Power & Control

17: Homewrecker

~A

His real name. He just told me his real name.

Nikolai Holshevnickov.

N.H.

Niall Horan.

It made sense why he'd at least keep the initials the same, most likely an effort to hold onto his identity even if he had to change it, become someone completely different. He may not had liked the life he had, that was understandable. But hating your life doesn't mean hating the person you are through it, the person all your experiences had made you into. I was grateful for the life I've lived even if I never considered myself truly happy until the most recent years. It made me stronger, taught me life lessons no person could. He might feel the same.

I narrowed my eyes at him, a hint of a prideful smile breaking onto my lips. He scoffed at my reaction, letting the smoke of the cigarette out his nose after taking a drag.

"Well look at that. You just opened up to me."

"Don't get excited, princess. I just told you my name which you already knew." He snickered, flicking the cigarette out the window before sitting halfway on the windowsill.

"I didn't know your last name." I argued, putting on my pajamas shorts.

"Doesn't really make much of a difference, does it?" I picked the lighter back up as he spoke, the hefty weight of it giving away it was well made. The edges around the bottom were slightly chipped of the red colour. Revealing the pure metal underneath.

"So you've had this for years then?" He came over to me as I spoke, taking it from my hand to relight his cigarette that had gone out before he tossed the lighter back to me.

"My father gave it to me." I was barely getting any information, but it was still something. I was willing to grab onto the sudden chance I had to get more information out of him.

"What was his name?" He bitterly laughed at my question, though he didn't make a move to walk away. He blew the smoke of the cigarette out, turning his head to avoid blowing it directly at my face.

"Nikolai Holshevnickov." He looked down at me with the same subtle smirk, expecting the surprise that appeared on my face.

"You were named after your father?"

"Mhm." He nodded, taking another drag and repeating the action of turning his head to blow out the smoke. The cigarette was more than halfway burnt already, ashes gathering at the edge.

"So you're Nikolai Holshevnickov the second?" I rose a brow, trying to not struggle pronouncing the name too much. But it was inevitable, and my slight butchering with my thick English accent made him slightly laugh. That was something I wasn't used to from him, but it was oddly calming.

"Fourth actually. Both my great grandfather and grandfather had the same name." I huffed in response, shaking my head in disbelief as I picked up the abandoned robe from the bed, folding it over my arm.

"Why did they do that?" He shrugged, taking one last drag before going back to the window, tossing what was left out of the small crack before he closed it.

"It's a bloodline thing. First born son was always named after his father."

"Huh." I rose both my brows at the discovery, turning on my heels to take the robe back to the bathroom.

"So you're a firstborn. That means you have siblings." I smirked to myself while he couldn't see me, managing to extract more facts about his life without actually trying that much.