For The One(7)

He extended a hand, his bulging forearm peeking out from the cuff of his rolled-up sleeve. Damn. Even through my tears it was hard to ignore.

“Mistress Kovac. Pardon.” He addressed me as most did while we were still roleplaying among our clan. Yeah, it was geeky as hell, but it was also fun. At least I thought so most of the time—like when I wasn’t ragingly pissed off.

I quickly ducked my head to hide my face. “It’s fine, William. You’re fine.” I grabbed his hand and let him pull me to my feet. Then I bent to get my bag, but he was faster, snatching it up for me. “I’ll carry this for you.”

As was his custom, he avoided looking directly at me. This suited my purposes, for I had no wish for anyone to see me like this. I reached to take the bag from him and kept my face down. “No need. Thanks. I’m very sorry for your defeat. You didn’t deserve to lose.” He handed me the bag slowly, reluctantly, and I hooked it over my shoulder.

With a big sniff, I turned to go, but his big hand landed on the top of my arm, just below my shoulder, and the warmth I felt through the thin fabric of my shirt did something to me. I swallowed, resisting the urge to shrug him off. I resolved not to be rude to him just because I was pissed off at another man.

“I beg your pardon,” he said in that same stilted roleplaying mode. “But why would you say that?”

I shook my head, irritation gnawing at the edge of my mood. “What? Why would I say what?”

“That I deserved to win. I violated the rules…”

“You were tense.”

His hand fell away from my arm. I chanced a glance at his face. He was staring at my shoulder—likely the closest he’d come to looking at my face—and frowning.

“How did you know?”

I shrugged. “Just an educated guess. You’ve been working hard. For months. I can tell…” My nose was starting to run from the tears I’d shed, so I sniffed—louder than I would have liked. Annoyed with myself again, I swiped my sleeve over my face like a preschooler.

“I gotta go.” The hand was back on my arm again in a split second. “What?” I hissed.

“You’re crying.”

I suppressed a sigh and an eye roll. “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I huffed.

He frowned and ignored the snark—another habit of his. “Why?”

I wondered how much to tell him. “Um. Someone has something that belongs to me and won’t give it back.”

“Who stole from you?”

I sighed. “It’s not stealing...exactly. Look, I know it’s only late morning, but my day has already gotten off to a bad start and it’s a really long story.”

“So shorten it.”

I gritted my teeth, considering. The clan elders liked William. He had sway with them, from what I could see. He was a stalwart member of the group, and with his handy blacksmithing skills, he commanded respect. Maybe telling him would be a good place to start. He could get them to make that jerk give me my tiara back.

“Doug has something of mine.”

He stiffened, and I only belatedly remembered Ann’s observation that William liked me. I still didn’t believe it, but…in case he was going to take this personally, I needed to tread carefully. I bit my lip. What to do?

“What did Doug take from you?” His handsome face darkened.

“Well, he didn’t take it from me. He…he bought it from a broker.”

“But it belongs to you?”

“Yes.” I coughed. “I needed some money quickly, and it was the only thing I owned that was valuable enough to secure a loan.”

“He bought it from the broker…” he repeated, his voice lowering. I couldn’t tell what he was implying. Maybe he was about to back up Doug’s assertion that since Doug had bought it, it belonged to him.

“He…he was there the day I signed the papers. The guy is a friend of his and asked him to cosign my loan in case I defaulted—which I did not. Doug says he bought it back for me, but since I broke up with him, now he doesn’t want to give it to me.”

William chewed on that for a moment, his face stern. I was about to give up on this course of action when he finally spoke again. “How much was your loan for?”

“Two thousand dollars.”

No change in that stern expression whatsoever, and he was still staring at my shoulder.

“And how much did Doug pay to buy it back?”

“The full buyback amount was…five thousand.”

William’s mouth dropped open. “A hundred and fifty percent markup?”

I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t judge. I was desperate.”