Nicholas POV
For the first time in three years, I didn't recognize the woman lying in my bed.
Hazel.
Or…whoever the hell she was now.
Something wasn't right with Hazel. It was like she was a whole new person, and I didn't understand it one bit.
For three years, she'd been this quiet, desperate shadow in my life—always craving my attention, my touch, anything I'd throw her way. And now, when I finally decided to give in and do what the kingdom expected, she was pushing me away? Slapping me? Kicking me in the balls like I was some common thug? My hand instinctively dropped to my crotch as I lay there on that damn couch, the ache still throbbing like a fresh wound. s**t, that hurt like hell.
And f**k…my pride hurts even more than my body.
I shifted on the couch, trying to get comfor
