Nazreen

Chapter Twenty

She was genuinely, actually walking away.

Well I'll be damned.

Dress torn, head held high, hands balled into fists at her side, Nazreen was marching away from him, into the unknown.

Emilio stood there for a full minute; arms crossed in indignation as he waited for her to come back. Which she would. Of course she would. That little brain of hers would get tick, tick, ticking, and she'd realise how dumb this solo idea of hers was.

What would she do if she faced a threat?

Threats I've been fighting for her.

She couldn't fight it from the shadows.

And if she fainted again?

She could hardly catch herself before she hit the ground.

I'll carry her anywhere.

Better yet, the only survival skills she had were the ones he'd taught her. There were so many things she didn't know.

She needed him.

Emilio was the best of the best. When it came to these kinds of environments, there was no one better to have around than him. She knew this. Of course she did. She'd calm down soon and start using her brain. Then she'd come back to him. And if not out of necessity, then she'd come back to him for pleasure.

They were both feeling this tension. If he was slave to it, then she was too.

But she's not coming back.

Oh for fuck's sake. She was still marching away. Still running off that high.

She didn't so much as turn back.

Fuck. That hurt his ego.

Emilio who didn't have to do the work because women flocked to him was facing his first real rejection. The Princess had turned her nose up at him, kicking him aside in a bid to work on her own.

Not happening.

It was worse. Sure, he'd never been rejected before—but he was trying to win this woman over. If he'd been flippant and passive like normal, then it wouldn't have hurt so much.

But this?

Nazreen's rejection was hacking at his ego.

She'll come back to me.

There was time yet.

He didn't have her pinned for the angry sort anyway. She'd get him out of sight then think things through. She'd come back to him for sure.

So, maybe he shouldn't have kept the letter a secret. Dick move, Em. But there were things she wasn't telling him too! Like... like the truth of her mortality! Nazreen couldn't expect him to give if she wasn't going to give too.

But yeah... dick move.

His pride told him not to move. To stay where he was like he'd told her he would. To feast on the look on her face when she eventually did turn back and confessed that she couldn't do this on her own. That she needed him.

He'd chuck her under the chin all patronising, making sure she didn't forget it. That she wouldn't do it again.

"I could've told you about as much myself."

She'd flush, kicking awkwardly at the ground. "I'm sorry. I need you Emilio."

He'd take another kiss as compensation.

But as he watched her fade in the distance, he had to face the facts.

Stubbornness probably ran rife through this ones bones. She wasn't coming back. Not for anything. Certainly not for him.