"... everything costs something,

every decision has a consequence..."

Nick's POV

"Let's try this again. Who shot Jason Burke?"

If I had a penny for how many times I have been asked this question...

"I did. Three bullets to the chest. You have the gun, you have my prints. What further confirmation do you need? I won't change my confession!"

I'm getting frustrated. Timmy and I have been you over this for hours! He has been questioning me, repeating the same question and I am repeating in the same answer. I can't even keep my eyes open anymore. I'm tired. He won't stop. Should I shoot him again or did that just prove how desperate I am to be arrested?

"Let's try this again."

"Do I have to kill you for you to believe me?"

"You shot me because you were desperate to be arrested. You want to be arrested and something tells me it has more to do than just being in love with Keira Ballard. So talk. Who killed Jason Burke?"

"I did. Three bullets to the chest." I repeated the same line I have been telling him all night. I can say it in my sleep.

"Look Nick. You and I didn't get off on the right foot."

"No one gets off on the right foot with law enforcement especially when they look like you."

"Still, I don't think you did this. Someone else is pulling your strings. You can tell me who it is Nick."

"I shot Jason Burke. Three bullets to the chest."

He sighed.

"Your parents are here. Hopefully they can talk some sense into you. I'll be back to ask you the same question and I hope you will have a different answer."

"Timmy, it is madness to keep doing the same thing and expect different results."

He walked out and seconds later my parents came in. My mother enveloped me in her arms, a flood of kisses later, she let my dad look at me. "Are you all right son?" He asked me.

"I guess so." What I know for sure is that I'm at peace. I'm not suffering from guilt anymore. I did what I had to do. "Is Keira free?"

"Not that we have heard." He answered. My mother sat down but he remained standing. "What have you done Nickolas?"

"I have done what needed to be done." I answered him. "I know what we agreed on but the longer I resist this, tge longer she would have stayed in jail."

"It was stupid because she's still locked up."

"He's in love." My mom told him but her eyes are soft towards me. "It's going to be okay Nicko. We will work around this, right Nate?"

He is not happy. He doesn't want to work around anything. Around is not my dad's thing. He goes through. Right through regardless of fire or ice or storms. He doesn't work around anything.

"Right." He agreed with a clenched jaw. He hates arguing with her because he loses. She may be small but she's loud! Loud wins!

"We need a lawyer." She suggested.

"We don't ."

"Nicko don't be silly. Even if Keira is set free, we still need a lawyer the get you out."

"I will plead guilty. There's no need for a trial or anything. Get in touch with the prosecution. Let them know I'm pleading guilty."

Now she's upset. Now she may just agree with my father.

"That is stupid!"

"That is what I said." My dad shrugged. "Nickolas, why don't you put a pin on negotiating with the prosecution until Gio calls. All right?"

"Gio has 12 hours and then I talk to the prosecution."

I don't remember a time I have shied away from a confrontation. I'm always ready to react. Always. None of this would be happening to Kei if I would have made my move soon after we met.

"Margaux."

She looks stunned to see me. "Well! Why are you here?"

I leaned against my car. "Come here. I want to talk to you."

She is carrying shopping bags. The woman who went on a talkshow weeping about her broken marriage is walking around with shopping bags while her husband is in police custody. How ironic can life get?

"What?"

"Get in the car."

"I'm not getting in there."

I tappednth front window. My bodyguards cane out and relieved her of the shopping bags. I opened the back door for her. "Get in. I'm not scared of a scene."

She got inside. I followed and immediately gripped her neck firmly enough to deprive get of air. "Theo!" She growled out, her nails sinking into my coat.

"This is a dimpl straightforward conversation. Just answer my questions and you get to walk out of here. Did Keira shoot Jason Burke?"

Her expression turned feral. She does not like Keira. That is understatement. She hates Keira.

"No..."

I though so.

"Who did? Nick?"

I tightened my grip to encourage her. At this point air is better than lies.

"No..."

I released her. She should get to enjoy breathing so that when I take it away again, she will beg to be released. A few gasps later I gripped her neck again, this time pinning her down in the back seat with my body weight. I kept my grip lighter. "If you lie, I tighten. If you tell the truth, I loosen. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Who is pulling the strings in this?"

"Theo I can't tell you that!" I tightened my grip. "Okay! Okay!" She screamed. "M-mafia. Mafia."

I am not at all surprised that she knows people from the Mafia. Margaux likes to flirt with danger. The more dangerous the man, the more intrigued she becomes. "Name."

"He will kill-" I tightened my grip sending her fingers sinking into my arm. "Man.. mancini. Romano." I gave her a free seconds to catch her breath. She's coughing violently. "He will kill me for telling you!"

"I will kill you for not telling me. Pick your poison."

"No no no wait!" She pleaded when I wanted to grab her neck. "Romano Mancini doesn't like Nickolas. I don't know what they are feuding about but he put me in his life for this moment. I took Nick's gun and gave it to Mancini's men so that Nick can be framed. Mancini has evidence that Keira is innocent. Some video or something."

"Was that hard?" I asked her.

"Please don't tell anyone-"

I opened the door and pushed her out. She fell on the side of the road and I closed it immediately. My bodyguards threw her bags at her. We drove off immediately.

"Rose, talk." I demanded.

