Chapter Two

Sophia's POV

Nikolai’s eyes never left mine. Maybe he thought I was stupid, brave, or maybe both. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Why the hell would I do that?” His gun remained pointed at me.

I was officially being stupid.

I stammered, that’s what happens when you have a gun in your face.

“Think about it…” I started, “Look at him.” I looked to my father, who was cowering away in fear and sobbing. “He’s drunk! Half the time, he can’t even tie his shoelace; killing him isn’t the revenge you think it is.”

I waited. Something flickered in Nikolai’s eyes; maybe I was making some sense after all.

“Taking me?” I continued, “That would break him!” I drove my point home. 

Nikolai let out a scoff, holding the gun even tighter.

“I have no use for you.” 

With one snap of his finger, one of his men grabbed me, pulling me away from my father’s defence.

“No, please no…I will do anything, just don’t hurt him,” I begged. 

Nikolai took slow and measured steps, his gun still marking its target, my father, till they were face to face.

“Look at me,” Nikolai said, my father could barely stand on his feet. “Look at me!” Nikolai screamed, forcing my father to face him, gun to his head.

“I’m sorry…” My father sobbed, his pants getting soaked with fear. 

“Pathetic.” Nikolai said as he let out a low, sinister laugh, “You took away my father. Now, watch me take your daughter.” 

“Take her,” Nikolai ordered his guard.

“No, please no.” My father sobbed uncontrollably.

“Dad, don’t worry, I’ll be okay.” I put on a brave face as the stupid guard manhandled me out of my home.

***

The city lights reflected right through the tinted windows. I kept my hands tightly folded in my lap. Nikolai, on the other hand, was nursing his bruised knuckles right beside me in the backseat of his car.

He stayed back for twenty minutes after I was tossed in the car. No doubt pummeling my father. 

The bastard. I could feel the fumes coming out of my nostrils. Maybe I could push him out of the car, or stab him in the face with a pen? I hadn’t figured it out just yet.

Neither of us spoke, and the car ride felt like an eternity. 

Finally, the car slowed against the gravel, stopping right at the entrance of some gateway mansion. My heart stopped the moment the engine died. I had given myself to a criminal, how the hell could I survive this?

He stepped out of the car before I could reach for the door, and one of his men opened it.

I hesitated. There was no turning back once I got out.

“Out,” Nikolai said quietly, but it was clearly not a suggestion. 

I shivered at the thought of walking into his home, or should I say, my prison cell. I took a deep breath, the cold air welcoming my body as I stepped out.

“Inside,” Nikolai said simply.

I followed him inside, and I was breath taken. The floor-to-ceiling windows looked like something from a fancy magazine, and if I wasn’t being held captive, maybe I’d appreciate just how beautiful the whole place was.

I looked around, eyes wide, freezing, and scared to my bones.

A man in a black suit showed up and nodded toward the hallway.

“The guest room is ready, sir.”

Nikolai barely acknowledged him. Rude.

“Get her something warm to wear, and time for a shower. Then bring her to me.”

I rolled my eyes. Who the hell did he think he was? 

I was going to say no to the shower or even the warm clothes, but God knows I needed both.

The guest bathroom was as luxurious as the entire house. I scrubbed away the trauma of the entire night. Slipping into a black sweater and black sweatpants left on the bed.

When I was finally escorted to the living area, there he was. Nikolai Lev. 

He was out of the clothes he had stormed my home in. He stood by the windows with a glass of wine, and the sleeves of his black shirt rolled up, exposing his tattooed forearms.

“Sit, Sophia.” He said with his back to me.

I gently sat on the leather couch, my pulse racing half the time.

He finally turned around, a coy smile on his face. 

“Feeling better?” He asked like he wasn’t the architect of my pain.

I stared at him plainly, “Uhm, let’s see…you dragged me out of my home, beat the crap out of my father, and now you’re holding me against my will.”

He let out a low chuckle, “Last I checked, you volunteered to be here.” His eyes were like magnets, “Darling.” He added with a drawl.

“I didn’t exactly have a choice. You were going to kill my father!”

He studied me for a while before sitting on the opposite couch.

“Tell you what.” He started, “I can have my driver take you back home, and your father can take your place.”

My stomach dropped, and I stared at him, too stunned to speak.

“No?” He asked amusingly, “Thought so.” 

“What do you want?”

“I want your father to pay for what he did.” 

I let out a scoff, “So what’s your plan exactly? Hold me here? Keep me as a prisoner.”

“I have a much better plan than that, Sophia.” 

The urge to kick his smug face in got more intense with each second.

“Look. I am sorry about whatever you think my father did to your father. I’m sure this is all just a big misunderstanding.”

He let out a low sound, “Your father killed mine in cold blood. And you call it a misunderstanding?”

His eyes turned dark, “No, of course not.” I scrambled.

“Here’s how this is going to work.” He cleared his throat as his jaw tightened. “Your father lives. For now. But you…you belong to me until we even things out.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s simple. Your father took something irreplaceable from me, and now his daughter is going to give me the next best thing.”

“What…what am I going to give you?”

There was that coy smile again, the corner of his lips curved, his eyes beaming with joy at the sight of my confusion.

“It’s simple, Sophia.” He said, “You get to give me an heir.”

His words felt like a gut punch. This can’t be happening to me.