Page 49 of Damaged Princess

Wrapping the blanket around my shoulders even tighter, I nod to the box under his arm.

"What's that?" I ask, shoving my hair out of my face.

"This?" he asks, setting it down between us. "It's my first real courting gift. Last time was rushed. I wasn't satisfied with my gifts to you."

"And that took a month to find?" I scoff. "I'm not that hard to shop for. Try again, Vik."

"You'd be surprised how much finagling went into obtaining your perfect courting gifts," Vik says, brushing his fingers over my cheek.

My stomach flip-flops wildly.

I missed him so fucking much, and I kinda hate that.

But did he really owe me anything?

People will say anything to get laid. I'm not even sure it's right to be so angry with him.

"Can I have it?" I ask, tilting my head.

My eyes ache. I'd like to get this over with—figure out why he was gone and move on if possible. I don't know exactly what moving on will look like, but I'm at a point where I need to know one way or another.

"Let me hold you," Vik says, his blue eyes sparkling. "And you can have the gift."

"Tell me where you were," I counter. "If it's a decent reason for being gone I won't kick your ass out ofmynest."

"Anastasia," Vik says in a soft tone. "Honestly, don't play dumb. Where do you think I was?"

I bite my lip. When he says it like that it makes me sound ridiculous; like I should know without him even needing to tell me.

Assuming something is a great way to end up broken-hearted down the line. I've been disappointed a lot in life by men who promised they'd look after me.

Vik nudges my knee. "Princess?"

"Just tell me," I whisper, refusing to look at him.

"I needed to speak to your father."

I jolt, sucking in a sharp intake of breath, but it doesn't help because all the air seems to disappear from the room all at once.

"What?" I hiss. My chest rises and falls in rapid movements. "Why? God, you have no idea what you've done."

My head shakes violently. Honestly, I'm surprised Vik is alive, but that means my father let him walk away because he has something even worse planned for him.

For me, too.

For all of us.

"I see," Vik says. His jaw is so tight I'm a little worried he might chip a tooth. "Your father sent you here to seduce my bosses into selling or make enough that trouble Connor chooses to sell…"

"Yes," I agree, running my hands over his chest. We've been over this three times, but he's a bit stuck on repeat.

My heat is mostly over, but we're still cuddled up in the nest. His muscles are incredible. He isn't hairy, but he does have a few dark brown hairs on his chest and a sexy line that leads down to his very thick cock.

"And Devon is the omega you threw the plate on that afternoon," Vik says.

I'm starting to feel like he doesn't believe me.

"Yes; I don't want to say he made threats," I say, shaking my head and glancing away. "It was more like veiled innuendos, exactly like my father. Except Devon loves to hide behind pretending he's only concerned with my safety. He said things like, 'I don't want to see anything bad happen to you.You'd better do what they say.' I don't know. Maybe they've got something on him, too. Devon and I used to be…" I pause, trying to find the right words. "Not friends, but friendly I guess. We ran in the same circles."

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