Nicklaus walked out of Warren's family house, his feet stopping when he stepped on the front porch. Finally, he has avenged his family, but why did he still feel the hollow in his heart. A light sigh left his lips as he looked towards the sky.
Truly vengeance doesn't take away the pain; it doesn't bring back what you lost; it only made you stop fighting, it only made you see that no matter what you do, you can't change what has happened.
''Boss, we have to go now, the sun will rise soon, '' Dan, his chief guard walked to him, kicking him out of his thoughts.
Nicklaus nodded; ''alright; let's go. ''
They drove out of the house and as Dan hit the road, he asked;
''Boss, where to?''
He has not been home since everything happened, but they had everything in place to bring Douglas down so it was safe to go home now, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to;
''Let's go home, '' Nicklaus said and Dan nodded with a faint smile. His wife had seen him just once and every single minute she was asking him about him, Nicklaus had said they shouldn't contact each other till everything is done because he didn't want any leaks. So he had been the middle man between her and him, he could imagine how happy she would look when she saw him.
Dan drove into the compound, the two other cars following behind. It was just a few minutes past 6 am in the morning, and the sun was yet to rise. Nicklaus stepped down from the car and his eyes looked towards their room window reflexively, the lights were off, she was obviously still sleeping.
He turned to walk to the house, but his feet stopped reflexively when he saw the figure standing in front of the porch.
Tiana was shaking slightly from the morning cold, her hands around her torso. Her hair looked disheveled and her chest heaved as she watched him.
His heartbeat slowed when he saw her, he had missed her so much but he had held himself back from reaching out because he didn't want to ruin their perfect plan, but now….
Nicklaus took a step forward, but before he could walk to her, Tiana ran towards him, leaping up, she embraced him in a hug, her arms going around his neck.
''I've missed you, so so so much! '' she cried as she held him tightly,
''I missed you too, jeez, I nearly died; '' Nicklaus laughed as she released him a little and kissed his lips hungrily. God, she had missed this, she missed him. It had been terrible sleeping alone these weeks, and she couldn't wait for all these to finally be over. Her hands gripped his hair, as they deepened the kiss not minding the guards who were still standing around, well it wasn't long before they awkwardly walked away giving the lovebirds some privacy.
After the longest time, they let go of each other. Tiana took her time to admire his face as he held her in his arms.
''You look prettier, '' she smiled at him, rubbing his face with her hands. The workers who had stepped out for their morning functions were shocked to see Nicklaus. They rubbed their eyes with both hands to be sure that they weren't seeing ghosts. Nicklaus was alive! They felt like running to embrace him in a hug, but they held themselves back and jubilated within themselves.
''And you became skinny, you skipped your meals, right? ''
Nicklaus asked with a worried look on his forehead. He had hugged her countless times in the past, so immediately he held her; he knew she had lost weight. Tiana lost the appetite to eat these past weeks they had not spoken but she didn't realize that he would notice the moment he held her.
''I didn't have an appetite for food, but now I've seen you, I think my appetite is back. Baby, you don't know how much I've missed you; I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again. '' Nicklaus laughed and brought her down to her feet.
''Alright, let's go inside, we have a lot to talk about. ''
Tiana nodded and clung to his arm as they walked into the house. She grinned when the noticed the shocked expression on the workers' faces, it was like a dream.
Tiana closed the door behind her and followed him into the room, helping him take off his jacket
''Did it go well? '' the question had been on the tip of her lips since she saw him, she was afraid it did not work out as they had planned, and that would be a mess.
Nicklaus walked to the couch and sat down, taking off his shoes.
''Yeah, it's done. '' Tiana's eyes widened in shock and she walked to him slowly sitting down beside him. She took his hand and squeezed it.
''Catherine… Liam, they are … dead? '' she looked a little shocked, it seemed unreal.
Nicklaus watched her for a moment, even though she tried to mask it; he saw the fear in her eyes as she held his hand. He leaned towards her and pushed some strands of hair away from her face.
''Mm, they won't trouble us anymore. '' Tiana breathed out. She wasn't feeling any pity for them; they were the wickedest people she had ever seen, that is, not forgetting Douglas.
Even though killing was wrong, he didn't have a choice. If he didn't, they would kill him. Catherine killed his whole family, so she didn't deserve an ounce of mercy; Tiana was relieved that they would never trouble them again. Just a little more and she would never have to worry about going out again.
''Dan said you got the recording, '' Nicklaus said making Tiana turn to him with a remorseful look then she grinned;
''I got the recording and I'm safe, you don't have to be so mad. ''
Nicklaus stared at her as she made puppy dog eyes at him, and suddenly he pinched her cheeks;
''You are stubborn, ''