Chapter Nine - Suzy
I wake as if surfacing from deep water, every part of me heavy, senses muffled, my skin carrying the echo of last night’s chaos—gunshots and glass, adrenaline and Leon’s hands fierce around my wrists.
My body aches in a hundred places, as if bruised by fear as much as violence.
For a few moments, I drift in the space between dream and memory, piecing together fragments: the cold tile, blood on my arm, the way Leon’s gaze burned into mine, furious and unyielding.
It’s only when I shift, stretching gingerly, that I notice the pressure around my neck is gone. My hand flies up to feel bare skin, pulse fluttering. There’s no collar.
I touch the spot over and over, as if expecting it to reappear. My breath stutters. I’m free, but it doesn’t feel like victory. I wait for panic, for a shout or the snap of a lock, but the room is silent, the door stands open, and there’s no camera in the corner.
I can’t trust it.
I sit up slowly, as if any sudden movement might trigger a trap. I press my palm flat over the hollow of my throat, feeling the vulnerability, the relief tangled with suspicion. Maybe it’s just a new trick. Maybe it’s Leon changing the rules again.
A brisk knock rattles the frame. “Downstairs. Five minutes.” His voice is low, almost tired. I listen for anger or threat, but hear neither. He doesn’t wait for my answer.
I dress quickly, muscles stiff and uncertain. Every item of clothing feels like someone else’s choice, but for the first time in days, I get to decide what to wear.
My hands shake as I slip on jeans and a soft sweater, knotting my hair back with trembling fingers. There are no guards, no surveillance, no eyes tracking me as I step into the hallway. Each tiny freedom rings false, unfamiliar, like stepping onto a stage without a script.
I walk with my shoulders back, heart pounding. I half expect someone to lunge from the shadows, for Leon to appear and remind me who’s in charge.
Instead, I pass empty rooms, sunlight striping the floor. The estate is quieter than I’ve ever known it—no tension humming in the air, no raised voices, just the hush of an ending.
Leon waits by the front door, coat already on, eyes shadowed and distant. For a second, I consider stopping, demanding to know what’s happening—why he’s changed the rules, why he’s letting me go now.
Something in his expression stops me. He looks like a man who’s already said goodbye. Like someone braced for the next blow.
I slip on my shoes, fingers fumbling at the laces, and step outside for the first time in days. The cold air shocks my lungs, the sharp scent of wet earth and distant rain. I tell myself not to look at him, but my gaze finds his anyway. He holds the door open, doesn’t say a word.
The drive is silent, the car gliding through pale morning light, city still half asleep. My hands twist in my lap, knuckles whitening. I stare out at empty streets and blank storefronts, wondering how the world kept moving when everything inside me stalled.
At last, Leon speaks. His tone is almost gentle, as if he’s telling me a secret. “Your father agreed to a negotiation. You’ll be exchanged today.”
Relief hits so hard it’s almost painful, stealing the air from my lungs. I realize how tightly I’ve been wound—how the fear and anger, the humiliation and stubborn hope, have all been knotted in my chest.
I let my shoulders drop, my jaw relax, and allow myself to breathe. I should be elated. I should be furious. Instead, I’m numb, suspended in the hush before a storm.
I want to ask questions about the deal, about my father, about Nikola and what comes next.
I want to say something sharp or grateful, or even just real.
The words stick. I can’t figure out who I am right now: not a hostage, not a daughter, not a pawn.
I’m just Suzy, and I don’t know what that means anymore.
We drive for what feels like hours, the city unfolding in sharp angles and blue-gray shadow. When we finally turn down a service road, my pulse kicks again.
A warehouse looms, flanked by black cars and men in expensive coats—my father’s world, and Leon’s, colliding on neutral ground.
Leon’s hand finds my elbow as I step from the car. It’s almost gentle, not the grip of a jailer but the touch of someone trying to steady me. I want to shake him off, to hate him for it, but the ache in my chest betrays me. For a breath, I let him anchor me.
Inside, the world is all harsh light and the metallic stink of danger. I see Dad first—older, jaw clenched, flanked by men whose faces I don’t know. He doesn’t rush to me, doesn’t call my name.
Only a nod, a flick of his eyes from me to Leon, to the empty space where Nikola will appear. I’m not sure what I expected. Applause? Tears? There’s nothing.
I meet Leon’s gaze, searching for the accusation I deserve, the gratitude I can’t give. He says nothing. He studies me, as if memorizing every stubborn angle, every bruise and cut that he let happen—or maybe couldn’t prevent.
For a moment, the world narrows to the two of us. Every inch of air between us thrums with unfinished words.
“I suppose this is it,” I whisper, voice hoarse.
He nods, unreadable. “This is it.”
I want to ask him if he’ll miss me, if I meant anything, if he’ll dream about the night we bled together on marble and glass. There’s no room for softness here, no time for regret.
Nikola appears, dazed but alive, dragged forward by my father’s men.
There’s shouting, guns raised, threats exchanged.
I see the moment the deal is struck—the handoff, the silence, the final nod.
