His to Steal

Ch. 15: Princess (Part One)

Sutton

"Come in," I call, combing through my wet hair and flipping it over my shoulder as I turn toward my door.

Dominique slides in and as soon as I meet her eyes, I can see she's annoyed. Here we go.

"Hey, Dom. Did everything go okay at the club?" I ask, playing dumb like she isn't about to chew me a new asshole, looking back in the mirror as I apply my night cream.

My best friend, looking like my bodyguard right now more than ever, stalks over to me and squats down in front of where I sit at my vanity. She places her hands on my knees and turns me to face her, forcing me to look her in the eyes. I swallow hard as she says, "Why was Henry waiting next to the elevator when I got back from the club while you were still in the limo?"

"I—"

"Don't lie to me, Sutton Marie."

My cheeks flush. "Damn, you're good."

"I just know you too well. You're not going to get one over on me, babe." She stands and sits on the end of my bed, and I spin in my chair to face her. "Just tell me what the hell is going on. I know you didn't get a phone call you needed to finish." She fishes my phone out of her pocket and hands it to me. "You left your phone at the club, and I grabbed it for you."

My heart sinks as I reach out and take it, laying it face down on the vanity. "Thanks," I murmur. "I didn't realize I'd left it."

"Obviously," she says dryly. "Now, stop stalling and tell me the truth."

I cannot tell her about Nicolai. Can I? As head of my security detail, she'd have to tell my dad. Or at the very least Jason.

Which I don't think would go over very well.

But Nicolai isn't a danger to me, or at least I don't think he is. He's my—well, he used to be my friend. Now, we're just old acquaintances catching up. But how can I explain him jumping into the limo with me without making him sound unhinged?

Maybe he is. But I need to find out what it is he wanted to talk to me about, and if Dom finds out about this, it could all end tonight.

Fuck, I'm at a loss of what to say, so I just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

"I was crying, okay? I didn't want anyone to see me, so I lied. I just wanted time to get myself together."

She looks at me doubtfully, and my heart is pounding so hard against my ribcage that I am afraid it will burst right through. I have to pull this off if I want to keep what little bit of freedom I can scrounge up.

"Why were you crying? What's wrong?"

In this moment, I don't have to fake these tears, or this feeling of complete and utter loss and loneliness as they creep back up and the lump forms in my throat when I think of a reason to give her. "The part. I still can't believe that I had to turn down the principal piano part in Moulin Rouge. I had to call Yolanda and tell her the day before yesterday, and I just can't stop thinking about it."

Dom grips both of my hands in hers. "Sutton, I promise you, it won't always be like this."

"Won't it, though? I'm a mafia princess. This is my life. My family. Even when I'm older, my first responsibility will always be to this family. I just don't see how I'll ever get to lead the life I want to lead. How will I ever get to just perform? Play the piano? Even teach lessons one day? I can't do anything besides what's right for the Ring."

I didn't want to go here tonight. I didn't want to talk about this. Because it's too much. It hurts too fucking bad. On top of everything else: Jason kissing me, me picturing Nicolai while it happened, seeing Nicolai again, not knowing what the fuck is going on with my dad and the business that's sending him into such a tailspin...it's too much.