"After being generous, I found out that Keira was not th shooter. The trajectory of the bullet does not match her height. Detective Rowland knows this but he purposely out a pin on it to lure Nick into a confession."

"Perfect. I'll take it from here. Do your part to get the prosecution to throw this out." I hanged up. "Stop here."

I learned from early on that brutal force rarely accomplished much. It does it's part but certain things require finesse.

"Monsieur Sinclair! Welcome!" The manager met me at the entrance. There are perks to descending from nobility. "Your table is ready."

"Thank you."

"The usual?"

"Yes please." I sat down. He's running late. Why don't people keep time? It's complete disrespect."

While Rose handles the legal bit of things, I'll handle the backroom deals. The bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon was served just as the detective makes his appearance. He looked at me with hesitation before he took a seat.

"Mr none of your business. I was a little surprised to receive your call."

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to call you."

"Do you want to confess to murder as well?"

I smiled at him. "I don't get coerced into anything. I'll let Nick have that trophy. Keira is innocent of everything. You know that, don't you?"

"She shot her husband."

"No she didn't. But I'm not here to argue. I'm here to give you two options. The outcome depends on what you pick."

I sipped my glass of wine as I watched him making up his mind. He looks distrustful. "Why are you giving me options?"

"Call home. There's a woman keeping your wife and daughters company. Go on. Call home."

He did just that. "Honey. Hi. What are you guys up to tonight? Aha... A visitor? Who is it?" His frown said it all. He gradually hanged up. "I can arrest you right now!"

"And then you can attend your family's funeral. Like I said, I give two options. Will you be arresting me or saving your family?"

"What do you want?"

"I hate repeating myself but you seem a little slow so I will. I want you to call the prosecution and tell them that you have new evidence that clears Keira's name. Go on. Call them. Put it on speaker. I want to hear."

He called.

A man will do anything to protect those he loves. Keira fired the same gun that was used to shoot Jason and carelessly hid the gun so that she is arrested instead of her father. Nick is confessing to a murder he didn't commit even if he knows he will rot in jail. The detective is ready to play my game because I have his family. I will do anything, I will hurt anyone to get Keira free. We will all do what it takes for those we love. But everything has consequences even if we had the best intentions.

"Heather. I'm sorry to call so late."

"What is this about? I'm just on my way out of the office."

"It's about Keira Ballard."

"What about her?"

"New evidence has just gone to light. She wasn't the shooter. She didn't shoot her husband."

"Can we meet in person?"

I shook my head.

"No. I'm working on something right now. But you can check in with the coroner and Fitz. They will confirm this."

"Why are you making me look like a fool?"

"I'm sorry. It was a last minute-" the line was disconnected.

"She must be pissed." I smiled at him.

"I don't like you."

"I like myself enough. Go home detective. Take the bottle with you." I left him.

Now Keira will walk free. If not, I may just have to make some people past tense.

Keira's POV

I have had the sweetest sleep since I came here. In this small space, I feel relatively safe. I hope they keep me here longer. I wonder how long the warden agreed I can stay here. But better yet, I wonder how Rose is doing.

I turned to lie on my back, looking up at the dark ceiling. The only light coming in is from a little window with metal bars on the outside. I wonder how Keith survives in prison. This kind of existence is nothing short of miserable.

But in a way, it's peaceful. I have no responsibilities in here but to stay alive.

I sat up immediately when I heard loud clanking from the metal doors. Footsteps followed, two sets. One set sounds like a woman's shoes.

They opened the door and when I saw Rose I smiled. "Good morning!" She sang. She's carrying a garment bag. "I hope you are a Gucci girl! I picked this gorgeous number for you."

I received the garment bag. It's a pretty mauve colored dress with a v-neck. I ran my hand over the fine fabric. It feels expensive. I smiled at her. "What is this for?"

"Let's call it the freedom dress."

"What?"

"I told you I would get you out of here. You're free to go home Kei. The prosecution dropped the charges against you."

"How?"

"Well... Nick confessed to murder."

My smile disappeared. "But how? He didn't do it."

"I don't care about anything except your freedom. Dress up. Let's get out of here."

I happily got dressed with eagerness to leave this place behind me. I met Rose outside, wearing the pretty dress along with a dark purple pair of shoes. I can't believe this! I'm outside, alone, no guards! No handcuffs! Those orange clothes are gone! I'm free!

My smile faded.

I'm free but at what cost? Nick's freedom? That's not right.

A black Rolls Royce is parked in front of me. I recognize it. It's Theo. He stepped out of the car to meet me. He picked me up and span me around with an infectious laughter coming from him. When he set me down, for a second I felt like he almost wanted to kiss me. It's the way he's looking at my lips. There's want in his eyes.

He cleared his throat, raising his blue eyes to meet mine. "I'm so happy to see you wearing something that is not that horrible orange."

We both laughed at the same time. But my laughter eased to a frown. I looked at Rose who is walking our way. "Rose? What happens to Nick?"

"That is no longer our business. But I strongly advise you to distance yourself from this. You don't want the prosecution looking your way ever again."

Nick distanc d himself from me. It broke my heart but I let that go and chose to soldier on alone. Then he does this? I don't understand his erratic behavior. Still, I love him and I cannot distance myself from him. At least my heart will refuse to even if there's physical distance between us.

"Let's get out of here!" Theo scooped me into his arms.

I'm happy to be free.

But is the cost fair?

Why can't the scale balance?