Nichole hasn't had a decent night's sleep ever since Kade inserted himself back into her life.

She's been walking on eggshells and looking over her shoulder everywhere she goes out of fear of running into him again. Kade's abrupt return has Nichole distressed and exhausted. She hates how withdrawn she's suddenly become. She's even cut back on the hours she puts in at the bakery, having Danielle take charge in her absence.

Part of Nichole feels that this is for the best, her lying low until she can get a better understanding on why Kade is really back and trying to act all friendly. She can't shake the feeling that he has an ulterior motive. Then there's the other part of Nichole; the part that's ashamed of herself for allowing Kade to have this much power over her, years after they've separated.

She's pissed the hell off. Annoyed. Frustrated. But above all, she's tired. She's tired of being harassed by the ghosts of her past. She wants them gone. She wants Kade gone.

Permanently.

"Maybe we can track down his parole officer and tell them what happened?" Taehyun suggests during the commercial break. "It sucks that your restraining order against him has expired."

"Yeah. I figured there wasn't much need to keep it going while he was in jail," Nichole says.

"Still, there must be something that his parole officer can do," Taehyun replies. "It's their job to make sure he isn't getting into trouble, right?"

Nichole sighs, staring blankly at the television screen. "Contacting his parole officer is pointless. Kade doesn't give a shit about the law. And even if I were to take out another restraining order, it won't stop him from coming after me. If he wants me, he'll find a way to get to me. He's annoyingly persistent... and batshit crazy."

"C'mon, sweetheart. You can't think like that. It's no good for you." Ademar kisses Nichole on the cheek, pulling her closer to him. "Taehyun and I are with you now. That cabrón will never get close to you again. Isn't that right, Tae-Tae?"

"Absolutely." Taehyun scoots over to their end of the couch, cuddling up to Nichole and Ademar. "You're not alone anymore, Nichole. You've got us to protect you now."

Nichole grabs Taehyun's hand and smiles at him, accepting his kisses. Ademar later does the same. She fights back the urge to cry, their words meaning more to her than they'll probably ever know.

"I'm so sorry for dragging you both into my mess," Nichole says. "I never intended for any of this to happen. I never thought he'd ever get released..."

From what she can remember, around the time that Kade had gotten caught by the police, he had managed to rack up a shit ton of serious charges during his descent into crime. Charges that should have kept him behind bars for a long, long time. It's perplexing for Nichole to even think about Kade's downfall because he once had it all—the looks, the money, the fame. Nichole. Kade had everything. But his desire to have more is ultimately what knocked him off his high horse.

As Nichole's bakery business had begun to take off, due to some bad investments on his part, Kade's business had started to go under. In little to no time, he ended up losing everything he had, his reputation completely ruined by greed. His family, now ashamed and embarrassed by him, had turned their backs on him when he needed them the most. Wasn't too shocking, however. The Lowery's had always cared more about status than the welfare of their children.

During his darkest times, Kade had no one to depend on but Nichole. And instead of being kind to her, he treated her like garbage.

He constantly threw pity parties for himself. He started drinking more and more, started picking fights with Nichole over stupid things. But the day he'd put his hands on her during a nasty argument, that was Nichole's last straw. The emotional abuse she could somewhat push off to the side, but not the physical abuse. After that, she was done done. She couldn't baby a grown-ass man anymore. Nichole finally walked away from Kade, left him alone to destroy his own life. There was no need for him to bring her down with him.

Last she heard, he somehow weaseled his way into the drug game, probably thinking it'd be a way to make some fast cash seeing as how he no longer had anyone to mooch off. When Nichole later found out about his arrest, a wave of relief washed over her. She assumed he was officially out of her life for good this time. But oh how wrong she'd been.

"You don't have to apologize for anything," Taehyun says. "But going forward, I need to make sure you know you aren't alone in this. Neither of us wants you to feel like you have to deal with this guy on your own, so please don't assume that you do."

"One way or another, we're going to send that fucker back to jail where he belongs," Ademar adds. "But in the meantime, nuestra casa es su casa."

Nichole smiles, but it doesn't quite reach her sad brown eyes. "Thanks, but I can't alternate between you guy's places forever. I have to go home eventually. I'm running out of clothes to wear..."

