Nicholas swallowed as he stared at the woman who stared at the file in her hand and then chuckled gently.
"What are you worried about?"
"W…worried? I am not?" she shook her head in defense.
"I know you are, trust me."
She exhaled, returned the document in the envelope, and then started.
"You and Lorenzo… you're friends right?"
"Best friends, actually."
"Then you just know… the reason behind our… this situation."
"Enzo is a good person,'' he said instead and she raised her head.
"I know what you are worried about but trust me… he is a good person."
Leilani nodded her head and then forced a smile, "Thank you, Mr…"
"Nicholas. You can call me Nick."
The door opened and Lorenzo wheeled out of the room with a man trailing behind her.
"Thank you so much for today,'' he shook hands with the man again and then turned to look at Leilani.
Leilani stared at the ring that settled beautifully on his finger like it was made for his hands and then glanced at hers too.
All through her marriage with Jonathan, she had never worn a ring as he hadn't given her one for marriage.
It does not make any difference, he had said.
They are just adornments, he had added.
"Let's go," he said to her and she nodded her head.
~~~
Leilani looked around carefully as the car entered a very huge compound and when she saw some men walking around the perimeter with guns in their hands, she turned to look at the man who had not said a word to her since they left the registry.
"No matter what anyone says to you. Do not answer. Leave them to me," he finally said to her.
"W…what? Who?"
"Oh, I haven't told you. My father, his wife, and their children… live here too."
She tilted her head as she tried to understand what he meant.
"What?"
"You will understand later."
"W… wait. You mean, you stay with your family, don't you?"
When he nodded his head in agreement, he saw how her facial expression changed and he could guess exactly why.
She used to stay with her ex-husband and his family, and that was hard on her.
"No one… is ever going to hurt you. I promise."
Her eyes softened as she stared at the man who said like he could read her mind and then she nodded her head.
Maybe the assurance was all she needed.
"You don't even need to talk to them if you don't want to. No one will bother you," he added, knocked on the window, and then the door opened.
He wheeled out of the car and waited till she was out too before they both moved together to the entrance.
The door opened and they both entered.
Leilani gasped inwardly as she entered fully and then looked around at the interior decoration.
It looked like the kind of old money mansion that was on the television and this had her drooling as she took the whole decorations in.
"Here," his voice snapped at her back and she hurried after the man who wheeled to another part of the room.
An elevator?
"Who…"
She turned to look at the lady who descended the stairs with a glass of juice in her hand and then stared at her.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Leilani clasped her hands together as she stared at the lady who was obviously in her early twenties.
Looking at her, she suddenly got reminded of Maxwell and she breathed out.
"She is with me. Mind your business," he said as soon as she opened her mouth to talk.
Leilani forced a smile at the lady and moved over to Lorenzo who entered the elevator.
"Who is she?!" The lady exclaimed.
Lorenzo clicked on a button that had the letter U imprinted on it and then said. "My wife."
Leilani widened her eyes as she watched the lady pour the context in her mouth back into the glass cup.
As the elevator door closed, she screamed out, "EVERYONE, COME OUT!"
"I… is there any problem?" she asked him.
"I have told you… Don't be bothered by anyone here."
_______
The elevator dinged open, and she trailed after the man while she looked around. It was as if she was in another apartment entirely.
The interior had a totally different aesthetic to the ones downstairs and she could only wonder why.
She needed not to be told that there was a clear boundary between this floor and the other floors in the house.
"This is my space, so you don't have to worry about anyone disturbing you, okay?"
She nodded her head gently as they both entered the master bedroom.
"My closet is over there, so you could still wear my shirts or anything before we fill up your wardrobe tomorrow, okay," he said.
"And that is the bathroom in case you wanna freshen up."
She kept nodding her head while he kept pointing at the things and explaining to her everything around the room.
"So, you should freshen up. We will go downstairs for dinner when you are ready," he said, and she nodded her head.
"I… wanna ask you something."
"Go ahead," he answered as he wheeled to the drawer and then gently removed the wristwatch strapped around his wrist.
"I guess your family doesn't know about this yet. Do you think there will be any issue?"
He breathed out, leaned down, and then pulled off his shoes.
"You have so many worries," and then he stood up.
"Don't you? He added and then walked to a room ever casually.
He returned with bottled water and then raised his brows at the woman who had literally frozen from where she stood.
"What?"
"Y… you… you…" she pointed her index finger at him, shaking.
"Me?" he raised his brows, feigning ignorance.
"You… you… can… walk."
"I certainly can, my wife," he tilted his head, boring his eyes on the stricken woman.