

I was just about to ask her what was happening when the late night news came on. The impeccably-dressed reporters—a man and a woman—sat behind the platform that had their network engraved into it.