Chapter 357: Love gives... Love takes

She looked down at the desert and wondered " buh this is not a dream, I am actually here on a date " she said softly.

Raymond drew closer, adjusting her hair and claiming her lips.

They suckled on each other lips for some seconds and released them selves.

' this is not a dream ' she said to her self as she placed her hands on her lips. 

" Nicole, I am serious about it... but I do not understand your expression right now, are you happy or upset about it? " Raymond asked as he entwined their hands.

" Angry?? hell no, I am not and why could you not tell me about it? why were you scared? " Nicole asked curiously. 

" I just felt.... odd?? "

" It seemed off, some thing like that " Raymond said.

" Aigoo... Off? Odd? " Nicole exaggerated, plunging her fingers in to her hair and adjusting.

She stared at him with a facial expression that says ' really!! '

" Tell me about it... I kinda feel that there is more to this than just been a prince... crowned prince. They are different things right? " Nicole asked.

Raymond nodded his head, placing his hands on his laps, he takes a deep breath.

" I really do not have an idea where to start from, I have been longing to talk to you about this but some how I feel there is no much the any more " Raymond stated.

He rested his back on the chair, looked up at the ceiling.

Nicole kept quiet not wanting to interrupt him but instead listen to every single thing he has to tell her.

" Where do I start from? Nic, where? " Raymond asked.

Nicole held his hands, assuring him with a bright smile on her face " I do not know how deep this is but I would advice to tell me what the problem is " She said, nodding her head swiftly.

Raymond sighed " okay, I will do just that now " he said.

" After my father married my mum, she could not bear him a child.. a heir to the throne and then my father got a second wife, fortunately my mum and step mother got pregnant at the same time but I was born first, my step brother was born later that same day which automatically means that I am the heir to my father's throne but... " He said and paused for a while, nodding his head.

Nicole adjusted her self " ..... " she wanted to talk but stopped her self from doing so rather she held his hands tightly assuring him that she was there for him and listening to him attentively.

" But my step brother, Leonard, he does not want to accept the truth that I am the heir, my mother had just me but the other wife bored Leonard and two other children, Conard and Hazel " He explained and she nodded her head.

" Nicole?? " He called her, adjusting and bringing him self closer to her.

" Mmmh? " She said letting out a sound not unconsciously, staring at him.

" I do not want to be the next king... I do not want the throne " Raymond said and Nicole gasped.

' why is that? ' she asked her self wondering why he made that decision, she wondered what must have pushed him to make such choice.

She sighed and nodded her head.

" That throne is your birth right! " Nicole said to him bluntly.

" I know that but I still do not want any thing to do with ruling, stuffs like that is not just me " Raymond said dropping his head and staring at the tiled floor.

" Why is that? " Nicole asked.

Raymond could not help but wonder why her questions were making me uneasy.

He wondered why it made him doubt what he really wanted even when he had made his choice.

Her questions made him unsure of him self.

" All my life, I have always wanted to live a normal life.... getting married to the woman I love them we bear children together, we would visit the park, I will take my wife clubbing and lastly peace of mind.... there are also many other things " Raymond responded to her.

" Are you sure about that? do not take it the wrong way but it not like I want you to be the next king either.... your decision is what I will stand by but I feel that all these.... dreams you want to achieve, I just feel that you can still achieve that no matter who you are, where you are and what you are " Nicole explained with her own point of view.

Raymond looked up at her and suddenly he felt a weight lifted from his shoulders, the fact that she was not upset about him not informing her about who he actually was and on the other hand, she was just going to stand by what ever choice he made..... It was a relief.

" I know but there is another problem " Raymond said.

This was the main reason he did not tell her about him self, he had felt that she was a danger to him but he had come to realize that he was the danger where she was, she had innocently walked in to his life and she walked in to danger.

" What problem? tell me about it " Nicole said curiously.

She wondered what the problem might be since he had made it clear that he did not want the throne.

" Leonard is after me " Raymond said, he clenched his fists tightly and shut his eyes.

All his life, he had always asked him self if he had made a mistake coming in to the world or he was destined keep him self away from what he owns.

" Why? " Nicole asked fiercely.

" If you made it clear that you do not want the throne, why is the wacko after you? " Nicole asked explaining further.

Raymond stood up from the chair and walked around slowly.

" Before I ran away from home.... " Raymond was talking.

Nicole interrupted him, with the feeling that she did not hear what he said clearly.

" Aiishh, how did it not cross my mind? did you just say that you ran away from home? I am getting upset at this point, you did not only walked out on what is rightfully yours, you also ran away from ..... Gosh. " Nicole exclaimed.

" At a point, I was upset at myself and regretted it but I am fine with it right now and I do not regret it any more " Raymond said he stood beside a chair and smiled at Nicole.

At this point, Nicole did not blame him because she had experienced the saying that not every thing goes as it was planned.

She stood up and walked closer to him, closing the gap between them " why? why do you not regret it any more? " Nicole asked.

Raymond smiled and raised his hand, placing it in her head, caressing softly " I am glad that I left home because I got to meet you " he said.

" Before I left home, my father had just made me the crowned prince and the next ritual after that was to get married-- I had managed to take over the entitlement as the crowned prince but the fact that I was getting married to an entirely different person, some one I knew nothing about.... that was not the life I wanted for myself but then, that alone did not give me the courage to run away until Leonard threatened to waste my life if I ever did any thing rascal... You know I still had a life ahead and a lot if dreams were still unfulfilled, I just could not bear it... I could not even talk to mother and father about it because I was just going to endanger them as well, so I had no other option than to run away at least I would be out of my brother's sight for the main time. " Raymond explained as he shoved his head from side side.

