Her Name Is Knight(Nena Knight #1)(50)

In Paris, I spend several nights in the streets, sleeping in alleys cloaked in darkness. I shy away from populated areas. No one sees the dirty, crazy-looking girl roaming the streets. She is but a ghost with her hunting knife at the ready, the scissors too. They are my trophies.

Newspaper tell me I have spent six months with Robach. The time with him and at the Compound has conditioned me for these cold, often wet nights wrapped in whatever I can find next to steam vents to keep warm. I do not go hungry, knowing about the currency from my studies with Papa.

I live off hot black coffee and sandwiches with delicious meats piled high in them. Soon, my money will run out, and I will need to figure out how to get more. But that is a thought for another day. Because while life on these unfamiliar streets is hard, it is infinitely better than where I have been.





37


AFTER


“Nena!” Elin was breathless.

Before she greeted her sister, Nena double-checked that the attendant hired for Elin’s evening dinner closed and locked the door behind her. Even here Nena stayed on high alert, always making sure the security measures remained in place.

“Finally! You’re here. I thought I’d have to deal with Mum and Dad all by myself.” Elin twisted her perfectly done top bun, patted down her elegant wrap dress as if it were disheveled, which it wasn’t.

“I said I was five minutes out.”

“Mum’s in rare form tonight. She’s on Oliver like he cuffed the queen’s jewels.”

Nena’s lips quirked. “Maybe he did,” she answered, following Elin into the living room, where her parents stood with a tall man wearing a finely tailored suit. They turned when Nena entered.

She approached the trio. Oliver had an immaculate low haircut that twinkled in the room’s light. He was pleasant looking, and Nena could appreciate why Elin had taken to him. Intelligence wafted from him like pheromones. When he saw her, he broke out into a wide smile. Nena inclined her head in response, trying to appear equally pleasant.

“Hello, Mum, Dad.” She allowed her mother to pull her into a quick embrace and her father to dot her cheek with a light kiss. They knew she couldn’t tolerate extended displays of affection.

“All is well?” Dad asked.

“It is,” she replied, stepping closer to the man of the hour. Elin took her spot next to him, wrapping her hand around his bicep.

“Nena, this is Oliver. Oliver, my sister, Nena.”

Oliver’s grin widened, yet he seemed not at ease with his environment. Perhaps he was nervous about meeting their parents. His father didn’t seem to be there yet.

“Good to finally meet you, Nena,” Oliver said, his voice a deep baritone that held a hint of an accent. She didn’t know why she’d assumed he was born in England like Elin, who was the only natural-born Brit in their family. Nena and their parents still held traces of their homelands’ original accents fused within their British one.

“Hi,” Nena said, assessing Oliver.

He said, “I’ve heard a lot about you. Almost feel as if I know you.”

Nena’s eyes slid to Elin, accusatory. Sometimes Elin talked too much.

“Really?” she asked, unamused. Oliver returned her assessment with a cool, curious look, as if he were mining for something hidden deep within her. His scrutiny was annoying, but she shook it off, thinking he was just trying to get in good with her.

Whether his mysteriousness was good or bad, the jury was still out, although Oliver Douglas didn’t register as a foe. He had a nerdy quality to him that Nena was surprised Elin liked.

Elin cleared her throat, trying to mask her guilt as she announced, “Dinner’s ready. Shall we proceed to the dining room? The chef made beef Wellington.” Under her breath, Nena heard her mutter, “The sooner we start, the sooner this blasted shit can be over.”

It was a thought on which they both agreed.

Elin grabbed Nena’s wrist, slowing the two of them as the rest of the group headed toward the dining room. “Don’t even think about shagging off and leaving me by myself either,” she said, properly reading the sister she knew all too well.

Nena offered a slight shrug, twisting from Elin’s grasp to join the rest of the family. She supposed she could wait a little longer to see what fate had in store for her.



“Is your father typically averse to being on time?” Delphine Knight asked, disdain permeating her tone and the air around the dinner table. She couldn’t stand when people were late and said it showed their disregard for others’ time. Thus, the reason they started dinner without Lucien Douglas.

Noble cleared his throat as a gentle warning. Not in front of the guest. Nena ate a forkful of perfectly cooked beef Wellington while Elin shot a hostile look at their mother.

Oliver remained occupied with his dinner, reluctantly pulling his eyes up to meet the hard gaze of Mrs. Knight. “Yes, ma’am, he sends his apologies and is on his way as we speak. He promises the business that held him will please you and the Council.”

“Understandable,” Noble said, sipping his drink. “That is our kind of business, right, dear?” He sent a pointed look at his wife.

“Hmm,” Delphine answered through tightly closed lips, spearing a sautéed green bean.

The doorbell rang, followed by security chimes, indicating one of the servers had answered it.