Love and Debt

"Are you sure you want to meet them?" Rev asked Andrew.

They were at the headquarters discussing the meeting with James Santelmo. Andrew wondered why he suddenly contacted them and asked to meet them.

"I don't see any reason not to meet them. We had been looking for them for the past four years, but they were really good at hiding. Now, they were the first ones to approach us." Percy commented.

Luke stared at him, waiting for his decision. Andrew sighed deeply.

Four years. He looked for Nina for fucking four years, but he never found her. But now, her so-called husband contacted them. What could they possibly want from them?

"What did Peggy say about all this?" Andrew asked Jayden.

He knew Peggy was the one who had been hurt the most by Nina's betrayal. Andrew wanted to know if she was okay with it.

"What do you think? She's not happy about it, but she said she would understand if you want to see Nina. She's still mad at her, but she's trying to understand Nina's reasons. She said if there's a chance that my mom was alive in the hands of the mafia, maybe she would do the same thing just to save her." Jayden answered.

Andrew didn't respond and was looking at the photos on the table. It was Nina and James together. She looked happy and content. Andrew felt his heart was being crumpled again.

How could she do this to him? She let him believe that she was in love with him. It didn't seem fake, or maybe she was really a good actress that he was convinced of the love she had offered.

But the photos on the table were proof that she was a lying bitch. She was smiling at James while their hands were clasped together. He gritted his teeth, trying to calm himself.

"Yeah. Let's meet them. I want to see how she would make us believe this time." He said with a dark expression.

Luke sighed and instructed Rev to contact James Santelmo. They chose a  restaurant near Northbay City Mall and reserved the whole place for the night.

Andrew decided just to wear casual clothes. Luke said not to attract too much attention and considered it a dinner with some old friends. Only Luke, Alora, Percy, and Sophie agreed to come. Jayden and Peggy were not yet ready to meet his ex-wife.

Nina's heart was pounding, and her knees were trembling. After four years, she would meet her friends again. 

James was now the head of the Santelmo Clan. His father died two months ago because of cancer. For four years, she had been kept in several of the Santelmo mansions. They were trying to avoid the Wilson's and the royal family, so they had to move from one place to another.

After Paolo Santelmo died, Nina convinced James to end the feud with the Wilson Clan. It was a worthless war against them anyway, and she wanted to at least live in peace. She knew it wouldn't be easy since blood had been spilled for decades, but she hoped that this meeting would be the start of peace.

"Are you scared?" James asked her on the way to the restaurant.

She shook her head and smiled at him. "I-I'm fine. Thank you for reaching out to them."

James took her hand, gently kissing the back of it.

"Everything for you." He whispered.

Nina took a deep breath when they entered the restaurant. Luke reserved the place for the night so they could talk.

They were guided to a long table in the center of the restaurant, and before they could sit down, Luke and the others arrived.

Nina wanted to cry when she saw Alora and Sophie walking side by side with Luke and Percy. She wanted to run towards them and begged for forgiveness. She looked for Peggy, but she wasn't there.

But then her heart was torn into pieces when she saw Andrew walking behind her friends. She bit her lips and held on to James' arms tightly. James knew why she acted like that and supported her.

Andrew glanced at Nina with a dark expression on his face. He saw her clinging to James' arms, making his heart ache. He felt a sudden rage inside him towards the girl who broke not only him but his friends.

They sat down quietly, and no one dared to break down the silence for a few minutes.

"So we are here now. What do you want from us?" Luke started.

Nina couldn't look directly into her friends' eyes, and she knew Andrew was glaring at her.

"I am now the current head of the Santelmo Clan, and I wish to end the feud between my clan and yours." James answered directly.

"And what made you think that we will believe you?" Percy asked.

James sighed, then glanced at Nina. He looked at Andrew, who was now glaring at him.

"I'm willing to let go of my wife, and give her back to you." James suddenly said.

Nina didn't expect that James would say those words. She waited for four years to be free, and she couldn't believe that he was willing to let her go now.

Her eyes widened while looking at James. Then turned her gaze to Andrew when she heard him laughing.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Do you think I want her back after what she did to me, to us? Why would you suddenly let go of her? Can't she satisfy you anymore? That's why you decided to throw her away now? And you! You really are good at using your body to get everything you want." Andrew was fuming with anger.

"Andrew." Sophie whispered.

But he didn't stop. He suppressed his anger ever since Nina left him with a divorce paper. Then she had the audacity to show her face in front of them with her new husband like nothing happened.

"You made me believe that what we had was real, but behind those smiles and sweet words was a devil in disguise. But I want to thank you for saving my mom. She wouldn't be alive if it weren't for your so-called sacrifice. But whatever reasons you have, you cannot change the fact that you chose to betray us all instead of putting your trust and faith in us. Do you want to come back to me? Be my guest. I won't be nice to you anymore." Andrew said before leaving the restaurant.

Nina couldn't cry even though her heart was being crushed ten times over from all the words of Andrew. He was right all along. She decided to deceive everyone instead of trusting them. She hurt them, especially Peggy.

She looked at Alora and Sophie. They were staring at her. Then Sophie suddenly smiled. It wasn't fake.

"We forgive you, but that doesn't mean we trust you." Alora said in a cold tone.

Nina nodded and understood her.

"So, let's continue. I don't think it's necessary to return Nina to us. She made her decision to leave Andrew. She was threatened, yes. But four years of marriage with you was entirely her decision." Luke said while looking at Nina.

Nina suddenly felt embarrassed. He was married to James for four years, and she never asked him to divorce her. 

"About your offer, I may need to think about it first. But you can start giving us some proof that you are really serious about what you said. How about telling us where Benjamin is?" Luke said.

James sighed deeply then looked at her friends.

"I don't know. The last time I saw him was three years ago. He was escorted by my father's men somewhere." James answered.

Luke knew that James was telling the truth. He sighed, then looked at Nina.

"So, how are you?" He asked.

Nina bit her lips. Before she answered, Andrew came back to his seat. She glanced at him then, with trembling lips, answered Luke's question.

"I-I-m fine. James has been nice to me for the past four years." She said but suddenly wanted to take back what she said.

Andrew would definitely misunderstand her every word. She waited for a mockery and sarcasm from any one of them, but she didn't hear anything. She saw Andrew quietly eating.

Her heart was screaming. It was calling Andrew's name. She wanted to ask for his forgiveness and tell him everything that had happened to her for the past four years. But she knew he would never believe her.

"We will contact you again once we decide. We still need to discuss everything with Jayden and the others. But we want you to know that you will be under investigation with our team from now on." Luke said.

James nodded. They started eating, but Nina barely touched her food. Almost everyone was quiet. Only Luke and James were talking to each other. 

Luke was very professional. They were enemies, but she never saw Luke yell or curse James. Sophie was the only one who would sometimes smile at her. She didn't expect anything from Alora since she was already that cold from the first time they met.

"Mommy!"

A voice of a young girl was heard inside the restaurant. Nina was surprised to see her daughter running towards her.

"Brie! What are you doing here?" She asked while giving James a meaningful look.