Page 6 of Nikola

Zayka, he mouthed, and it seemed to snap me out of my stupor. I gave my head a subtle shake, chasing any remaining fear from my bones. Nikola would never hurt me. Mistaking my silence for fear, he took a hesitant step toward me. I took one back, staring at him wide-eyed as his lips moved around a plea. “Come on, say something.”

My hands were heavy as I signed slowly, “Don’t get blood on me. And don’t call me zayka.”

Surprise flickered in his pale blue eyes and then suddenly he threw his head back and laughed.

“Only you would worry about that,” he said slowly.

“Actually, any reasonable girl wearing a nice dress would.” My eyes landed on his broad chest. “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” Again.

Nikola made his way to a sink in the far corner, scrubbed his hands clean, and then returned, his gaze full of amusement.

“No sense in staining it,” he signed and mouthed at the same time.

It was a reasonable explanation. “But even at school you go around shirtless. I know your body temperature runs hotter than most, but—”The wordsI don’t want every woman seeing what’s minewere on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them. “But it’s really not appropriate.”

His expression sobered. “Blood stains are a bitch to wash off, you know.” I narrowed my eyes on him. “And I fucking suck at putting a tie on. I can kill a man in ten seconds flat, but it takes me twenty minutes to fumble with a tie.”

Surprise washed over me. “But you hate wearing suits.”

“For that exact reason.”

“Then wear a normal T-shirt,” I argued. “It’s better than going around half-naked.”

“But see, dollface… When I’m half-naked, women can’t resist me and girls run the other way.” He chuckled. “Besides, didn’t you say you hate men in T-shirts?”

It was hardly a point right now. Besides, Nikola looked great in pretty much anything.

“Don’t fucking call me dollface,” I signed instead, letting out an exasperated breath. “I can teach you how to tie a tie. I help my papa all the time.”

He stilled for a moment, then flashed me his most charming smile. “You always manage to surprise me,zayka.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Stop calling me little rabbit.”

The nickname he’d bestowed on me somewhere along the way was anything but cute. Honestly, I wasn’t sure which one was more annoying:dollfaceorzayka. He called every girldollface, but at least he reservedzaykafor me.

“Never.” Nikola had always been stubborn as a mule. “You’ll always bezaykato me.”

“Saying rabbit while drenched in blood really isn’t a good look.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, suddenly feeling slightly queasy. Maybe it was the copper-scented air or just the basement in general. He cupped my face and I forced my eyelids open to find Nikola mouthing,I’ll get cleaned up upstairs and then we’ll get freaky. Let’s get out of here.

Finally!

I’d been waiting for Nikola to say those words to me for years. I wasn’t certain what had brought them on now, but I wasn’t going to question his motives.

Every cell in my body tingled with excitement, which should have been alarming, considering what I’d just witnessed.

With one final glance at the man tied to the chair, we retraced our steps back upstairs. Nikola reached around me and locked the door, and I tilted my head. “You’re going to lock the other guy down there?”

He shook his head. “Hound—” I blinked in confusion. “The guy downstairs… We call him Hound. He knows his way back up through the tunnels.”

I wanted to ask about the battered man but didn’t dare. Our families were cruel when the situation called for it, but they’d always managed to shield me from the worst of that cruelty.

Tonight, my eyes had been opened, and I wished they weren’t.

When I remained silent, Nikola signed, “I’m going to shower and change into something clean. Then I’m taking you home.”

“Where is the freaky party?” I questioned.