For one second, I lock eyes with Leon. I try to say thank you, or I’m sorry, or even goodbye, but the words dissolve.
He gives me the faintest smile—bitter, resigned, nothing like the man who first dragged me into the dark.
Dad’s arm closes around my shoulders, pulling me away. The last thing I see is Leon, standing alone, the space where I was still trembling with electricity. My throat burns. My heart feels hollow and wild. I thought freedom would feel like winning. Instead, all I feel is loss.
The exchange unfolds with the clockwork tension of a hostage negotiation, every step calculated, every movement watched by half a dozen sets of eyes. The air tastes of exhaust and metal, nerves and old grudges.
Floodlights throw everything into stark relief, making the night feel colder than it is.
Dad stands at the center of it all, a monument in charcoal wool and bulletproof certainty, ringed by loyalists who never once drop their hands from their coats.
I stand at his side, my skin prickling with the memory of the collar, the aftershock of everything that came before.
I keep my spine straight, chin high, repeating all the old lessons: don’t show fear, don’t show weakness, let the world believe you’re unbreakable. My heart pounds hard against my ribs.
For a moment, I’m a child again—wanting my father’s approval and terrified of disappointing him, even now.
Across the lot, Leon’s men fan out, their focus tight on every angle, every threat. And then Nikola steps into the harsh light, hair disheveled, jacket torn, face swollen with bruises but alive, alert. For a wild, guilty second, I can’t look at him.
I remember the way his weight felt in my arms as he slid under, the quick shift from seduction to strategy. I wonder if he hates me, if he’ll plot revenge, if he’ll simply dismiss me as a lucky amateur who won’t get the chance to try again.
Nikola’s eyes meet mine as the guards close ranks around us, and what I see there surprises me: no fury, no malice, just weary amusement and the briefest glimmer of respect. He winks—careless, almost.
“You got me good,” he murmurs as he passes, lips quirking despite the split. “Better watch out.”
I snort, roll my eyes, but the knot in my chest tightens. In this world, debts are remembered forever. The price will come, sooner or later. I know it like I know my own name.
My father lets his arm slip from my shoulder and turns to inspect me with a practiced eye. His gaze is surgical, seeking out wounds, shame, weakness. He scans my face, my hands, the way I stand. I brace myself, letting him read whatever he wants to read.
“Did anything bad happen?” His voice is low, meant for me alone, the first hint of concern he’s shown in days.
I swallow everything I want to confess and give him the answer he expects. “No.” My voice is steady, but there’s a tremor in my hands I can’t quite hide.
He narrows his eyes, anger simmering under the surface. “Why did you get involved, Suze? You could have left this to me. You know what kind of men these are, what Nikola could do.”
I think of Leon, of the way he held me back from bullets, the way his anger and care blurred until I couldn’t tell which was which.
I think of the collar, the humiliation, the sick thrill of matching wits with someone who saw me as more than a pawn.
I think of how none of it would have happened if I’d stayed away, if I’d followed the rules.
His disappointment cuts deeper than any insult. I force myself to meet his eyes, to hide the shake in my hands, to look unbreakable even as I crack apart inside.
Dad leans closer, his voice a warning. “From now on, you do exactly what I say. No more games. Understood?”
My throat tightens. “Understood.”
That’s the end of it. No embrace, only a verdict and a leash.
We walk back to his car, the world spinning on the edge of an ending. I should feel victorious, vindicated, free. Instead, I’m ragged, unfinished, every step dragging a thread of me back toward the man I’m leaving behind.
I want to scream at Leon, to make him pay for every bruise and humiliation, to force a confrontation that would finally give me closure.
The moment’s slipping away. There’s too much to say, and not enough air to say it.
I glance back, just once, unable to help myself. Leon stands by his car, jaw clenched, eyes shadowed in the harsh light. He doesn’t look relieved, doesn’t look triumphant. He looks… hollow, as if letting me go costs him something he doesn’t want to admit.
I look away first, pride burning in my throat, and let Dad’s men guide me into the back seat. The engine growls. The city begins to blur outside the window—neon and glass, all the places I’ve ever wanted to escape and all the ones I’ll never be allowed to run to.
My father sits in the front, silent, already pulling out his phone. I want to ask if he’s proud of me, if I did enough, if I’ll ever be more than just a bargaining chip. He’s busy already, barking orders, moving on.
The answer is clear.
I press my forehead to the cold window, watching the world smear past. Every mile that takes me further from Leon, further from the electric, dangerous space we carved out of violence and want and accident, feels like a little more of me is unraveling.
I should be glad. I should be grateful to be free. Instead, my chest aches with the things I didn’t say, the way I didn’t scream, the way I let myself matter to someone I was supposed to destroy.
It’s over. It has to be.
Except the pain in my chest is sharper than I expected. I wonder if freedom is just another lie—if all I’ve won is a new kind of cage. If the real cost of playing these games is never getting to choose your ending.
All I know is that I’ll never forget the way Leon looked at me across the pavement—like I was the only thing he couldn’t afford to lose, and the only one who ever made him hesitate.