His to Steal

Ch. 16: Princess (Part Two)

Sutton

I know it's Nicolai as soon as he breathes the first word, and I don't know what he's playing at by calling me princess. That's Jason's nickname for me, and he knows it. I think I know what he's doing though; trying to prove that I'm weak and defenseless out here in the park by myself.

Well, fuck that, and fuck him if he thinks that's the case.

I use my thumb to spin the ring on my index finger a couple centimeters toward me. I unscrew the rose off the top in one smooth movement, lift my hand behind him, and grip the back of his neck, letting the blade gently scrape across his skin.

He hisses and his hand leaves my mouth, but he doesn't loosen his grip on my waist. In fact, he clutches me tighter.

With my head free to move, I rest against his chest and look up at him.

"You think I'm completely helpless, Nicolai? That I'm too defenseless and naïve to be able to protect myself? I'm not. I'm not weak," I whisper, running the blade dangerously down his neck.

He shifts behind me and puts some space between us before turning me around to face him, and once again, I'm struck by how fucking gorgeous he is. I tuck the blade back into my ring, covering it.

Goddamnit, Sutton, stop it.

"I don't think you're weak, Sutton," he says, walking over toward the brick wall opposite us. It's secluded enough that anyone who happens to walk by won't hear our conversation, but still illuminated by the amber glow of the lamplight.

I guess he expects me to follow. I want to hear what he has to say, so I do.

"Well, it seems that most everyone else does, so—"

He spins around to face me, his lip curled in irritation.

"I'm not everyone else," he snaps, then pinches the bridge of his nose like I've given him a headache. "Sorry, I—I just don't want you out here unprotected when there's something—someone—after you. I wanted to make you—"

My eyebrows furrow as I hop up on the brick wall, resting my hands between my spread knees. "You know something specific about what's going on?"

He shakes his head, pacing in front of me. "Not exactly. But I'm trying to find out, and I needed to talk to you and just..." He takes a deep breath and exhales harshly. "Thank you for coming."

His demeanor is strange. Nicolai used to never be so nervous and jumpy. But he's not scaring me...just concerning, is all.

"Of course," I murmur. "I was too curious to know what it was you wanted to talk to me about. You know, after so many years away."

I also would never miss the chance to pretend for even one second that nothing has changed.

Now that I'm looking at him a bit closer, it looks like he hasn't slept in days, like stress is eating away at him and keeping him from feeling an ounce of peace.

"Nicolai, what's wrong?" I ask, my voice low so as not to spook him.

He just keeps pacing for a moment until he finally turns to me and meets my gaze, his hazel eyes dark with an emotion I can't quite place. "You still keep the books for the club, right?"

"Uh, yeah. All of them, actually. Why?"

"Have you noticed anything strange in the past few months?"

"Strange? Strange how?"

"I don't know, like...any abnormally large withdrawals or transactions with irregular merchants, anything like that."