Chapter 28 – Karik #2
I’d been looking for that bastard for almost a decade. Now I was finally going to find him. And Ellie played a major role in that. This woman was a blessing to me in ways I wasn’t even ready for.
My shoes scuffed against the concrete as I approached the kneeling man. I knew his name, but I would rather not acknowledge men like him.
“Where is he?” I demanded, my voice low and menacing.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a little bit more specific than that,” he replied.
“Don’t make me come over there,” she warned him from behind me.
For some reason, this fool actually feared her. Impressive.
He exhaled sharply. “Look, if I tell you where he is, he’ll kill me.”
“Varro isn’t here.” I crouched down to his level, glaring at him with evil intentions. “I am.”
He swallowed hard, fear flickering in his gaze.
“So let’s try this again,” I growled. “Where…is Niklaus Varro?”
***
The mansion was quieter this evening, pain and grief still heavy in the air. I lost good men today, loyal men, who had families to go back to. Agata was hanging on to life by a thread, and I had to let Sergei go be with her at the hospital.
In all my years of knowing that man, I’d never seen him more shaken about losing someone. He was always so uptight, never emotional. Yet the incident today had almost broken him.
The way it almost broke me.
Sergei’s pain and fears were a reflection of mine. And that’s when it hit me. We were two heartless monsters, reminded of what it felt like to be human again.
This was proof we weren’t too far gone after all. We didn’t lack emotion; we just forgot how to feel it. Until, of course, these women appeared in our lives and began slowly tugging at the thread of our humanity.
I hoped to God that Agata would make it, because I couldn’t imagine how her death would completely break Sergei.
The man would never admit it, but I could see right through him. He was in love with her.
Like you are with Ellie? a quiet voice whispered in my head.
The question was like a blow to my gut: sharp, sudden, and heavy. Was I truly falling for her, or had I completely fallen already?
The fear I felt today was more than anything I’d ever felt before. The thought of losing her made my chest tighten so much that I almost lost my mind. I didn’t realize how attached I’d become to her, how connected we were, until the kidnapping.
Bit by bit, Ellie had slipped into my heart, body, and soul. She lived in my head rent-free, all day, every day, a constant reminder that she was etched into my mind like a permanent tattoo.
It was hard to imagine life without her because over these past few weeks, I’d grown used to having her around. She had a way of making my dark days seem bright.
Before her, this mansion had been just a building, a house. But lately, it started to feel more like a home. One worth rushing back to after a stressful day at work.
Whenever I was around her, I felt like a complete man. Our banter and disagreements were all parts of the little gears that kept our relationship going.
As I sat on the edge of the bed while she showered in the bathroom, I told myself I didn’t deserve her. I was way too evil for a good woman like Ellie.
She was starting to view the world through my lens and was gradually becoming the type of woman who could rule in my world. Fearless. Calculated. Fierce. Brilliant. Confident.
She wasn’t the same woman that I’d kidnapped weeks ago. She was stronger now—more aware of the power she possessed.
I was so proud of her.
The Sokolov Syndicate abducted her because they wanted to extract information from her. But she didn’t give any. She held her ground and refused to break. I could only imagine how frustrating it might’ve been for them.
Even behind enemy lines, she didn’t break. She didn’t deny me or try to sell out what she already knew about our organization.
What did I ever do to deserve her?
“Hey,” she called softly.
I raised my head, my gaze meeting hers across the room. She’d just stepped out of the shower, her skin moist and glistening. Her hair was damp, strands sticking to her face, her feet bare against the floor.
A white towel was secured firmly around her body, the hem grazing her thighs.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice a low whisper.
I didn’t realize I was already on my feet until I glanced down. She stepped forward, closing the distance between us, the scent of shampoo and conditioner filling the air around me.
“I should be the one asking you that.”
“Well, I’m not the one looking all gloomy,” she said teasingly, a small grin tugging at her lips.
She was so beautiful. So natural.
“I thought I’d lost you.” The words left my mouth before my brain could even register them.
“Were you worried about me?” Her voice was sweet and tender, her eyes sparkling in a way that melted my heart.
Worry’s an understatement. I was terrified, I thought.
My lips parted, but no words came out.
When her right hand found mine and our fingers intertwined, a flutter rose in my chest. She looked up at my face, her eyes boring into mine as though she was searching for something.
“About what you said earlier,” she began. “What happened today wasn’t your fault—”
“Yes, it was.”
“Don’t do that.”
“If I had been there with you….”
“Shhhh.” She placed her manicured fingers over my lips. “You can’t change what happened. You can only learn from it and forge ahead.”
I stared at her in silence, more vulnerable than I’d ever been.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still alive because of you,” she continued. “You’re the reason I’m standing here right now, Karik. You.” She cupped my face in her palms.
My heart was warm with something unknown, unnamed. Whatever it was, it prompted a small, genuine smile on my lips. “I’m proud of you, Ellie.”
She mirrored my grin, her eyes crinkling at the corners, arms around my neck.
“Even under pressure, you refused to break,” I said. “You refused to give me up. Why?”
She hesitated, her gaze never leaving mine. “I don’t know.” Her shoulders shrugged slightly. “Maybe because I knew you would do the same for me.”
Her words broke something inside me, in a good way. Without realizing it, I pulled her into my arms, and there she rested her head on my chest. She drew a long, deep breath, the kind you draw when you feel safe and secure.
We held on to each other so tightly our hearts beat as one.
This moment was worth savoring; we didn’t argue and didn’t disagree on anything. In fact, this was the first conversation we’d had that didn’t end up with us fighting or fucking.
We were more connected tonight than we’d ever been, and sex wasn’t even involved.
That’s when I confirmed what I’d always suspected. Whatever we shared was way beyond the physical.
Tonight had changed the trajectory of our lives for good. I could feel it in my bones.
The question was, were we ready for that?