LOGIN“That stupid girl!” The shout echoed through the room as a glass vase flew across the office and shattered against the wall. Viktor Orlov stood in the center of the room, breathing heavily. His face was twisted with rage now, as he looked around and picked up a crystal paperweight from the table. Smashing it into a bookshelf. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her.” he said, Across from him, seated comfortably on a leather couch, Lily watched the entire display with mild amusement. She crossed one leg over the other and took a sip from her drink. "I honestly don't get men." She said, Viktor froze. Slowly, he turned toward her. "Excuse me?" He snapped.Lily shrugged. "I don't understand why you are throwing a tantrum." His eyes narrowed. "A tantrum?" "Yes." She gestured toward the destruction surrounding them. "I mean, look at the state of this place.” Viktor stared at her for several seconds. Most people would have been terrified to speak to him like that, but Lily didn'
KATYA"Hello, Katya."The voice came from behind me and for a split second, my heart nearly stopped.I spun around so fast that I almost lost my footing.My father.He was standing a few feet away from me, looking straight at me. "What….”The word left my mouth before I could stop it. I looked around immediately, scanning the area."What are you doing here?" I asked.The shock was still clear in my voice.He glanced toward the direction Nikolai had disappeared. Then back at me."Take a walk with me."I stared at him now. "You didn't answer my question.""Take a walk with me, Katya."The request sounded more like an order. One that I should have refused.Part of me wanted to.But another part of me, the stupid part that still hoped there was a father somewhere underneath the monster, followed him.We began walking slowly through the cemetery.Side by side. Though it felt more like two strangers sharing the same path.After several moments of silence, I finally spoke."You have some
NIKOLAI "You are staring again." I let out a low chuckle and glanced down at the woman lying comfortably across my chest. "I am literally looking at the ceiling." "Mm-hmm." Katya shifted slightly, her head pressing more firmly against me. "That doesn't mean you aren't staring." "At the ceiling?" My hand rested lazily against her shoulder as she absentmindedly traced patterns across my chest. A smile tugged at her lips now as I shook my head. I had to admit, it felt good waking up to her on my body every day. I could really get used to this. But I knew that I actually shouldn’t. I had spent most of my life teaching myself not to become attached to things. Especially things that could be taken away from me at any given time. "I'm going to be away from the house for a bit today." I said as I looked at her. "I want you to stay inside the room while I'm gone." That got her full attention, as her eyebrows rose immediately. "Am I being grounded?" I rolled my eyes. "I am serio
“Quite frankly, I was surprised when you said you wanted us to meet, Sergei," Viktor said as he sat in his study. “I was under the impression that you were full on ignoring me now.” Sergei laughed at this. It was one of those uncomfortable laughs because he could still sense the subtle threat in Viktor's words. “It isn’t like that at all.” Sergei said, “Things have been quite… eventful. I couldn’t exactly contact you as much because it was risky.” “Who is your friend?” Viktor asked, as he turned to Lily. Sergei resisted the urge to sigh. Bringing Lily into this had been a risk. But after her little revelation in the bar, he hadn't exactly had much choice. Some wildfires couldn't be extinguished. They had to be controlled. “This is Lily.” Sergei said, “She is Nikolais' fiancé.” "Ex-fiancé," Lily corrected immediately. Viktor folded his hands together. “Oh, I see.” He said, as he walked up to Lily and then walked around her, sizing her up with his eyes. “Let me rephrase the qu
KATYA I genuinely didn’t want to talk to Daniel right now. Not because I missed him or anything stupid like that. In fact, chances were that if he were in front of me at that moment, I would genuinely be considering picking up a bottle and smashing it square across his head. Every time I thought about him, all I could see was that video and I absolutely hated it. “Katya,” Nikolai said as he stared into my eyes. “You know, if this is too hard for you, then you don’t have to do it. I will find another way to handle it.” Something about the softness in his voice made me smile. The Nikolai from a few weeks ago would have simply ordered me to make the call immediately. Now he was giving me a choice. “No,” I finally replied, straightening my shoulders as I looked at the phone. “I want to do it.” Nikolai nodded once. Then I remained silent as I picked up the phone and punched in Daniel's number. It pissed me off that I still knew it. The phone rang a couple of times before finally
Sergei stood partially concealed behind a hedge near the eastern side of the estate grounds, having stepped outside moments earlier for a cigarette and a brief reprieve from the endless responsibilities piling onto his shoulders.Instead, he had stumbled upon something far more interesting.Nikolai and Katya. He had been watching them for some time now, the anger piling in his chest as he saw them making out. Their relationship had progressed much faster than he would have liked or even anticipated. The fact that they could still go at it with each other like rabbid dogs despite everything going on was disgusting. She definitely had no shame to willingly be sleeping with the man who had kidnapped her after all. Just as he was about to walk away, he heard Nikolai speak. "I've been having a strange feeling lately." He said, “About what?”Nikolai hesitated for a bit, as Sergei found himself leaning slightly closer."About Sergei."For a split second, Sergei thought he had misheard.
NIKOLAIThe heavy metal door slammed shut behind me, echoing through the small room, as I made my way into the room, or rather, dungeon, where Katya was. She didn't react when I walked in.She was curled up in one corner of the room with her knees drawn to her chest. The tray of food the guards h
“If you're asking whether I think the shipment route is secure, then my answer hasn't changed."The man sitting across from Viktor Orlov shifted uncomfortably in his seat."The route is secure."Viktor didn't respond, as the silence stretched across the room.Around the conference table, half a doz
NIKOLAI"I told you there was something off about her from the beginning."Sergei's voice grated against my already frayed nerves as I stood in the study, staring down at the phone.My jaw was so tight right now that it physically hurt.I couldn’t believe that it had been under my nose this whole t
KATYAThere I was, curled up on the bed, staring at nothing, as my father's voice echoed in my head.So many thoughts filled my head at this point that I stupidly had not heard the sound come from outside the door until it was almost too late.The doorknob turned, and my pulse exploded immediately