Nicole gasped as she wondered why Leonard will want to hurt his family just because of the throne.

" That bastard! " Nicole exclaimed.

Raymond wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

" Every thing will be all right,you do not have to worry so much " Nicole assures him patting his back slowly.

" Do you think so? " Raymond asked her unsure.

" Yes, I believe that every thing will be sorted out soon, and things will go back to place " Nicole says to him.

" I just have this feeling, I do not know why but my instincts are telling me that he is around some where, even though he comes for me, I just do not want him to harm any one I love " Raymond said.

" He would not, I would not let him do that " she assured him nodding her head.

He stared at her and kissed her fore head.

" Raymond?? " She called him.

" You have some thing to ask right? " Raymond asked, disengaging from her and making her sit.

Nicole nods her head " yes, I do.... how did Gavriel become your best friend even when you just ran away? " She asked.

He was not expecting to hear that question from her but she made sense.

Raymond stared at her as scratched his head " ... the thing is.. I have known Raymond for a long time now not just me my dad and mum too " he explained.

Nicole looked confused " I do not understand, your parents are looking for you and did they not check out Gavriel's house or is there some thing I do not know about? " She asked curiously.

" It is nothing serious, I am also surprised because they have not visited Gavriel's parent's yet, else my where abouts is half way bound to reveal and the thing is that Gavriel's parent's have no idea that I ran away from home but they know I am currently having some issues so I think they might be careful not to expose me before my step brother does " Raymond explains.

" Aiisshhh, that bastard!!! so that means he is the only problem we have right now? " Nicole cursed.

" Yeah, I think so for now " Raymond responded.

" Hmm, I also pray that nothing comes up again " he added.

" Me too " Nicole says as she sits on the chair deep in thoughts.

Nicole had occasionally watch, read or heard about brothers fighting for the throne, she turned facing Raymond wondering if she just watched a series or if her mind was playing games with her.

' whether this is a dream, series of what ever it is, as long as Raymond is involved, I will make sure he does not accept defeat ' Nicole mumbled to her self.

' Leonard, I am patiently waiting to see you... THEN WE CAN HAVE A TALK ' she added and smiled in a weird manner.

" Ray? " She called.

Raymond seemed to be lost in his thoughts that he just let out a sound.

" How do you see your decision changing for some reasons ? " Nicole asked staring seriously at him.

" What???? " He asked totally confused and not understanding what she just asked.

She smiled " mmhh, forget about it darling " she says as she stands up.

" I am tired.... do you not think we should leave now, I still owe you three activities " she said.

Raymond stood up as well and held her hands then he looked in to her glittering eyes " I am sorry, I ruined our first date " he apologized.

Nicole lips formed a thin line as she stared at him.

She always wondered what good deed she had done in her past life that made her get blessed with the handsome man standing in front of her and holding her hands.

She had just come to realize that the she was Cinderella and he was her prince charming.

' I will always be with you no matter what troubles you face not because of what you are or who you are but because of the love and care we share towards each other .... Let's get you out of this mess and after that we will make a whole lot of babies ' Nicole said to her self as she smiled hard as lips formed a U.

" Love gives.... Love takes " she mumbled.

The saying sounded so familiar in her ears but she could not remember where she had heard those word or where she saw it read them.

" What did you say? did you perhaps say some thing? " Raymond asked not sure if her heard some thing.

" No I did not " she lied.

" About the date!?.. it was great and thanks to you for doing this for me " she appreciated him and closed the gap between them, she claimed his lips quickly and let go after which she hugged him.

" Nothing was ruined and nothing will ever get ruined. " Nicole assured him as she released her hold on him.

She entwined their arms together " come on, let us go home..... and prepare for what ever worst is coming, don't you think so? " She asked smiling.

" I think we should " Raymond responded as they both laughed.

They held hands as they walked out of the bar with joy in their hearts hoping and waiting for the worst to come.

*******

Lorenzo walked in to his apartment looking tired and tensed up, it had been a while since he was out for business.. his boys were always sending him reports about what was going on but today we went he is hearing about missing drugs_ he decided not to bother him self about it because he was more than it rather he must find out about what was going on with the drugs and where they were heading.

He slumped in the couch, shutting his eyes tight, he took a deep breath.

He looked around the house and every where was quiet, he took out his phone and dailed a contact.

" Hello Julianne " he says placing the phone closed to his ears.

" Enzo, do you need my help with any thing ? " Julianne asked him.

" No, not really... I need you to come back tomorrow, I have some thing urgent to attend to " he explains.

" Okay, I will be there at dawn " she says.

" Confirmed " Lorenzo said as he hanged up the call.

He drops his phone on the centre table, looking around he wondered what Tina was up to, probably she was asleep or busy checking out her phone.

He stood up and strode to the kitchen, he made him self a glass of juice which he drank bit by bit as he climbed the stairs moving to his room.

He walked in to the room and was surprised to see her massaging her neck " do you need to visit a therapist? " he asked as he walked towards her.

She raised her head up, wanting to know who had just spoken to her.

" Ohh, you are back " she said standing up.

" Yeah, are you alright? I saw you you massaging your neck, did you sprain some where? " He asked curiously as he placed his hand on her neck trying to knowing to check her out.