Chapter 4 - Nikita
"What did you expect me to do? I mean, you kidnapped me for crying out loud," I scoff at his anger. How can he be mad at me? He literally stole me from my own life and dragged me into whatever plot he has going on.
Bardil says nothing, and the darkness in the car weighs heavily down on me.
I can't believe he caught me again. I should have gone in the other direction. Or maybe hidden. Or maybe tried to call someone. Dammit.
"Where are you taking me?" I demand, trying to sound tough.
"Shut up. I don't want to hear another word from your lying little mouth," he snaps.
Bardil reinforces his silence by keeping his eyes dead set on the road ahead. I have no idea where we are or where we're going. It's dark outside, and I can't see anything except empty space. Huffing loudly, I sit back in the chair, pouting and sulking.
My feet kick against something on the floor, and I lean forward to see what it is.
Snacks.
Well. He can give me the silent treatment all he likes. I don't even care. But at least I have snacks.
I pull the packet onto my lap and search around in it, waiting for him to grab it away from me or something, but he carries on ignoring me instead.
He got the purple chocolate. And a pie. And popcorn. There are a few other snacks in the packet, which is what I assume he chose for himself.
I bite my lip, stealing a quick glance at him. Should I offer him something?
Jeepers, he's sexy. Even when he looks angry enough to shoot laser beams out of his eyes.
I decide not to offer him anything.
Over the forty minutes we drive in horrible silence. I finish all my snacks and eventually fall asleep, only waking up when the engine turns off, and he growls at me to open my eyes.
"Are we here?" I murmur sleepily.
He's already pulling my door open, reaching in, and grabbing my arm. He tugs me roughly from my seat.
"Hey, stop being such a bully!" I snap.
Bardil ignores me and pulls me toward a wooden cabin. The perimeter of the cabin is lit by elegant lights on tall poles. My heart sinks when I look around. There is nothing but trees and more trees.
"Are we in a forest?" I blurt out, confused.
"Everglades National Park. It's dangerous out here, little rabbit. There are things that will kill you in the blink of an eye. I suggest you don't try running again," he says, pushing me into the open cabin door.
I'm calling it a cabin because it's made from wood and looks very cabin-like from the outside. But on the inside, it's beautiful and modern and has tall windows that in the daytime must let in a stream of bright light. It looks like the type of place you'd find in a luxury holiday brochure.
"Are we at a holiday resort?" I ask, hopeful because that means there will be other people around. Bardil slams the door closed, making me jump in fright.
He scoffs. "No, Nikita. We are at my private cabin, deep in the woods, far, far away from civilization."
I roll my eyes. He's so dramatic. He's probably saying that just to scare me. There's probably a little shop and a restaurant a mile or two down the road.
"Whatever," I huff. "You should let me go now before things start getting out of hand."
"You want me to let you go?" he scoffs.
He grabs my arm and pulls me to face him. My eyes dart to the knife in his hand. Fear shoots through me like lightning and I try to tug my arm away, but his grip is tight. Bardil savors my fear for a moment before he lifts my wrists and slips the blade over the duct tape binding my hands together.
Anger spikes through me when he releases me with a dark smile on his face.
"You're such an asshole," I snap.
"Yeah? Well, your whole family is a bunch of assholes, so you should be fine hanging out with me for a while," he snarls.
"You don't get to talk about my family like that. Not after what you did," I blurt out, defensively. He can kidnap me. He can be a dickhead to me. But he shouldn't dare talk badly about my family in front of me.
"What I did?" he shouts, his fists clenched at his side as he takes two quick strides toward me.
I stagger backward, my heart racing as my eyes dart back to the knife he's still holding.
The calm, friendly guy I was talking to in the car is long gone.
There is only a dark-eyed, angry man, towering over me with hatred in his gaze.
There's no telling what he's capable of.
"I'm not the one who did wrong, Nikita. Your family was in the wrong. Your family fucked up my entire life, and they are going to pay for what they've done to me."
"My family? Are you honestly so despicable that you can't take responsibility for your own actions?" I shout back, my voice rising in pitch.
He slips the knife into his belt and shakes his head.
Who the hell is this guy, thinking he has the right to blame my family? He stuffed up.
"Instead of standing there pointing fingers at everyone else, maybe you should start looking in the mirror!"
Bardil sneers, his top lip lifting in anger.
