Part of me resented how much this strange woman affected me. I should be the one in control—I should be calling the shots. She was supposed to be the one craving more of what I gave her the other night, not the other way around.
The plan was to seduce her, toy with her emotions, and slowly watch her unravel before me. I hadn’t done my research on her because I thought this game would reveal all there was to know about her in due time.
I wasn’t so sure anymore. How could I when my head wasn’t in the game?
I found myself making up excuses and trying to defend her by thinking, maybe it wasn’t that deep. Maybe she was just an average girl in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Don’t be silly!a voice cautioned me.You know there’s something off about her. You should be more focused on finding out what she’s hiding, not getting entertained by her.
I tried to shove the voice to the back of my head, but it was resilient.
Remember the way she fought fiercely when you first saw her? Did those moves seem average to you? Did she not fight like a trained soldier?
My brows knitted together.
Then all of a sudden, after a few days at the mansion, she just magically lets her guard down and starts to act all nice and calm. You don’t find that suspicious?
I rubbed my eyes, refusing to ruin the image of her in my head.
Think about it; why did she leave the table the last time you took her to that event?
She said she went to powder her face in the restroom.
And you believed her? Come on.
There was nothing suspicious about her using the restroom. Besides, she had no way of contacting anyone, and she didn’t waste any time getting back to the table.
You’re not thinking, Nik,the voice insisted.You were at an event, a hall filled with people—how sure are you that she didn’t spot someone she knew and then pretended to use the restroom so she’d speak with them?
I thought about that for a moment while stroking my jaw with my usual blank expression. If even she did speak to someone, no one dared to make a move at the event. She still returned home with me at the end of the day.
My blunt voice of reason might be right, and I’d get to the bottom of this in due time. But for now, I’d just keep an eye on her and observe some more.
Whatever you wanna do, do it fast because you’re running out of time.
I finally was able to push the voice to the back of my mind. And although I knew I should be more careful, I couldn’t help finding comfort in the thoughts of this wild woman, strange and mysterious.
My lips twitched slightly at the sight of her charming smile and the way she laughed so beautifully. I caught myself fixating on small, silly details; the way she tucked her hair behind her ear when nervous, the defiance in her eyes when angry—how her silence could feel louder than shouting.
Each thought cut through my concentration, forcing me to lock my jaw in an attempt to mask my distraction.
“…isn’t that right, Nikolai?” Vladimir’s voice snapped me back to the present.
It wasn’t until after he spoke that I realized they’d stopped arguing and had already come to a conclusion. I didn’t catch anything they said, and now all eyes were on me, as though the question was a test.
I blinked once, shifting my gaze across the table with a flat expression on my face. The room had fallen silent, and these mean-faced men were staring with expectation.
“Nikolai,” Vlad called out, his deep voice steady. “You’ve been distracted during the meeting. Care to explain why?”
I looked him dead in the eyes and said a blunt, “No.”
His expression darkened, his brows furrowing into deep creases.
“I suppose the rumors are true then,” Sergei chipped in, his gaze pinned on me. “The girl from the auction has been keeping you busy.”
A soft murmur rose from amongst the others, and glances were exchanged.
“I guess everyone has an Achilles’ heel after all,” he added with a mocking smirk on his lips.
