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Chapter 3 —No Choice

Narrator:

Aylin stepped out of the gallery unsteadily, clutching her purse to her chest as if it could shield her from the shame that still burned beneath her skin.

She frowned when she saw the black car waiting for her in front of the entrance. Large, shiny, immaculate. The passenger door was open.

And he was there. Roman Adler, sitting inside the vehicle, his hands on the steering wheel, waiting with the same calm he used to sign sentences.

When Aylin approached, hesitating in front of the open door, she peeked her head inside. Roman tilted his face toward her, his dark eyes searching for her in the dim streetlight.

“Come on, get in,” he ordered in a low but sharp voice.

Aylin hesitated. Just for a second.

“You don't have to take me. I can go back on my own...”

Roman tilted his head, as if her response amused him.

“I didn't ask you.”

She swallowed.

“Really, I can...”

“Get in, Aylin.”

The way he said her name, so slowly, so firmly, sent a warning shiver down her spine. She looked at the open door.

“This isn't happening...” she whispered to herself, but her feet moved forward anyway.

She settled into the passenger seat, not daring to look at him directly. Aylin interlaced her fingers on her legs, clenching them tightly.

The engine roared softly as he started the vehicle.

“Where do you live?”

She cleared her throat before saying the address in a low voice. Roman didn't comment. But Aylin felt the silence was heavy. Too long and uncomfortable.

“I know it's not the best place,” she murmured after a minute, unable to help herself. “You don't have to say anything.”

Roman kept his eyes on the road.

“I wasn't going to say anything.”

She let out a dry laugh.

“Yeah, right.”

She looked out the window as they drove along. “This is crazy...” she thought.

She pressed her lips together and turned her head for a second to glance at him. She hugged her bag tighter as the car drove through the dark streets. The silence inside was thick, interrupted only by the faint purr of the engine.

And in her head, she kept repeating the same phrase: I'm lost.

Because she was. She had entered the country illegally, escaping a broken future that offered her nothing, leaving behind her sick grandmother and her little brother, whom she would soon have to take care of on her own. All to get there... and end up in the hands of the most dangerous man in the state. Roman Adler. The Devil. The worst-kept secret, as those who knew too much whispered. A living legend of organized crime, even though no one could prove anything. And now she was sitting next to him.

No papers. No way out. Trapped in an impossible debt to a man who could destroy her life with a snap of his fingers.

She pressed her lips together, looking out the window as if the answer were out there. But no. The answer was behind the wheel. She sighed, sinking deeper into her seat.

“This is going to end very badly...” she whispered without realizing it.

Roman smiled slightly, for he had heard her, and without taking his eyes off the road, he replied.

“I know that.” When they arrived, Roman stopped the car in front of the sidewalk, glanced quickly around the area, and left the engine running. “First thing tomorrow morning, I'll send a car to pick you up,” he said without looking at her, adjusting the watch on his wrist slightly.

Aylin opened her mouth slightly.

“That's not necessary. I can get there on my own...”

Roman slowly turned his head toward her. He watched her silently for a long second, until a dry smile, without a trace of warmth, curved his lips.

“You have that damn habit of arguing with everything I say,” he murmured, so low that it almost sounded like a thought spoken aloud. She pressed her lips together but didn't respond. Roman moved his face just a little closer, close enough for his words to brush against her like a warning. “Just obey, Aylin.” The air between them grew tense, heavy, inescapable. “And everything will be fine.” Aylin opened her mouth, ready to respond, to reply even if only in a whisper, but then he looked at her. That was enough.

That dark, piercing stare, sharp as a blade, made it clear that he didn't want to hear another word.

A chill ran down her spine, she swallowed and looked down. Without saying a word, she turned and opened the door. She got out of the car awkwardly, still feeling the invisible pressure of his presence behind her.

She walked to the entrance of her building without looking back. When she reached the threshold, she forced herself to open the door with trembling hands. Before entering, she instinctively turned her head slightly.

Roman was still there. Behind the wheel, motionless, watching. Only when he saw her cross and close the door did he start the engine.

The roar of the vehicle broke the silence of the night, and without further ado, he sped away, disappearing into the dim streetlights.

He parked the car in front of the gallery and turned off the engine with a precise movement. He quickly got out and crossed the entrance with firm steps, as if he could still feel Aylin's presence in the passenger seat.

Inside, the gallery was almost empty. Only a few employees remained, making sure everything was in order.

And Dominic, of course, was waiting for him by the stairs leading to the office.

“Well?” he asked in his carefree tone, following him as they climbed the stairs. “Did you drop her off safely?”

Roman shot him a sidelong glance before replying curtly,

“Yes. She lives in that awful place.”

Dominic let out a low whistle.

“I knew the address sounded bad, but I didn't think it would be that terrible.”

Roman said nothing more.

He continued walking slowly, took out his phone, and dialed a number as he pushed open the door to his office.

He waited for two rings before hearing the firm voice on the other end of the line.

“Mr. Adler.”

“Prepare a bedroom,” he ordered bluntly. “Sasha's new nanny is moving in tomorrow.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

“So soon?”

Roman put his phone in his pocket and looked at him expressionlessly.

“I prefer to have everything ready.”

Dominic smiled with an amused gleam in his eyes.

“This is going to be interesting.” Roman said nothing more.

He simply walked over to his desk and sank into the leather chair, his jaw tense and certain that, whether he liked it or not, Aylin Escalante had just walked through a door she couldn't walk out of. “And why her?” he finally asked, crossing his arms. “Don't tell me you couldn't find anyone better to put up with Sasha.”

Roman looked up from the cell phone he had just placed on the desk.

“Because she has no choice.”

Dominic let out a low laugh.

“What a reason.”

Roman rested his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers in front of him.

“I don't want someone who will give in to my daughter's every whim or come and tell me how I should raise her.”

“And Aylin Escalante isn't going to argue with you?”

Roman gave a dry, humorless half-smile.

“She will. She already has. But she can't afford to drop everything and walk away.”

Dominic shook his head, amused.

“You're having too much fun with this.”

Roman didn't answer. He just leaned back in his chair and let his gaze wander for a moment to the window.

“She better get ready,” he murmured without taking his eyes off the horizon. “Tomorrow she'll find out what it really means to be here.”

Dominic chuckled softly, shaking his head as he walked over to the desk.

“And to think it all started with that sculpture...” he said sarcastically. “If only she knew it's worth absolutely nothing.”

Roman glanced at him sideways, a smile barely curving his lips.

“You're right,” he admitted, resting his forearm on the desk. “But she doesn't know that.”

Dominic laughed openly this time.

“You're such a bastard.”

Roman shrugged, as if he didn't care in the least.

“I wouldn't have agreed otherwise.”

Dominic leaned back in his chair in front of the desk, looking at him with amusement.

“I don't know who's going to suffer more from this, her... or Sasha.”

Roman turned his chair slightly, looking out the window with absolute calm.

“We'll see.”