Trouble in Paradise (Arianna and Nicholas) novel Chapter 504

As the elevator doors opened, a lone figure in black sat motionless in the middle of the open space. Nicholas had his arms wrapped around his knees, his head buried deep.

If it were anyone else, I might have assumed they were crying. But Nicholas wasn't the kind of man to shed tears over a fight.

Pete was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, I hesitated. Should I step out?

The elevator doors began to close after being unable to detect a need to stay open. Everything before me was compressed by the closing doors.

I stood frozen, watching Nicholas through the narrowing gap until the doors sealed shut, leaving him outside my view.

I exhaled deeply, my thoughts in turmoil. Should I go check? After all, this was my place. But where was the other person from the fight?

My heart tightened at the thought. What if Pete was beaten up so badly that he had been tossed aside somewhere, out of sight?

I shook my head, snapping back to why I was even here. I reached out and furiously pressed the button to open the elevator doors again. What a day!

I gasped in shock. Nicholas was suddenly right in front of me as if he had teleported here. He blocked the elevator from closing.

"Ariana," he called out my name, a bitter smile pulling at his lips.

The movement stretched the cut at the corner of his mouth, and the bruises on his face tightened. The veins on his forehead throbbed under the pale elevator light. It made him look all the more battered.

He opened his mouth as if to say more, but no sound came. We stood less than three feet apart, staring at each other. I watched him gulp as if he were fighting to hold something back.

After a long pause, a hoarse whisper escaped his throat. "Let me hold you… Just for a moment…"