"Then we'll drop by your place tomorrow, together, to get you some more," Ademar says. "See? Problem solved."

"So I suddenly have two bodyguard's now? We're gonna do everything together from this point on?" Nichole teases. "No exceptions?"

Ademar's hand drifts further down her back, playing with the waistband of her sweatpants. He chuckles darkly. "I know your body inside and out, baby girl. It's safe to say there are definitely no exceptions. Wouldn't you agree, Papi?" Ademar flashes a dirty look at Taehyun. He smirks when he receives one back. "We will eat together, sleep together, have sex together..."

"I like it when we all do things together, especially the sex part." Taehyun plants kisses all the way up Nichole's arm. He pauses at her lips, making eye contact before asking the question, "Are you in the mood to play? It's okay to say no. We'll understand."

Nichole thinks for a moment.

It has been said that sex does a body good... and maybe Nichole could use some of that right now to help herself relax and unwind.

"I want to play." Nichole nods, leaning into Taehyun. "Kiss me, daddy."

. . .

DAYS LATER

Nichole is a hardheaded woman.

She'll listen to your advice but it doesn't mean she'll do as she's told.

With Taehyun and Ademar off at work, Nichole felt now would be the perfect time for her to sneak out of Ademar's place and head home to grab some more of her things. The trio had initially planned to do this together, but something would always come up at the last minute, preventing Nichole from going and getting what she needed.

It's been a while since she had that unexpected run-in with her ex, and she thankfully hasn't seen him since, so she isn't too spooked about going out and doing something on her own. Besides, she plans to be quick about it, in and out, just needing some clothes and a few feminine necessities.

Temporarily living with Ademar and Taehyun, alternating between sleeping over at their places, has truthfully been nice. The men have done more than enough to make her feel at home; however, their place isn't her home, at the end of the day. Nichole misses her bed. Misses being in the house that she worked so damn hard to purchase with her own hard earned money. The sooner that she gets Kade out of the picture, the sooner that things can go back to the way they were before he showed up.

Nichole parks in her driveway, exiting Ademar's car while making a quick dash up to the front door. It's daylight out, so even if Kade is somewhere around here creeping on her, Nichole doubts he'd be crazy enough to try something with her in public. Then again, she is aware that he does have that hostile side about him.

Bras, panties, clothes, shoes... Once inside, Nichole runs around her bedroom like a chicken with its head cut off. She quickly goes down the list stored in her brain, grabbing various items and shoving them into a duffel bag as she frantically prances around the room. She's done with everything in less than fifteen minutes. She turns off all the lights she previously shut on and then makes her way back to the front door.

Opening it, she immediately freezes.

"I was in the neighborhood and saw your car parked in the driveway, figured I'd stop by and say hello. Mind if I come in?" Kade flashes a smile and then rests a hand on his hip, casually pushing open his jacket wide enough to reveal the gun that's tucked in the waistband of his jeans. "I'm not fucking around today," Kade threatens, lowering his voice. "Now step aside so that I can come in."

Nichole isn't sure if she wants to vomit, pass out, or... both. She clutches the duffel bag with trembling hands while moving aside, allowing Kade to enter. He shuts the door and turns to face her, that damned disgusting smile still on his face. Nichole definitely wants to vomit.

"The last time we spoke, your new boyfriend barged in and completely ruined our conversation. I didn't even get the chance to ask you the question that I had come over to ask," Kade says, tucking his hands into his pockets. "No need to look so frightened, Nicky. I'm not going to shoot you. It's mostly for my protection, I promise."

Nichole scoffs. "Why are you here, Kade? What do you want from me?"

"Right. Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" Kade steps forward, backing Nichole into the wall by the door. "I won't lie to you, Nicky. When I saw you with that other man, my heart broke all over again. What you and I had... I thought it'd last forever. I thought I'd be your one and only. Seeing you with someone else, that hurt me in a way I hadn't known was possible."

It takes everything in Nichole to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Kade is composed, for the most part, so she doesn't want to do anything that will potentially trigger him.

