Page 63 of The Heir
Turning and walking backward, he replied, “That's what you get from usheartlesspeople.”
CHAPTER 15
Apology
Linea
“Let him go,” Thor muttered and so we stood watching Victor walk away from us.
“Sir, were you serious about not letting me back into the Northlands?” Bjorn asked Thor.
“Dead serious.” Letting go of the drunk Northlander, Thor asked him, “Do you know the way out of here?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then you’ll take us back to the Blue Tower, but first you’ll apologize to the poor woman inside that house and promise never to bother her again.”
“I can’t. She won’t talk to me.”
Dipping his head in my direction, Thor encouraged me, “Linea, try to see if you can get Nora to open the door.”
“All right.”
While Thor pulled Bjorn back a little, Freya and I knocked on the door softly and I called out in a friendly tone, “Nora, would you mind opening the door to talk to us? We promise Bjorn won’t hurt you.”
“I hear footsteps,” Freya whispered to me before she assured the woman on the other side of the door, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
When Nora opened the door, it surprised me that she looked to be at least ten years older than Bjorn. She was petite with curly hair and less colorful in her fashion sense than most French. Rising on her toes, she looked over my shoulder to Bjorn, who was behind us.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Oui.” Her body language contradicted her words when she made herself small by clasping her arms around her midsection.
“We are terribly sorry about Bjorn’s behavior today,” Freya assured the woman. “In the Northlands we don’t accept male aggression toward women. We’ll make him pay for a new door since he damaged this one.”
“Merci.”
I tried getting a read on the woman to see how scared she was. At first it confused me that the energy from her wasn’t frightened at all. Instead, there was a quiet icky glee that made me take half a step back to see the bigger picture. Angling my head, I read the situation the way my mother had told me to do, without prejudice and judgment. If I trusted my instincts about this woman and the situation, I would say that Nora had goaded Bjorn on and that she was loving every minute of the drama.
“Bjorn will of course apologize to you,” Freya assured her.
Thor pushed Bjorn forward and demanded that he apologize to Nora.
I wondered if Freya and Thor missed the flash of a smile on Nora’s face when Bjorn stood humiliated in front of her looking down at his feet.
“I’m sorry if I scared you,” Bjorn began.
Nora’s tone was blameful as her gaze moved up and down the street. “All my neighbors will be talking about this for weeks. I told you we can’t be together.”
It was like watching a movie where the villain gets away with something they shouldn’t.
“It won’t happen again,” Bjorn said when Thor shoved him in his back to say something more.
“I hope not. It was extremely frightening.” Again, her words didn’t match the micro expression of excitement that flashed across her face.
“Nora.” I stepped up to stand on Bjorn’s right side. “Hey, I’m Linea and I’m a friend of Bjorn’s. Can I ask you to please delete his contact information?”
She hesitated, so I added, “Now.” When she still didn’t do it, I’d had enough. “Look. You’ve had your fun, but ask yourself what’s more important: getting you and your neighbors into apartments above ground or playing your immature and cruel games that serve to entertain you?”
