BLOODHOUNDS #1: The Abdicated Prince

Luna Morris I always thought living outside of London would take me a lot of time to adapt, but surprisingly I adjusted pretty fast. I love every single inch of it. The city, itself, is busy, and I find myself feeling more secure when there are a lot of people around. I love going around the city to find inspiration. After having lots of transitions from texture painting to regular one, I found it very calming to be able to do both. I thought it would be hard to find myself and my color here, but I'm surprisingly doing much better than when I was in London. The only concern that I have is the man who is standing in front of me. Clyde Nielsen. He's busy checking the cameras, and he brought in a new inspection team to make sure. When he came here 30 minutes ago, I was stunned to see him. He came unannounced and caught me off guard for being so incredibly handsome. He's wearing a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbow. It fit his muscular body perfectly, and I think it's a crime to go out and about like that. Let's not forget all the veins that he showed in his forearms. When I met him at the bar, it was still hard to process. Never in a million years I would imagine that I'll be seeing him again. Not to mention that he grew up so well despite being alone. Last night, I looked up his name on a search engine. All I can say is that he's famous. People wanted to know about him, but Clyde always kept everything private. What surprised me the most was that he got his Billionaire title at 21. Clyde has always been smart. I always knew he was meant to be successful one day, but I never thought it would go up to this type of scale. He has a security and tech company that the government and many people go to unfold everything related to tracking, hacking, and the dark web. According to many articles online, he's part of a circle named The Bloodhounds. Some reports mentioned that he has some ties to the mafia, which I hope he doesn't have because I imagine how dangerous it would be for him to be related to criminals. "Have you eaten?" Clyde asked, and I turned to him. "Not yet, and why are you bringing another set of the team when both teams worked for you?" "Double check." He said as he nodded to one of his employees. "We checked everything, Mr.Nielsen. Everything is good. Anything else that we should check?" He said. "No, that's all. You can leave." Clyde opened the door for them and closed it once everyone got up. He checked the screen and reran some tests. "Clyde," I called, and he turned his attention to you. "How did you know that I was in town? Did Nikolas tell you?" I asked as I sat right across from him. He turned his attention back to the screen. "Nikolas did tell me, but I already knew you were in Seattle before he told me." What? "How is that possible?" I looked at him dumbfounded. "Now, let's go eat." He turned off the screen for the CCTV cameras. "I'm not going to eat with you, Clyde," I said, and he raised his eyebrows. "Listen, Clyde, I appreciate what you did for me, but I don't think it's a good idea that we keep meeting like this. I don't like you, and certainly, you don't like me. We go back, and let me remind you about what you—" I stopped talking when his eyes changed. His hazel eyes turned dark like I summoned something within him. "You will never stop, will you?" He asked. "No, I won't," I said straight to his face. He doesn't understand how much he hurt me back then, and he can't forget about it and move on. His phone rang, and he picked it up immediately. "What is it?" He looked away from me and got up from the seat. "No, I'm with..." He turned to me. "My friend. I'll do it tomorrow because I won't be going to the office today. Besides the deal being pushed back, we're flying to Florida next week for our last meeting. If he still can't negotiate, I'll let you take over. Okay, yeah, that's about it." With that, he ended the call. "What do you want to eat? Do you still prefer cereal to actual food?" His question made me want to hit the back of his head. "I have work, and I'm busy." "I'll drop you off after we eat, butterfly." He nodded towards the door, and I sighed. I grabbed my phone from the counter and walked out of my apartment. "Stop calling me that nickname." "Why not? Did you stop drawing and painting butterflies?" He asked as he put his phone into his pocket. "Yes." No. "Never thought you're a good liar now, Luna." I stopped walking when he called me by my name. I don't know if I like it more when— wait. Did I say that? "I'm not a good liar." "Well, you are..." "I'm not." "How old are you now?" He knew how old I was, and I looked at him like he had grown another head for asking that question. "Why are you asking? You know how old I am." We walked into the lift, and he pressed the L button. "And what did you say when you were 12?" I'm starting to get annoyed by this man. "What did I say when I was 12?" I asked as I tried to remember that moment. "You made me promise or, more likely, swore to you that I must marry you when I'm older." He said it casually, and I laughed at him. When we left the lift, I clapped my hands at him for remembering it. "Listen, Clyde, that was 15 years ago when I thought I was so in love with you. Now, there's no way I'm going to take that seriously, and besides, I will never marry you. I'm not looking for an asshole as my future husband." I walked out of the building first. The polluted air greeted me, and I still laughed at Clyde's ridiculousness. "Well... Lucky you, I'm taking it seriously."