41. The Return Of Nigel Berbrooke

(Author's Note: I know a lot of you are waiting for the big Simon/Daphne kiss. That's not going to happen for some time. Don't worry! There'll still be plenty of cuteness sprinkled in between, I promise. Plus we have to deal with Prince Friederich a little more before well, you can guess what happens. It's going to be a happy ending but that's not for a little while yet. Still lots more to come. Enjoy!)

I bolted around the corner, only coming to a screeching halt to take in some much-needed deep breaths. It felt like the world was imploding in all around me, starting with my feet and swallowing me up whole. My deep, heavy breathing wouldn't stop. I could still feel the back of his fingers on my cheek. I could still sense him, see him, smell him, touch him….. He surrounded me, thickening the air and making it hard to think straight. Whenever he's standing near me, by me…. I don't see clearly anymore; it's too fresh, too strong still. My desire for him to be there and stay like that… so near my side.

All thoughts of Simon- and anything actually- completely vanished from my mind seconds later. If I hadn't been in such a blissful daze from seeing Simon again I would have been aware like I was before. But it was too late now. My heart stopped- I think it literally stopped- when a hand out of the blue snaked around from behind me. It was so fast that I didn't see the hand until it was already covering my mouth. The unknown fingers and palm touched my lips, with another hand taking tight hold of my wrist. I was held firm in position, unable to move an inch. And that wasn't the worst of it. This sort of scenario is horrific for my condition. From the moment I sensed his hands on me, my vision turned entirely white. Seriously, I couldn't see anything but white, like staring at nothing but a blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Being in this situation was terrifying enough, but not being able to see- even for like five seconds- was honestly like being casted into a horror movie.

Whoever was clinging onto me had fat hands; fat, strong hands. He was able to disarm me with little effort, pressing his fingers into me until it was painful. His foot slid in-between my legs, as if this wasn't creepy enough already. He was so close to the back of my head that I could hear him breathe. His disgusting mouth drew very near to my ear so he could whisper into it. "Scream and I'll break your fucking jaw." I blinked in sudden revelation, able to see again, though my vision was still hazy.

Nigel! Nigel Berbrooke! I recognized that voice; I'd know it anywhere! He somehow slithered his way into the palace; probably by tricking some security guard with a fake invitation to the brunch. Judging by the way he crept up on me while I was alone indicated that he found what he was after too. Thinking about it only made me squirm harder. My thoughts weren't as conscious or organized as all that, but it was more so a sub-conscious remembering of everything through my body, like a jolt of electric shock. Wiggling turned out to be a bad idea however, as he simply tightened his grip on me- something I didn't think possible. "You have no idea how difficult it was for me to finally get in here," Nigel hissed, drawing his lips even closer to my face, now moving more in the direction of my cheek. "I'm not going to let you screw this up- not again," were his last words before opening his mouth wider. His tongue stuck out, just centimetres away from my skin. He was going to lick my cheek! Not knowing what else to do and still unable to budge, I winced my eyes shut bracing for the worst.

But the worst never came. All of what I just described happened in the span of ten seconds or so; it seemed like forever at the time but in reality occurred very quickly. Before either of us knew what was going on, I was suddenly ripped away from Nigel with an equally strong force. Nigel's eyes widened in shock while my head spun around to see what was happening. Prince Friederich was standing there, tearing me out of Nigel's grasp with one hand. He was glaring at Nigel so angrily, I thought he might strike him right then.

Within a matter of a second, Friederich proceeded to wrap one around around me, pressing me close up against his side. He managed to do all this without breaking his glare to Nigel once. Meanwhile I felt like a ragdoll, being tossed and man-handled. Still, I'd much rather be with Friederich than Nigel now…. Hey, wait. Friederich?! What's he doing here?! I blinked up to his face in astonishment. The prince just lowered his sharp eyes onto Nigel; he was certainly not smiling.

"Mind telling me why I grabbed Miss Bridgerton from behind, sir?" This was more of a demand than question. Nigel squirmed awkwardly, realizing he was caught. It should have made me happy to see him in such a position, but truthfully it brought me no joy at all. I just clung onto Friederich's shirt instinctively, terrified at the thought of him leaving me there alone with Nigel again. The villain tweedled his fingers a little, glancing downward in the most uncomfortable manner. "I-It's not what it looks like." "Oh? Cause from where I stand, it looked like you were about to assault Miss Bridgerton," the prince held nothing back. No Englishman would speak so bluntly about such a situation, and at the moment, I'm so thankful he was calling it like it was. Course hearing him say it out loud did nothing for my nerves. I simply shut my eyes, praying for everything to go away. My vision still wasn't back to normal yet and I was afraid it might get blurry again.

