Page 49 of Nikola

“You think I would ever date a girl like you?” he said with a disgusted curl to his lips that had me reeling. Then he shoved me away, hard, uttering words that hurt more than they should. “I can do so much better.”

I felt… less.

My eyes stung and my bottom lip trembled. I blinked, then blinked again and again, willing the tears not to come.

The next few minutes were like a blur. One moment the boy was standing there, the next he was sprawled on the ground, his face bloodied by Nikola. The girls tried to scatter away, but Nikola didn’t let them.

He jumped swiftly to his feet and smiled viciously. “You wanted to have fun, now you’ll get it.”

He didn’t hit them, thank God. But he produced a zip tie from somewhere and tied their wrists and feet.

Someone tugged on my hand, and I turned to find Marietta smiling. She winked at me, then said, “I ran to get Nikola. He’ll teach this fucker a lesson.”

“You’re not supposed to cuss.”Although, considering what was going on, it was the least of our worries.

Marietta grinned. “If you don’t tell, I won’t either.”

Then we turned to watch the scene in front of us. Kostya and Nikola were busy glowering at the group of girls who dared make fun of me. Every so often, the boy would try to stand up and Nikola would punch him, making him stagger back onto his ass.

The cute boy forgotten, I suddenly noticed Nikola’s bulging muscles with each move he made. He had started getting tattoos, and he was well on his way to looking like a heartbreaker.

I liked it. A lot.

I was busy staring at my new hero with hearts in my eyes when the police showed up.

The next tears were for Nikola because they took him away in handcuffs while he looked on proudly at the wreck he’d caused in the middle of the mall.

Truthfully, I was proud too.

But I didn’t get to tell him—or thank him—until hours later.

I turned away from the photo and the memories, pressing my back against the wall, and dragged myself down the length of the wall, crouching against it and burying my face in my satin Givenchy dress.

A hand came to my shoulder, startling me, and my head whipped up to find Nikola towering over me like a dark, albeit protective, cloud.

“Here you are,zayka,” Nikola signed. “Are you hiding?”

I lifted my chin in defiance. “Why would I be hiding?”

“You tell me.” I waved my hand as if to dismiss him. When I didn’t bother commenting, he crouched down and took my chin between his inked fingers. “No more ignoring me.”

A fire inside my chest burned hotter. “So hypocritical. You get to ignore me whenever you want.”

“It’s for your own good, Skye.”

“Don’t pretend it’s for me.” I brought my hands to his chest and pushed him with all my strength, only succeeding in shifting his muscles an inch.

His eyes darted between mine, searching. For what, I didn’t know. “What do you want?”

“Kiss me again.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Why are you going out with Kostya?”

I didn’t have an answer for him. Not one he’d want to hear anyway.