Chapter 32 Nikolai
NIKOLAI
Iwatch Aria's face crumble as she scrolls through her phone, each swipe bringing fresh devastation to those dark eyes I've memorized in a thousand different lights.
Her fingers tremble against the screen, and even from across the room I can see the headlines reflected in the glass.
Gold Digger Traps Billionaire on Desert Island.
Caterer's Calculated Seduction. From Yacht Party to Payday: The Aria Levin Story.
Rage builds in my chest like pressure in a sealed container, cold and lethal.
These strangers dissecting her character, reducing what happened between us to something cheap and transactional, have no idea how close they are to disappearing.
The Pakhan in me catalogs their names, their publications, the addresses of their offices.
It would be so easy to make them understand the cost of slandering what's mine.
But Aria wouldn't forgive me for that. She'd see it as another violation, another example of my world consuming hers.
I cross to where she sits curled on the sofa, her body folded in on itself like she's trying to disappear.
My hand reaches for hers, and when our fingers connect, electricity arcs between us despite the circumstances.
Her skin is cold, shock settling into her bones, and I pull her against my chest with more force than I intend.
"I'll fix this," I say, the words rough with an accent that thickens when I'm trying not to let emotion bleed through. "I'll make them retract every word. Sue them into oblivion. Whatever it takes."
She looks up at me, and the tears swimming in those dark eyes make something crack in my chest. "You can't fix this, Nikolai.
The damage is done." Her voice breaks on my name, and I feel it like a blade between my ribs.
"My clients are already canceling. Three emails came through while I was reading the articles.
They don't want to be associated with the Pakhan’s woman. "
The way she says it, like it's a curse rather than protection, makes my jaw tighten. "Then we'll find new clients. Better ones. People who understand that tabloid trash is just that."
"It's not just the business." She pulls away from me, wrapping her arms around herself, and I hate the distance even though it's only inches. "My reputation is destroyed. Everything I've built for three years… gone."
The accusation hangs between us like smoke. She's not wrong. If she'd stayed on that yacht, if she'd let me drown, her life would still be her own. Instead, she's trapped in my world, pregnant with my child, watching strangers tear her apart online.
My phone vibrates against my thigh, Cyril's name flashing across the screen.
I glance at Aria, torn between staying with her and handling whatever crisis my second-in-command is calling about.
Her expression tells me she needs space, anyway, needs time to process without my overwhelming presence making it worse.
"I need to take this," I say, already moving toward the hallway. "Stay here. I'll be right back."
I answer on the third ring, my voice dropping to the tone that makes grown men flinch. "What is it?"
"We have a problem, Boss." Cyril's voice is tight with controlled fury, each word clipped and precise. "Security caught Maya Levin attempting to access your private office. She's clearly using again. Pupils dilated, movements erratic, asking questions she has no business asking."
Ice slides down my spine, settling in my stomach like a stone. "Where is she now?"
"Security office. Basement. She's handcuffed to a chair and demanding to see her sister."
"Don't let her near Aria." The command comes out harsher than I intend. "I'm on my way."
I end the call and stand in the hallway for a moment, my hand pressed against the wall, trying to control the rage building in my chest. Maya.
The sister Aria has sacrificed everything to protect.
The addict who keeps breaking her heart with promises she never keeps.
And now she's in my home, high and snooping through my private spaces.
The security office occupies a corner of the basement, all concrete walls and monitors showing every angle of my property.
Maya sits handcuffed to a metal chair in the center of the room, her thin frame trembling with withdrawal or fear or both.
Her pupils are pinpricks despite the harsh fluorescent lighting, and the chemical smell clinging to her clothes makes my nose wrinkle with disgust.
She looks up as I enter, and genuine terror flashes across her face before she tries to mask it with defiance. "I want to see Aria. You can't keep me here. This is kidnapping."
I pull up a chair and sit facing her, close enough that she can see exactly what I am in my eyes.
"You were attempting to access my private office.
That's trespassing at minimum. Breaking and entering if I want to press charges.
