Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Ava
“ G ood morning, Ava. I hope you slept well.” Viktor says when he answers the call.
“Why can’t I go outside? Am I your prisoner?” There is a lot of background noise. Since I don’t want anyone to hear my conversation, I walk to his office, which I found earlier.
“You aren’t my prisoner. There’s plenty to do in the house.”
“I need fresh air. I can’t be stuck in the house.”
“It’s just for today. We can discuss this further when I get home.”
“I want to discuss it now,” I demand as I enter his office. It smells like him, which excites me. It’s annoying.
“I’m in the middle of something,” he says. His voice is cold.
“I don’t care.” I sound like a brat, but I don’t care.
“Oliver, take over. I need a minute.” The noise is becoming less. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem is…” What is the problem? Why am I even bothering him? I’m sure he doesn’t care that I want to go outside.
“I’m waiting.”
“The problem is I don’t want to be here. I need to be doing something. I’m not the house type.”
“Find a way to be. This is your life now. Think about what you have always wanted to do.” His voice is less cold. It’s like he cares what I want.
“You can’t expect me to remain locked up in this house!” I scream.
“Tantrums won’t work on me. I’ll be home tonight. We can discuss it then.” He only cared about what I wanted for a moment. Then he went back to being the asshole he is.
“This is not my home,” I screech.
“I must go. Behave, baby girl.”
“Viktor, what the fuck?” But he ends the call.
I dial his cell a few more times, but he doesn’t answer. I want to scream at him more, so I do the next best thing.
Ava: You’re an asshole. This is not fair. Even prisoners get yard time.
I get nothing from him. What am I supposed to do with my days? I can’t work because he forbids it. I don’t have friends who I’d want to spend time with. What’s left?
I decide to snoop around his office. He should have known better than to keep me locked indoors. Looking around, everything has a place. It’s like no one is ever here. But I can tell that’s not true. His chair says otherwise, and there is a family picture on his desk. They look like any other family. Not like the criminals I know they are.
I open drawers to see what I can find. The first two contain folders with invoices and company stuff. I put them back. No need for me to see what they are. The third drawer is locked. I think about breaking in, but maybe it’s a line I shouldn’t cross. The other side is almost the same, but the third drawer has albums. I take them out.
The big albums contain family pictures. They look happy and, dare I say, normal. I spy a smaller album jammed in the back. It has a cute cover with hearts. It’s the kind you see for couples photos.
The first picture is of him with a beautiful blonde. The caption reads Fiona & Viktor, First Anniversary . They look happy, and he looks different. Less cold. Flipping through the pages, there are pictures of them at different places they visited. I’m not ready for the naked pictures in the back. She definitely makes me feel inadequate. Her body is perfect, the supermodel type. She’s in different positions in the photos, and there’s one where she’s tied up. I’m both mortified and turned on. I hear footsteps. I throw the albums back and close the drawer as Mary opens the door.
“Ms. O’Brien, I thought I might find you here. Ready for lunch?”
I try not to look at her. Does she know what I was up to? I hope not. I look at the time and find it’s almost one in the afternoon.
“I didn’t realize the time.”
“You don’t have to eat now. I just thought I’d check in to see if you were hungry.”
“I can eat.” I walk toward her. The last thing I need is her telling Viktor I was snooping.
The next couple of hours are uneventful, but I can’t get the woman out of my head. She must be important to him. Otherwise, why would he keep pictures of her? It makes me wonder why the hell I’m here. If he has someone, he doesn’t need me. Maybe she’s the woman Mary mentioned earlier. Wouldn’t it be easier for him to marry someone he loves? Why does he want me to pretend to marry him if he already has someone? I get the feeling I should be concerned about the mysterious Fiona.