Dikayaturned to face me, suspicion sneaking into her gaze. “Yes.”
“Tall, hazel brown eyes, no older than you?”
Her brows knitted together, her head tilting to the side with a solemn expression on her face. “Nik, did you see her somewhere? Did someone buy her? Who?” She stared at me with desperation, her words tumbling out in a rush.
I contemplated my response.
“Nik, tell me who.” She pressed her hand against my fingers, her eyes fixed on mine.
“Don’t worry,” I said to her. “I’ll handle it.”
She paused, shocked by my words. “You’ll…I don’t understand.”
“Maybe it’s too soon,” I answered, “but I need you to trust me when I say I’ll handle it.” My voice was low, calm, but laced with confidence.
Her gaze lingered on me, as if to be sure she interpreted it correctly.
If Maria were her friend and she was the reasonDikayaended up in this mess in the first place, then Richard Kane wouldn’t know what hit him.
Her lips parted like she was about to press on, but no words came out. She just watched me closely with a glint of gratitude in her eyes.
Chapter 23 – Blair
I lay in bed that night, clutching my pillow to my chest as I remembered the way he sat next to me on the balcony. Our conversation was brief but full of emotion because, for the first time, I intentionally unloaded my burdens on him.
I complained to him about what was bothering me as if he were a stranger in a park. He didn’t get mad; he didn’t snap or yell at me for talking about him badly. Instead, he played along, replying like a total stranger offering advice.
It was one of the very few real conversations we’d had since arrival at the mansion. For some reason, this one hit me differently—in ways I wasn’t ready to admit yet. Nik had made it his life’s mission to prove to me he wasn’t the monster I thought he was.
The way he looked at me, the sound of his gentle voice, and the fact that he sat with me on the floor all painted a different picture of the Mafia boss wanted by the Bureau. I couldn’t find that monster I hated so much; all I saw was a human being—a gentleman.
Those cold eyes weren’t as empty as they used to be; they had something flickering in their depths. Not rage. Not dominance. Not condescension.
Affection.
That was what I saw in his eyes—pure, undiluted affection, the kind that made my heart skip. He spoke to me like a reasonable person, not a wild beast who used to delight in my pain. Even now, his words still lingered on the fringes of my mind.
He never said it directly, but he insinuated that he cared about me more than I thought. And that alone melted my heart like ice cream. He was right: Men like him weren’t trained to beemotional or to be true to their feelings. Yet, he found a way to chip it in that I wasn’t just another name he’d crossed off the long list of women he’d lured into his bed.
I might have been silly or even stupid to have felt special, but I couldn’t help feeling that way. And when my hand accidentally touched his, it stirred up something inside me, something I had bluntly refused to name. Not yet.
I felt safe and at peace that night on the balcony. There was nothing sexual between us, and the force pulling us together was proof that whatever we shared or felt was beyond physical attraction.
Despite not speaking for long that night, we were both in sync, connected on so many levels. Like when he mentioned Maria, when he said he’d handle it. Nik didn’t have to go into details to buttress his point; the confidence in his voice and the firmness of his tone were enough to convince me.
When I looked into his eyes, I saw the determination of a man willing to find Maria at all costs.
Maria wasn’t my best friend, but she was close to me. I was already on the case when she went missing; her disappearance only pushed me to work harder. I was determined to find her, bring her home, and expose the criminals behind her kidnapping.
Now Nik had taken it upon himself to finish my mission of freeing Maria. As touching as that act was, it was also quite concerning. If, for any reason, he discovered the truth about me, I’d lose everything in an instant.
The fear of Nik realizing the truth and what he’d do to me kept me awake late at night. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was on the right side of this war because if anything bad happened—if this mission went south—I was the only one who would be directly affected.
Nik wouldn’t harm the entire Bureau; he wouldn’t target Director Martha Voss. No, I was going to be the one he focused on, the one to take the fall. Was it really worth it?
Even if, by some miracle, I managed to pull this off and survive unscathed, would I be able to live with myself? What would I do with the baby in my womb?
Men like Nik had eyes and ears everywhere in the city. So, even if he was to rot in jail, there was no guarantee that I’d still be safe. I would have to go to bed with one eye open every night. I’d have to be on the lookout all the time—on the streets, in the supermarket, on the bus; nowhere would ever feel safe.