" My voice is soft, conversational, which makes it more terrifying than shouting ever could.
"But I'm more interested in why you were asking my security team about my schedule.
About when I leave the house. About my business operations. "
Her face goes pale, confirming what I already suspected. "I wasn't. I was just looking for Aria."
"Don't lie to me, Maya." I lean forward, my elbows resting on my knees, and watch her shrink back in the chair. "I've been interrogating people since before you were born. I know when someone's lying, and right now, you're doing a very poor job of it."
Tears spring to her eyes with practiced ease, but I see the calculation beneath them. "Please. I need help. I relapsed, okay? I just need Aria. She'll understand."
"Aria has been understanding for years. She's sacrificed her savings, her time, her peace of mind trying to save you.
" My jaw tightens as I think of the woman upstairs, her reputation being destroyed by tabloids while her sister betrays her from the inside.
"And this is how you repay her? By using again and snooping through my home? "
"I wasn't snooping!" Her voice rises, panic bleeding through the defiance. "I was just curious. You're this big, mysterious Pakhan, and Aria won't tell me anything about what you do. I wanted to understand."
"Curious." I let the word hang between us, heavy with disbelief. "Is that why you've been meeting with Cane Harris? Because you're curious?"
The color drains from her face completely, leaving her looking almost corpse-like under the fluorescent lights. "How did you… I don't know what you're talking about."
"I have eyes everywhere, Maya. Did you really think I wouldn't know about the loan shark who's been pressuring you for information?
" I pull out my phone and swipe through the surveillance photos Cyril sent earlier.
Maya meeting Cane outside a coffee shop.
Maya getting into his car. Maya accepting a small package that I know contains drugs rather than money.
"He's been forgiving portions of your debt in exchange for information about me. About my routines. About Aria."
Her face crumbles, tears streaming down her hollow cheeks, and this time, they look genuine. "I didn't have a choice. He was going to hurt me. He said if I didn't help him, he'd come after Aria too."
"So you decided to betray your sister to protect yourself." The disgust in my voice makes her flinch. "Very noble."
"You don't understand!" She's sobbing now, her thin frame shaking with the force of it. "I owe him fifty thousand dollars. I can't pay that. I don't have anything. And the drugs… he said he'd keep supplying me if I just answered a few questions. It seemed harmless."
"Harmless." I stand, my body coiled with the effort of not putting my hands on her.
"You've been in my home multiple times. You've had access to Aria.
You've seen things no outsider should witness.
And you've been reporting everything back to a loan shark who's probably selling that information to my enemies. "
Her eyes widen with genuine horror as understanding crashes over her. "I didn't know. I swear I didn't know he was going to use it like that. I thought he just wanted to know if you were legitimate, if Aria was safe with you."
"And the drugs he gave you? What did you think those were for?"
She doesn't answer, just stares at the floor while tears drip onto her jeans. The silence stretches between us, heavy with everything she's destroyed through her selfishness and addiction.
I pull out my phone, my thumb hovering over Aria's number. The Pakhan in me knows exactly how to handle this threat. One call to Cyril, and Maya disappears. Problem solved. But the man Aria is teaching me to become, the one who's learning that mercy can be strength, hesitates.
This is her sister. The person she's sacrificed everything to protect. The little girl who used to crawl into her bed during thunderstorms, before addiction twisted her into this desperate, manipulative creature.
Killing Maya would destroy Aria. But letting her live might destroy us both.
My finger hovers over the call button, and Maya's voice breaks through my thoughts, small and terrified. "Please don't tell her. Please. I'll do anything. I'll go back to rehab. I'll never use again. Just please don't tell Aria I betrayed her."
I look at this broken girl, this addict who keeps breaking her sister's heart, and make a decision that might be the biggest mistake of my life.
I press call.
Aria answers on the second ring, her voice thick with tears she's been crying alone upstairs. "Nikolai?"
"You need to come to my office immediately." My voice is cold, controlled, giving nothing away. "There's something about your sister you need to see."