Chapter 73: Chapter: 73

ANDREA

I was extremely grateful that Nicklaus was still sleeping when I entered the room. My body shook with fear, and I thought I really didn't know Nicklaus as I lay back down on my side of the bed. Why did he kidnap a nurse in her uniform? Why did he need a nurse? Did he kidnap her when she got off work?

I quickly shook my head, for God's sake, Andrea. Why did that even matter? The issue is that Nicklaus kidnapped a woman! And kept her right here locked up for weeks. Why?!

The soft ringtone of Nicklaus' phone was loud in the night; it startled me. I forced myself to relax and act like I was deeply asleep when Nicklaus picked up the phone after it rang for the second time.

“The fuck! How did that happen?” he stood up, and soon I heard movement. He's probably putting on his pants. Nicklaus sleeps completely naked. I still hadn't gotten used to that. I felt his eyes on me before he walked out of the room, talking on the phone.

My stomach cramps badly. Wondering what I'd gotten myself into, I waited a few seconds before slipping out of bed and following him up the stairs, hiding around the corner.

When I peeked into the hallway, I saw that the library door was open. I walked silently, my heart pounding, as sweat trickled down my face and body.

The library light was on. My eyes widened like saucers when I saw that a part of the library wall had slid open. I walked closer, even as my brain told me to get the fuck out of this place.

This is dangerous, and if Nicklaus saw me here, I might not survive it. But my curiosity wouldn't let me leave without knowing what was going on.

Nicklaus stood inside a large room with Logan. He was no longer on the phone; he and Logan were talking, their voices low. But it was night, and voices carried over. Behind them is a hospital bed with a man lying on it. From where I stood, peeking in, I couldn't see the man's face.

“I don't care how you do it, but find her right this fucking instant, she knows too damn much and is probably right now on her way to the cops. Find her, Logan, now!” I have never seen Nicklaus this angry before. The cold glint in his dark eyes scared me so much that I shivered.

“Yes, boss.” Logan turned to leave the room, my eyes widened with panic; if he saw me, I'm a dead woman. Whatever I'm witnessing, I have a feeling that it's something dangerous. Something I wasn't meant to find out.

“Logan, have Crow get the doctor,” Nicklaus adds at the last minute.

“Okay, boss.” I quickly and quietly get down and hide behind the couch in the library. Logan strides past me without glancing my way.

I release a shuddering breath. And waited, then I quietly got out of the room and went to bed before Nicklaus caught me. My whole body has broken in sweat as tremors shook me.

Honestly, I still haven't grasped what I have uncovered or its significance. I tried to force my heart and limbs to relax and go back to normal.

Nicklaus strolled back, this time fully clothed, I clamped my eyes shut instantly, deepening my breath and pretending I was still sleeping.

A few seconds pass as I listen to Nicklaus move about the room, then his cool lips kiss my forehead, and his hand smooths back my hair.

It took every ounce of willpower I hadn't known I had not to blink my eyes or move and give myself away. Then he left.

I released a shuddering breath, then I waited and waited for what felt like eternity until I could no longer control the curiosity inside me. I bolted up the bed and out of the room. Nicklaus was gone. I climb the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

I burst open the library door. The light was on, but the secret door to the room with the patient was closed. It was like there was never a door to another room in here. I gulped. I know the key to opening the secret room must be here.

I began to search, running my hands over the walls and checking behind the bookshelves, my heart pounding with trepidation and fear. But I kept going searching, searching. I take a thick volume of a psychology book, and there it is.

The problem is I don't know the password, but I took a gamble and punched in the password for the penthouse entrance. I almost screamed and whooped when the wall thudded and slid open.

I gulped down nervously, now that I was close to finding out what was going on. I suddenly felt frightened of what I might see.

I hesitantly walked into the large room. It was fully furnished, just an ordinary luxurious bedroom, except that instead of a real bed, there was a hospital bed.

There are couches on the left side of the room, with a glass table between them, and a door to the right, close to the bed. I had deliberately avoided seeing the man on the bed until I stood over him.

When my eyes finally fell on him. My breath froze, my eyes widened, and shock did not even come close to describing what I was feeling at that moment. Same dark hair, the same slash of arrogant brows, the same bow-shaped lips, same build, though this man was leaner and paler.

The EKG monitor beeps in time with his heartbeat. Oxygen masks cover his nose, feeding him air. My hand shook as I reached out and lifted his hand lying limply at his side, my eyes fixed on the name tag around it. NICKLAUS MONTGOMERY!

It was the only thing I could read; my legs gave out under me. Too weak to carry the magnitude of this revelation. I gasped, my breath coming out in a whoosh. I kept trying to suck in as much air as I could into my chest.

Confusion, fear, and anxiety bombarded me. Wha…what is this? Whaa..what the fuck is this?! Holy shit! My eyes saw the truth, but my brain is having difficulty making sense of it. What the actual fuck is this? Fuck! If this man here is Nicklaus, then who was that? Who was the man who had been living as him?

I tried to recall whether, in all my time with Jules, I had ever heard her say anything about Nicklaus having an identical twin. But I couldn't recall such a time. As far as anyone knows, Nicklaus Montgomery, the real Nicklaus Montgomery, doesn't have a twin brother.

Then who is this man who has taken over his life? Pretending to be a husband to his wife, a brother to his sisters and brothers, a grandson to his grandmother? Who is this man to whom I had given myself? I had slept with, had sex with over and over again, and who I had…had.

Oh Andrea! I had just gone and done what I promised myself I would never do. I did the most foolish and dumbest thing anyone had ever done. I'd gone and fallen in love with my captor, Nicklaus Montgomery.

No, not Nicklaus, this man is a stranger. Who had played with everyone in his stupid game. He'd expertly played everyone. Fat tears rolled out of my eyes as I sobbed, then, like someone had slapped some sense into me.

I bolted into action, and rushed out of the room, out of the library, and down the stairs. I ran into the room I'd been living in for a month.

My body shook as I got down on my knees and took out both copies of the contracts I'd hidden under the bed the day Jules came here.

I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans over Nicklaus' shirt, put on my sneakers, snagged my phone, and got out of the room without a second glance at all the clothes and jewelry he'd brought for me.

I stopped at the entrance, my heart squeezed with hurt and heartbreak. I turned and took a last glance at the penthouse where my life had taken a drastic turn with eyes blurred with tears.

I sniffed, wiped my eyes, then I threw back my shoulders, put in the password, and left the stranger who had been my first on so many things, rocked my world on so many levels, and had used me just like he 'd use everyone.

He'd been right all along; he'd completely ruined me.