"I broke up with you. Then you went to jail. I eventually accepted that you were toxic and no good for me," Nichole says with a straight face. "I stopped loving you and I moved on. End of story. Now answer my question—what the fuck do you want from me?"

Kade smirks, then laughs. "Still got that fire in you, I see." Nichole's heart plummets to the floor when Kade reaches up to caress her face. She tries to turn away, but he grabs her by the chin, forcing her to keep her eyes on him. "I've done my research since being out of the joint, and I know you and that bakery make quite the profit each month."

"So?" Nichole mutters, shaking with anxiety. "You need money or something? Is that what you fucking want, my goddamn money?"

"Let's not be quick to forget about the hefty $25k that I poured into that place," Kade says. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have that fucking bakery."

"Oh, go to hell!" Nichole shouts, her fear turning into fury at Kade's words. She gains the strength to slap Kade's hand away from her face. "You weren't the only someone who loaned me money to help get my business off the ground. Everyone that I owed, I paid every single penny back to them, including you. So don't even try to come at me with that 'you still owe me,' shit because I don't owe you a damn thing, Kade. Not one dime."

"You paid me back, yes. I did you a favor back then and now I'm here asking for one," Kade says, remaining calm. "I know business is booming, so I'm sure it wouldn't dent your pockets too badly if you sent $25k back my way. Consider it my ticket out of here, if that'll make you feel better. Give me the money and I promise you'll never be bothered with me again."

"You're seriously out of your goddamn mind..."

"Nicky, come on! It's not like I can call up my folks and ask them for help," Kade says. "You know how they feel about me - their golden boy turned villain. You're the only one who can help me out here, just like the old days. You're the only one that I can depend on. I know you won't let me down, will you?"

"What do you need it for?" Nichole asks, curious.

"To get back on my feet," Kade lies. His lips do a bit of a twitchy thing whenever he lies. Nichole immediately sees right through his bullshit. "I just got out of jail, Nichole. I have nothing. If I want to get back to who I used to be, I can't start with nothing. I need something to begin with, understand?"

"You want twenty-five grand that badly? How about you go out and get a job, fucking work for it like I did," Nichole yells. "How about that?"

Kade sighs, shaking his head. "I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this..." Kade pulls out his phone and starts pressing buttons. Then Nichole hears it—moaning. It's her moaning. "Remember that sex tape we drunkenly made on the night of our one-year anniversary?" Kade turns his phone around to show Nichole the video of him and her going at it. If only her face wasn't in the frame, she might've been able to get away with saying the woman in the video isn't her. "I know you asked me to delete this after we split up. I told you that I did, but obviously, that was a lie."

Nichole feels the bile rising in her throat. She places a hand over her racing heart, the pain and severity of this situation hitting her hard and fast.

"Y-You're trying to blackmail me?"

"Only if you don't cooperate with me," Kade says, turning off the video and sliding his phone back into his pocket. "And if I were you, I wouldn't even think about going to the police or to my P.O. I've got her wrapped around my finger and my cock, so you'll just be wasting your time. Your only option is to give me the money. It's the only way to keep your reputation, and that of your business, safe."

Hopeless. Nichole feels sick to her stomach and utterly hopeless.

"Why are you doing this to me? Why—"

"I don't need an answer from you right now. I'll give you time to think about it. But when I come to visit you again, I hope you and I will finally be on the same page," Kade says, smiling. "Too bad your little bitch boyfriend lives in a gated community. I'd have loved to pay him a visit for the way he disrespected me that night at the bakery. I only let him off easy because I hadn't gotten my shit together, but I do now." Kade does a quick spin, showing off his new clothes and a fresh haircut. "You like?"

Nichole can't speak. She's too busy trembling and crying her eyes out.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you like this," Kade says. "I'll see myself out. And don't worry about getting back to me with a response. I know where you live and where you work, where your boyfriend stays... I'll find you when I need to see you again. Take care, Nicky."

Kade kisses her on the forehead before walking out of the door.

Nichole doesn't crumble to the ground and scream until she hears his car pull out of her driveway and take off down the street.

She thought she'd been to rock bottom once before, but clearly, she had been wrong. This is her rock bottom. And she has no clue about how she's going to climb out of it unscathed.

. . .

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