THREE

THREE

NICKOLAS

I could almost laugh at the shock on her face and the way her mouth had fallen open at the sight of me.

She always did have such expressive eyes and I could tell now what she was thinking as she continued staring at me.

“Nick” She breathes

I feel her words hit me smack in the face as I try to maintain the composure I had entered into the party with.

I am not about to fall apart just because she had called my name. I remind myself that I am just here for a job and then revenge; I cannot afford to swoon at the sight of her.

“Hey Lily” I respond, my voice hoarse.

I grin to cover up the rawness I had not expected to feel at the sight of her.

“How are you?” I ask her

“How are you here, Nick? What are you doing here?” She mutters, her eyes darting all over me even as the event continued around us.

The smile disappears from my face as I stand up straighter, towering over her and watching her like she is prey; because that is what I wanted her to be.

“I can now afford to be at places like this, you don’t need to worry about security coming to throw me out” I tell her.

I watch the hurt enter her eyes before she stood up straighter, squaring her shoulders as she states at me… her blue eyes frozen.

“It is always a pleasure to see you again, Nickolas. Now if you would excuse me, I have someplace to be”

She brushed past me and my hand shot out to stop her in her tracks

“I have something to tell you and it is in your own interest that you listen to me” I murmur

She turns, one eyebrow lifted in my direction like I am some pest that she cannot not wait to get rid of.

I can finally see what her father had mentioned all those years ago when we had deceived ourselves into believing that we were in love.

She was never going to be on my level; always the icy princess that she had been trained to be and me the pauper who thought himself king.

“Whatever you have to tell me can wait till I am done and if it cannot; I will give you my card so you can reach me” She said calmly.

I let out a snort of laughter at her words; I can see her for what she is now and not what I had thought she was when we were still together.

“Trust me when I say that what I have to tell you cannot wait but if you insist on being like this…” I declare, letting go of her arm.

She rubs against the spot I have just released and fury shoots up my veins… fury for all the years I had spent hating her and her father’s guts.

All my years of suffering as I watched her traipse the world in her father’s boat with men I assumed the elderly Blake had paired her up with.

If she wanted it done this way then she was more than welcome because I have waited all these years to finally get back at her and her family for the death of my mother.

“Excuse me” She mutters again, walking away from me.

The bittersweet memories of how she had walked out on me that night came unbidden to my mind as I watched her head over to her father.

Yes, Run to him, I think to himself. Daddy’s little girl

I  slick away into the shadows as the event goes on but I can see that she tries to avoid me as much as possible and I also notice that she has not mentioned me to her father. I know that if she had, I  would have been out on my ass in the streets by now.

Maybe she wasn’t the daddy’s girl she had been anymore.

No, the voice in my head chided

You are not about to make an excuse for the girl that rejected us and made sure we do not return, my heart reminds me.

I am jolted from my thoughts by the announcement of the auction going on at the moment. It is for a charity organization but I knew better.

There is nothing like charity with Robert Blake and this is just to mask the real reason he is soliciting for the money of the public.

My eyes narrow when Lily mounted the podium and begins talking about the reason for the charity organization and why it was important to help children in need.

She promised that whoever donated the most money would be gifted a mighty surprise which she was not going to mention.

I smiled at this;

It would seem that it was time yet again for my second encounter with the Blake’s princess.

I  waited for the auction, smiling as people began naming their money.

“We are going for three hundred thousand dollars” The auctioneer jeered. “Do I have three hundred and fifty thousand?” he asked

I watch the man she had been with at first, raise his hand to the tune of that amount

“Four hundred thousand dollars? Do I have that?” The man said again.

No hands came up this time.

“Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the foundation going in one, two…”

“Five hundred thousand” I state calmly.

The room went silent as they all turned around, each person wanting to get a look at the man and everyone craning to see where the voice had come from.

“Five hundred thousand dollars going in one, two and… three” The auctioneer screamed, banging the hammer on the table.

A round of murmurs erupted in the crowd as I get up to my feet, my eyes meeting Lily’s from across the room. She is staring at me with surprise etched boldly on her face and I can only imagine she is thinking about how I now had such amount of money to give out.

I smiled at her, tipping my head to the side.

“Come up the stage, young man” Robert Blake’s voice resounded.

I turn to the man, my eyes hardening as they met his.

I finally see the recognition enter Robert’s eyes and cannot not help the satisfaction that crawled up my spine as I  make my way to the one man I hated on God’s green earth.