“Help yourself,” he said, reaching for the half-filled glass of vodka on the low table before us.
I picked up a piece of olive and leaned back on the couch, watching him sip from his glass. “Can I ask what we’re doing here?”
He raised his brows. “It’s a nightclub.”
“I can see that,” came my said. “But what I don’t get is why you brought me here?”
“Would you rather have stayed back at the estate, watching the outside world through your window?”
I paused, my gaze never leaving his face. “Why?”
His eyes squinted a little, a hint of confusion flickering in their depths.
“You clearly don’t need me for anything,” I added, “so why’d you buy me?”
Silence.
“I mean, all I do is stay locked up day in, day out with no goal, no purpose at all. I don’t serve you in any way—meaning I am of no use to you.” The words came out slow and deliberate, my expression softening by the second. “So, help me understand why you would spend a million dollars to buy what you don’t need.”
His eyes shifted from my face and roamed the surroundings behind me. The small smirk on his lips gradually vanished, replaced with something more sinister. At this point, it was safe to say that he was no longer listening to me; his attention was fixed on something else.
“Nik?” I called, wondering why the sudden change in attitude. “Are you still here?” I looked back, hoping to find what had captured his attention.
I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary—just a bunch of writhing bodies on the dance floor.
“Get down,” he said to me, his voice low but urgent.
“What?”
“Get down, now!” he bellowed, reaching out to grab me.
That’s when the first shot rang out.
Bang!
Chaos erupted—people screaming, gunshots filling the room like a storm. The music died down in an instant, bulletsshredding the air, flashing like silver sparks under the neon lights.
People dropped to the floor—dead, injured, seeking shelter from the sudden violence. Glass shattered, drinks spilled, and ear-piercing screams filled the air.
Nik had pulled me to himself and flipped me over so his body shielded me from the turmoil. I lay low under his protective arms, my survival instincts already kicking in. My eyes searched the surroundings for anything to use as a makeshift weapon—anything to defend myself with.
“Are you okay—are you hit?” he asked me, his voice laced with hints of concern.
I nodded.
“Stay down.” He rose from on top of me.
By the time I looked in his direction, he was already in action, firing calculated shots at the armed men who raided the building. While he was busy taking down those across the dance floor, two more snuck up behind him.
He wasn’t looking, and his attention was on the enemies below. I watched them climb the stairs, guns raised in front of them. They were aiming at him, ready to squeeze the trigger at any moment.
I could let them take the shot and end his life in an instant. That would be one monster off the streets of Chicago. His death would mean I could go back to my normal life. No one would ever remember the wild girl he once bought at an auction. No one would come looking for me—they’d all be too focused on his death.
In that moment, within a split second, I had to make a choice. Let him die and earn my freedom. Or save him and continue the mission to bring him to justice.
Honestly, I’d solve seventy-five percent of my current problems by just letting these men kill him. But wouldn’t that make me as terrible as him?
I was supposed to be better than him—more reasonable, more compassionate, and less violent. Did he deserve death for all his crimes? Yes. Still, it wasn’t my place to decide that. The best way to bring him down was to follow the rules.
