Chapter 6

Zaria's POV

I was up before seven. Not because I wanted to be, but because my brain refused to let me sleep past the crack of dawn. My head felt heavy, my eyes were still puffy from yesterday's humiliation tour around the city, and my throat was dry as sand.

I padded into the dark kitchen, made a single mug of black coffee, and leaned against the counter, wrapping both hands around the ceramic to soak in the heat. The apartment was dead quiet except for the quiet hum of the fridge. I took a slow sip, staring at the cabinet door, trying to prepare myself for the speech I was going to give. I was going to be cool. Professional. I was going to make it crystal clear that this was strictly a business arrangement, that he did not own me, and that the second the thirty days were up, I was out of his hair forever.

Then I heard his bedroom door click open down the hall.

My back went totally rigid. Heavy footsteps dragged across the floorboards, and then Nikolai walked into the kitchen, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed. His hair was a chaotic mess, he was wearing a loose grey t-shirt and sweatpants, and he was yawning like he didn't have a single care in the entire world.

He stopped when he saw me standing there. "Morning."

I didn't look at his face. I made a very deliberate point of staring directly at the front of his shirt, right around his collarbone, because I knew if I looked at his eyes I would see that stupid, arrogant smirk he always wore.

"How much did you say you were paying for this again?" I blurted out.

So much for my cool, professional speech. It just flew right out of my mouth before I could even stop it. My cheeks instantly flushed hot, and I squeezed my coffee mug so hard my knuckles turned white.

Niko didn't answer right away. I could hear him shifting his weight, and even without looking up, I could feel his gaze on me.

"Twenty thousand," he said smoothly. "Half today, half at the end of the thirty days."

Twenty thousand dollars.

My brain completely stalled out. Twenty thousand dollars was more than enough to cover my mom's medication for months, pay off the back debt, and give me a massive cushion to find my own place without stressing every single day. I kept staring at his shirt, my heart doing erratic backflips against my ribs, frantically trying to calculate the numbers in my head while trying not to look like a desperate lunatic.

"Wait here," he said quietly.

He turned around and walked back down the hall toward his room. The second his door shut, I let out a long, pathetic groan, resting my forehead against the cool edge of the upper cabinet. God, I was so terrible at this. I sounded like an addict asking for a fix. Where was my pride? Where was the strong, independent woman who slammed the door yesterday? Gone. Wiped out by a bank account sitting in the double digits and a mother who needed help.

A minute later, the bedroom door opened again. I immediately straightened up, fixing my eyes firmly on the toaster on the counter.

Niko walked back into the kitchen and slid a fresh piece of paper onto the marble top right next to my coffee mug. Beside it, he dropped a sleek silver pen.

"I made a few adjustments," he said, his voice relaxed. "Read it."

I finally glanced at the paper. It was a printed contract, neatly typed out. At the very top, in bold letters, the payment amount was listed as thirty thousand dollars. Ten thousand more than what he had literally just said two seconds ago.

My mouth went dry. He knew. The jerk had correctly identified that I was hanging on by a thread, that I was humiliated, and that I was trying not to walk on eggshells around him. He added ten grand just to take the financial pressure off so I wouldn't panic and back out.

"Why is it higher?" I asked, my voice tight.

"Consider it an incentive for having to deal with me for a month," he said, taking a step back to give me space. "Now read the rest of it."

I picked up the paper and read every single line like my life depended on it. I wasn't going to get trapped again. Callum had taught me that lesson the hard way.

"First question," I said, pointing at paragraph two. "It says here I have to attend public events with you. What kind of events?"

"Galas, team dinners, maybe two home games," Niko said, leaning against the far counter. "Nothing crazy. Just enough for people to take pictures of us looking like a functioning couple."

"Second question," I continued, moving my finger down. "No physical contact without consent. What does that mean in front of the cameras?"

"It means I put my arm around your waist or hold your hand," he answered without hesitation. "No kissing unless it's necessary for a photo, and even then, you call the shots. I don't touch you if you don't want to be touched."

I swallowed hard, my eyes skimming down to the bottom of the page. "Third question. What happens if someone tries to bring this up or post something stupid?"

A small, cold edge crept into Niko's tone. "If anyone comes anywhere near you or tries to mess with this, I handle it. You won't have to deal with them at all."

I stared at the black ink on the page for five long seconds. My pride was screaming at me to throw the paper in his face, but reality was staring me right in the eyes. Thirty thousand dollars. A clean break. My mom taken care of.

I picked up the silver pen, pressed it to the paper, and signed my name on the bottom line with a sharp, decisive movement. I set the pen down with a loud click.

"Done," I said, looking up to meet his eyes for the first time all morning.

Before he could say a word, the bathroom door down the hall clicked open, and David stumbled out into the kitchen, wearing sweatpants and rubbing his eyes like a giant, confused bear.

"Why are you guys up so early?" David mumbled, squinting at the two of us. "Why is it so tense in here?"

I instantly panicked. I grabbed my coffee mug, stood up straight, and tried to play it as cool as humanly possible. "Nothing! Just having coffee before I head out to look for jobs."

Niko didn't even turn around. He just reached out, picked up the signed contract from the counter, and folded it neatly in half.

"I just paid your cousin thirty grand to be my girlfriend for thirty days," Niko said, his voice completely casual, like he was announcing that he'd bought a carton of milk.

My jaw dropped. My face burned with a heat so intense I thought my skin was going to melt off my skull. I stared at him in utter horror. He said it so casually, so blithely, right in front of my cousin, instantly making me look like the most desperate, pathetic woman on the planet.

David stopped dead in his tracks. He blinked once. Then twice. He looked at me, then looked at Niko, his brow furrowing in complete confusion. "Wait... what?"

"It's a business deal," I squeaked out, my voice betraying me by going two octaves higher than normal. "It's not... it's just a contract!"

"She signed it and everything," Niko added, tossing the folded paper into his back pocket with a small smile.

"I hate you," I whispered fiercely at Niko, my face flaming red.

I didn't wait for David to process the news or ask the fifty questions that were clearly forming in his head. I turned on my heel, grabbed my coffee, and practically sprinted down the hallway into the spare bedroom, slamming the door behind me and turning the lock.

I pressed my back against the wooden door and slid down until I was sitting on the floor, burying my face in my knees. Thirty thousand dollars was in the bag, my mom was going to be safe, but God help me, I was going to have to survive thirty days with Nikolai Volkov without losing my mind.