Xia's POV:

It had been a week since the day Nic and I made breakfast that day, playing with flour. That morning when Rico, yes, I call him that now, entered, he laughed and made fun of how we looked. Being a little annoyed, I whispered in Nic's ear and not a second later, he was covered in flour too.

We played in flour for almost half an hour and then finally cleaned ourselves up to eat waffles. I smiled at the memory that played itself in my head.

Right now, I was in laying down on bed, in the room that I had been staying in. So far, nothing much has happened. Rico goes to work, Nic goes to school and when he comes back, I help him with homework sometimes and on other days, his father helps him.

Coming to the main reason why I was living here in the first place, the vehicle that Callum had been tracking all this while was found a few days back. The car had been ditched in the middle of a road that was on the deserted side of Spain, which was why it was difficult to find.

The only reasonable theory would be that they switched cars mid-journey. So, now we were back to square one; with no evidence or anything that could point this whole situation to Devon or that guy whom Ric spoke about; the Don of the Italian mafia.

Wait, what was his name? Leonardo? Landon? Or was it Lincoln? No, no. Lorenzo. Yeah, that dude.

Too caught up with all these thoughts, I decided to go the kitchen for a glass of water. Peeling the quilt off of me, I stood up and wore the fluffy flip-flops that were kept near the bed.

I walked out of my room and descended down the stairs. It wasn't too dark in the house because there were small lights that were kept on in the hall.

Oh, yeah. Rico is probably a billionaire. My bad.

Soon, I found myself in the kitchen, pouring a glass of water. I downed the whole glass in one go and rinsed it, keeping it back where I had taken it from.

Walking up the stairs, I strolled towards my room but happened to pass by Nic's room. I abruptly stopped walking when I reached the door because I was hearing muffled noises coming from inside; it sounded like someone was sobbing.

I knocked on the door but the sound didn't stop. Getting a little worried, I opened the door just a little, which made the sound intensify. My heart dropped at the sight. A small figure, who could be none other than Nic, was curled up in the bed, tossing and turning.

I tiptoed into the room and noticed that Nicolas eyes were closed, his face slightly red and covered in tears. The blanket that he wore was scrunched up near his mouth to muffle the sounds.

I suddenly felt weak and decided to sit next to him before calling Rico. I shook him gently, trying to wake him up. The sobbing stopped and all he did was whimper now. I shook him again,

"Hey, Nic." I whispered.

Slowly, his eyes opened and widened in fear when he saw me. He crawled closer to me, laying his head on my lap. I reached out and removed the blanket that was covering his mouth.

He looked up at me, his eyes pooling with fear. I knew this look; I saw it on the day of the raid at the park. Nic was scared. But why?

I slid my left hand under his head that rested on my lap to support it and ran my fingers through his hair with my right. I didn't ask him anything for a while so that he could calm down.

When I felt him stop shivering, I spoke up. "What's wrong, jellybean?"

He moved, wrapping his tiny arms around my hips. Carefully, I picked him up in my arms and sat him on my lap. Almost instinctively, he looped his tiny legs around my waist and arms on my shoulders. I hugged him back, cocooning ourselves in the blanket.

"Nightmare." He stated, in a frail voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, holding him closer to my chest. He gingerly nodded.

"In school, there is a boy named Kace. He makes fun of me, saying that I don't have a Momma. He...he says that my Momma didn't love me so she left and...and that I am not good." He explained, stopping a little in between due to the fact he was still sobbing a little.

I pulled him closer to me, if that was even possible, and let him rest his head against my chest and he whimpered out, "I had a dream that you...you left me too because I don't have a Momma."

"Oh, my." I breathed out. I gently held his held in my palms and made him look at me.

"Firstly, don't let his words bother you. You are loved by your father and I and that's all that matters." I smiled.

Nic furrowed his eyebrows for a second and then his eyes lit up when he realized what I had just told him.

"You...love me? You don't hate me because I don't have a Momma like how Kace does?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do. You're smart, kind and loving. Don't forget adorable." I said, fixing his hair. "I could never ever hate you and I would never leave you."

The little boy grinned at my confession, making his dimples appear. He hugged me tight like he was afraid that I would wither away if he didn't. "I love you too, Xia."

I smiled and kissed his forehead.

"Can I sleep with you?" He pouted.

"Of course you can." I replied, removing the blanket that was around us. Sitting up with him still in my arms, I switched off the nightlight in his room and closed the door behind me.

Once I entered my room, he wiggled out of my grip and jumped down to the floor and onto the bed, getting himself curled-up in the quilt. Smiling at his adorableness, I took off my flip flops and slept on the other side.

Nic snuggled closer to me, wrapping an arm around my neck and placed his head in the crook of my neck. I pulled him into an embrace and whispered, "Goodnight, my little jellybean."

"Goodnight, Xia." He replied and soon enough I fell asleep with him in my arms.

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