His to Steal

Ch. 4: Dazed

I'm not clueless. My father's role as Captain is clear. Continue making money for not only our family but the rest of the Ring so that our place in the hierarchy is secure. So we are always safe, surrounded by protection and money—two of the only things my father really cares about in this world.

The other is me, even though sometimes it really feels like he has his priorities a little fucked. Of course he loves me and wants me safe, but...There are times I'm not sure if he'd be more worried about my safety or the safety of his secrets.

I didn't choose this life. It's always been understood that I'll be a good little daughter, do the job Daddy assigns me to do, marry the man Daddy tells me to, pop out a kid or two, and let my future husband take over for my father when he's gone.

My father has me hooked into all of this. He knows that if I am a part of the shady shit that goes on, I can't snitch. And I know that too. There's nothing I can do about it.

But I'm getting closer to getting out. One step at a time.

I pad back upstairs to my room, reading the address over a few more times. It's still early, dad's preoccupied with meetings, and I have a few hours before Dom will come over to the penthouse to start her shift.

Security downstairs knows to watch who comes in the building extra carefully, but I should be able to sneak out the side door and get back in time. I hope. If not, it'll be worth pissing Dom off, because I need this—the truth.

I don't know why I care so much if it was Nicolai who saved me that night. It shouldn't matter. It doesn't matter.

But him leaving me with nothing more than a glance before he ducked out the door like a fucking coward is too much to let go of. It's been haunting me for three years. If I have any hope of truly being free, then I need to be able to let go of that too.

And to do that, I need to see him. Maybe it wasn't him at all. Maybe I'll have to just accept the fact that I'll never get to look him in the face and tell him how fucked up it was to abandon me that way.

But that tattoo...who else would have that tattoo?

With my mind made up, I curl my hair, do my makeup, and change into something presentable. I hate to admit it, but if it does end up being Nicolai, I want him to see how I've turned out.

That I'm not the same girl he left behind.

Grabbing my purse and phone from my desk, I head downstairs to make my escape. I'm almost at the front door when I collide with something solid.

"Oh, fuck!" I exclaim, looking up and meeting Jason's stare as he grips both of my biceps.

Goddamnit.

"Jason! What are you doing here?" His eyes trail disapprovingly over my body, no doubt wondering why I am so dressed up with so much makeup on at seven in the morning.

His blue eyes are stormy as they narrow in on my face. He doesn't answer my question, but instead asks one of his own. "Where are you going?"

I recoil, taking a step back out of his grasp. "Uh, nowhere. I was just—" I fumble for an excuse, but I have nothing. I didn't expect to see him, or anyone else for that matter.

No one else was supposed to be here. When I talked to him last, he was at the office with my father.

"Just what, Sutton?"

Heat creeps up the back of my neck. "Jason. Why are you...you told me you were too busy to even talk to me today."

He crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the wall. "You seemed like you really needed to talk. So I told Xavier I had something I needed to take care of, and I left."