Petyr lingered around the tavern lobby trying to see what was what, and to get a chance to speak with Nik again.

  He stood at the bottom of the staircase, throwing his glance around as he waited, occasionally crossing eyes with one of the whores sending him sultry glances. If only you knew how pointless that is right now, he thought, feeling none of his usual rise.

  As he kept his eyes peeled to the second floor, it wasn’t Nik that he saw coming down, but Dayna.

  It had been so long since she spotted her in the wild like this, that a part of him chose to forget that she offered her services at all. It was strange to think that the mature-looking blonde coming down the stairs was the same age as he was, and that they had ever been together.

  Out of all the girls he’d ever laid eyes on in Windust, Dayna was the one that had the most grace and elegance, the one with a face that could’ve passed for a noble’s who didn’t look like her mother had been knocked up by a human potato.

  And she still became a whore, he thought glumly. So there’s that.

  He avoided looking her way as she got closer, and Petyr knew from experience she’d do the same. He couldn’t even remember the last time they’d say anything to one another. They’d just gone from being together to being… total strangers.

  Maybe what she ended up doing with herself wouldn’t have rubbed him the wrong way if he had gotten to experience everything he wanted with her. But his heart did break a bit to know that they’d split up over the fact that she was so unyieldying when it came to getting physical, only for her to go ahead and join up with the whores here just days later.

  Who even does that?

  Petyr lowered his gaze as she passed him by and pretended to be interested in his shoe. The sharp sweetness of her perfume washed over him as she passed him by, nudging his whole being to attention.

  Just as he raised her gaze thinking she’d passed, hoping to maybe catch a glance of her butt or open back, he found that she had stopped, her head half-turned over her shoulder in his direction.

  It was very much his intention to look away and avoid any awkwardness, but it was too late. Dayna whiled to face him, her intensely blue eyes holding his. “They’re saying one of your girlfriend’s been killed.”

  “Not by me.”

  Her eyebrow shot up. “Did I say it was you?”

  “I’ve heard that it’s been said.”

  “Well, people don’t like you, Petyr. So naturally they’d assume that.”

  The words came out of nowhere and hit him like a sledgehammer, knocking the wind out of his chest. A dry chuckle escaped his lips. “People don’t like me? What are you talking about? Who?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Just in general.”

  His eyes narrowed with scorn. “So, you? Anyway, if you stopped just to piss me off, you’d just as well go back to spreading your legs for coin, or whatever it is you do.”

  Dayna bit her lip and shook her head, incredulous. “You’re such a selfish bastard. You’ll never change.”

  “Selfish? Me?” Petyr scoffed and crossed his arms, leaning back against the guardrail of the stairs nonchalantly. “I could say a few things, but I won’t. You know what? It doesn’t even matter anymore.”

  “I’m sure that’s why you’re too afraid to come here. Why you won’t look me in the eyes.”

  “I don’t appeal to the services of whores,” he said with a self-satisfied smirk.

  Admittedly, he was feeling a bit off after what she’d said. Who exactly didn’t like him? And why should Petyr give a rats ass if they did or didn’t? For fuck’s sakes, he was practically royalty in this no man’s land. Was he supposed to care about the ill-formed opinions of some cheap whore or some two-bit bandit? They were just lowlives.

  “One day, Petyr, when everybody who’s forced to like you or tolerate you dies off, you’re gonna find yourself with no one left.”

  “Why are you still talking? Like you ever cared. I’m fine with being alone. It’s worked out just fine so far.”

  Dayna took a step forward, her normally beautiful face looking dark and twisted. “Alone?” she repeated, tone full of venom. “You think you’re alone? You? When you no mother or father, when you have no home, when you have no one to go to for help, when no one gives a shit what happens to you one way or another, Petyr, that’s when you’ll be alone.”

  The way she eyed him with open hostility while making a cute face was strangely disarming. “And you know what? I pray that day comes for you soon, Petyr. I hope life chews you up and spits you back out. I hope you learn some humility. I’m praying hard for you, darling.”

  Petyr could think of nothing to respond, so he pretended not to listen and signed a mouth yammering endlessly.

  When he dared to move his eyes back in her general direction, she was gone.

  Fucking bitch, he thought. Gods, how could he have wasted so many months trying to treat her like a princess? Trying to flatter her and make her feel good? All those days spent helping her around the farm, going out to her in the evenings for picnics…

  How could the bewitching princess smiling so lovingly in his memory and holding his hand promising to be his forever be the same as this dirty, big-mouthed whore?

  Worse, how could he have even entertained the idea that they might be together forever? That she was the one, just a diamond in the rough, here in this hellhole?… There’s no diamonds here, thought Petyr, feeling his blood run hot.

  Now that she took off and left him by himself in the lobby, he regretted that he hadn’t hit back at her. Maybe she walked away thinking she’d won this confrontation.

  Alone? She had no idea what it was like to be alone. There was no one in this ass of a province who could understand being alone as he did. There wasn’t one person here who measured up to him.

  I’ve wasted the best years of my life mingling among human garbage, Petyr concluded spitefully.

  Getting so angry over a short conversation when he’d come here to settle a real problem was unfortunate, maybe even immature, but he couldn’t help it. How dare some cunt who sucks cock for a living talk to me that way? How dare she?

  Though there was no way he could hurt her directly, there was at least someone who could in his stead. I’ll just tell Nik about it. I’ll tell him I was minding my own business when she—

  “Petyr!”

  Petyr turned suddenly and saw Nik’s dark face staring at him, brows furrowed in annoyance. “I’ve been calling out to you, my boy. Are you deaf? Come. Let’s talk about what happened to Jayne.”

  Gulping, suddenly overwhelmed with embarrassment, Petyr deflated and followed after him.

  Whatever. Who cares what she thinks.