I trail my fingers over the soft fabric, trying to imagine the evening ahead. The music, the lights, the people who have spent their lives calculating ways to control me. I hate them all, evenfrom here, even when I can only feel them lurking at the edges of my imagination.
I lean over Nikolai’s bathroom counter, brushing my hair out into loose waves.
The reflection staring back at me is someone I recognize but don’t entirely trust—I mean, how could I? I allowed myself to open up to my kidnapper when I’ve spent my entire life training to be strong.
What if this is part of some big game to go after my brother? Am I really naive enough to allow myself to be played again?
But why would he go through so much trouble? I mean, I’m standing in what feels like an abnormally expensive dress, red-bottom heels, and wearing my perfume.
I don’t even want to know how he found that.
I think I just have to lean into the night and hope that I survive it.
Nikolai steps inside, owning the air, and all doubts fade when I see him in his black suit, perfectly tailored, his hands casually at his sides—everything about him screaming power.
I catch myself staring right away. He looks impossible. Dangerous. And mine.
But he beats me to it, “You look gorgeous, malyshka,” he says, eyes sliding over me, memorizing every curve, every line.
I can’t help it. A smirk lifts the corner of my mouth.
“You look nice too,” I reply with less confidence. Not because it’s not true, but because it makes me feel vulnerable, exposing myself to the risk of even more hurt I’m not prepared to take tonight.
“I think that’s the first compliment you’ve ever given me.” He steps closer, hands slipping into pockets, calm but tense. “I’m giving you a choice tonight. You’ll be able to walk out that door and never see me again. If you want.”
I blink, caught between wanting to scoff and wanting to throw myself at him. “Uh-huh. Cute. You make it sound like a real option.”
“But,” he continues, bending slightly so his gaze holds mine. “I want you to pick me. To leave here with me. Not because you have to, because you want to.”
My mouth goes dry. “That’s… a lot to decide in one night.”
“I think you’re phenomenal.” An anchor thrown in the storm. “I’ve been obsessed with you for years. You’re strong, beautiful… everything I’ve ever wanted. And I haven’t cared about anyone else.”
I stare for a moment, and then, because I can’t help myself, I laugh—almost disbelieving. “I’m sorry,” I cover my mouth trying to hold it together, “I just can’t believe that I’m falling in love with my kidnapper.” My hand throws out to him. “I’m almost as insane as you.”
He smiles, “Not even close.”
He pulls me in for a kiss, my grin pressed against his lips.
“Tonight, I need you to remember to trust me,” he says, reaching behind his back and handing me a large, slender knife.
I tilt my head, letting the words settle. Clearly unsure what tonight will hold for me if I need this knife, but if Nikolai, of all people, is trusting me with a knife in his presence, I know whatever choice I make, I can’t run from it. Not from him. Not from myself.
* * *
Nikolai walks with me, Ivan and Maksim following behind. The three of us load into his Rolls-Royce, Maksim behind the wheel.
I’m leaving.
I struggle to believe it, even as I hear the hum of the slick streets, blacked-out windows reflecting neon fractured glass.
I keep my hands clasped in my lap, trying not to fidget. Even with Nikolai’s presence beside me, quiet but heavy, nerves swallow me whole. Every so often, his hand brushes mine—an accidental graze or deliberate reminder, I can’t tell.
Maksim drives recklessly, as if nothing in the world could faze him. Ivan’s at his side, eyes scanning everything and everyone, hands resting lightly on his gun.
I have no illusions. If anyone tried anything, they’d know long before I did.
Still, tension seeps into my bones like cold water because the people waiting for us won’t need subtlety.