Nigel's eyes grew in horror at Prince Friederich's accusation, though we all knew what's up. Still, he did his best to save face, pulling down the edge of his coat in a quasi-dignified fashion. "Certainly not! I would never…." Before he could finish his sentence, Nigel flew across the floor, landing on his side on the ground. He'd been punched in the cheek- hard- and when we all looked, we saw none other than Simon standing there. He was breathing very heavily, his hand still in a clenched fist. He shot daggers at the scrambling Nigel with his glare. For a moment, no one said or did anything, and then Nigel got back up at his feet. A drop of blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth, which he wiped away with his hand. He glared back at Simon with just as much hate and ill-intent.

"Basset!" I think Nigel was actually going to charge at Simon, you know, entirely forgetting that we were in a royal palace and not the only people around. For Prince Friederich's credit however, he positioned himself protectively between the two, still keeping one arm firmly coiled around me. I think Simon would have notice if he wasn't too busy breathing fire at Nigel right now. Just to add to the fun, it was then that my eldest brother turned the corner. "Simon, have you seen…..?" His words trailed off when he saw the four of us there in the middle of the hall. His gaze went from Simon, over to the prince, then to me, and finally to Nigel. The instant Anthony spotted Nigel, you could see his eyes go red. Luckily Simon was fast and strong enough to literally catch and stop my brother before he could attack Nigel on the spot. I'm pretty sure Anthony would have put him in the hospital if Simon wasn't there to stop him- one of the many reasons I adore my brother. He had to resort to his words instead.

"What the hell are you doing here?! How dare you come near Daphne again?! How'd you even get in here?!" Sensing the best way to deal with Anthony was to ignore him, Nigel merely wiped the blood off his mouth once more and shot Simon a vicious glare. "You're going to prison," he pointed at the duke with his fat finger. Friederich cocked a sinister smirk. "I don't think so," he spat Nigel's way. This made him blink confused. "Huh?" But the prince lowered his eyes onto the creep, threateningly so. "I didn't see anything. Did you, Viscount?" Anthony also looked at the prince perplexed, but it took him only three seconds to catch on. Then he flashed Nigel a cruel grin. "Not a thing, your majesty. Did you see anything, your grace?" He asked Simon. The duke shook his knuckles off. "Nothing but what the bastard deserved, and even that was skimpy."

Nigel caught onto what was happening; there were two powerful men and me who were going to back Simon up. His eyes enlarged upset. "But there are cameras…..!" He began until he realized that there were none down this particular hallway. There was also nobody else around who saw Simon's actions. Grasping that he was losing, Nigel nervously gazed back to us- all three men still glaring harshly his way. Anthony hissed very, very dangerously through his teeth.

"I'll admit, you've got some nerve, coming onto royal property when there's a restraining order." "You have a restraining order?" Friederich's eyebrow arched up unimpressed. "Against my sister. This is the first time he's pulled a stunt like this." "Y-You're mistaken! I didn't come here to see Daph-….. Miss Bridgerton! I swear!" "Sure looked that way to me," Friederich fired back. Not budging his eyes an inch, my brother then addressed the duke. "Simon, would you please go get palace security? Tell them there's an intruder on the property." "What?! No! Don't do that!" Nigel begged. But it was already too late. With one last glare Nigel's way, Simon took off. No one dared make a move until he came back with two security guards in toe.

Nigel was quickly apprehended, leaving the four of us there by ourselves. The guards said they need statements from everyone, to which we agreed to do later. Once they were for sure gone, I took a long breather, though I still was feeling sick inside. Prince Friederich also let out a sigh and turned to Anthony. "I believe this is yours," he was referring to me. "Daphne," breathing so intently, Anthony stepped toward me with opened arms. I ran into them, clinging onto my brother for what felt like dear life. He held me back, gently patting the back of my head and reassuring me over and over that I was safe now; it was over. Both Simon and Friederich watched us for a moment until the prince smiled lowly to himself. "Well, better go talk to the police. Don't worry, Simon; I'll cover for you," he planted a hand on the duke's shoulder. Simon seemed surprised by this, blinking at him with wide eyes. "Uh thanks, I appreciate it." "No problem. Look after her, will you," he told Anthony before they were about to leave.

I watched them take a few steps away from us, and that's when it felt like everything hit me like a title wave all at once. They saved me…. I wasn't assaulted this afternoon, and it was because of them. Lifting my head off Anthony's chest, I gently called out to them, making them pause to glance back at me from over their shoulders curious. I flashed them a soft- albeit sad- smile. "Thank you…. for what you did. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did. Thank you….." Anthony nodded in agreement. "Yes, thank you so much for protecting my baby sister. I owe you two a lot; I don't know how I'll ever be able to make it up to you." The two men looked at us for a second, then grinned. "Anytime," the prince replied; Simon said nothing. My eyes softened onto them, now able to see clearly again. "Thank you so much….. Thank you, Simon," then I drew in a deep, deep breath. "Thank you….

Friederich."