"You don't even know what you're talking about!" he shouts, his rage spilling in uncontrolled outbursts.
"I know my family," I argue.
Bardil reaches up and cups his hand around my jaw, roughly pulling my face toward his.
"You only think you know your family, little rabbit. But you know nothing," he says, his voice a low, dangerous whisper that sends a shiver through me. Goosebumps break over my skin, and I take a shaky breath in.
Not for the first time, his scent washes over me. It soaks into my body and has my insides heating, my heart racing.
"Are you scared, little rabbit?" he growls in a husky voice.
"No," I stammer, trying to look away from his piercing green eyes.
"You should be," he whispers.
I bite down hard on my lip, wondering why heat is pooling between my legs.
Why the fuck am I thinking about how sexy he is instead of the bad situation I'm in?
Bardil seems frozen with his eyes locked onto my lips.
When he eventually drags them off my face, he looks annoyed with himself. He drops his hand and turns his back on me.
What the hell just happened?
I clear my throat nervously and brush my clammy hands over the front of my dress.
"Your family is a bunch of evil monsters who brainwashed my family," he huffs after a moment of silence.
"Rubbish! My family is good people. And Marlen and Simon and your sister…
They are good people too. It's just you who's too stupid to see that.
You're a despicable person, Bardil. You're the evil one.
So selfish, you can't see past your own ego.
No matter what you say to me, I won't change my mind about that," I snap at him.
He laughs bitterly. His eyes flaring with tension as he flexes and clenches his fists, sending a ripple of muscle moving over his arms beneath his shirt.
I groan inwardly, squeezing my eyes shut against the sight of him. Dammit, Kit, pull yourself together.
I can't believe I'm attracted to this asshole.
"I can't believe I'm stuck here with the world's meanest asshole and his giant ego," I huff.
"Welcome home, little rabbit," he snaps sarcastically, gesturing around the cabin. "You'll find some clothes in your bedroom cupboard, and dinner is at six," he snaps.
"Home," I scoff, shaking my head. "Well, fine, seeing as I'm stuck here… I get first pick of the bedrooms."
"What?" he blurts out in confusion. "I just said that your room is already set up. Your clothes are… "
But I'm already storming away from him to go and search the cabin.
"You won't find a way out, little rabbit. You're trapped in here," he calls after me.
"Go to hell!" I shout back.
I'll judge for myself if there is a way out of it. And he underestimates me if he thinks I won't find one.
Although right now I have no plans to escape. It's dark. I'm exhausted. I need a shower. I need to pee. All I want to do is sleep.
The cabin isn't very big, so it doesn't take long to find the three bedrooms and pick the biggest one with its own private bathroom.
In the smaller room, I tug the cupboards open and grab a few items of clothing.
Sweatpants, a hoodie, a t-shirt, some fresh undies.
They all still have labels attached, and for a moment, I'm creeped out that he went to such an extent to plan for this kidnapping. Am I underestimating him?
Whatever. I don't care right now.
With a handful of clothes, I march back to the biggest room.
I can see by the setup that this is supposed to be his room.
In the bathroom are his toothbrush, body wash, and cologne.
I pop the cap off the cologne and hold it up to my nose.
Dammit. It smells so good. Annoyed with myself, I pick up all of his things in the bathroom and throw them right out of the bedroom door.
Then, using every ounce of strength I have, I slam the door as hard and as loud as I can manage.
The entire cabin seems to vibrate with the echo of it.
Good.
At least now he knows I don't give a shit about what he thinks, and I'm certainly not afraid of him.
In the bathroom cabinet, I find a fresh towel and another bottle of body wash.
It's pine-scented. Masculine. But at this point, I don't care.
I flick the shower on so the water can heat up while I wiggle out of my little black dress.
Kicking my sneakers to the side, I pull my hair up and out of the way, twisting it into a knot.
I step under the hot water. Closing my eyes, I groan. My brothers are going to be so angry with me. As soon as they realize I'm gone, they'll review the mansion's security tapes and see me sneaking out.
I'll never hear the end of it.
They will literally never let me live this down.
It's probably going to be so bad having to deal with their smug I told you so attitudes that I might not even want to escape.
But I will. I'll get out of here and find some other people. I'm sure there is a hotel or another cabin nearby. Maybe a little store or something.
Even if I find the road, I can just start walking along it until I see someone.
Bardil can go to hell for all I care. He took the wrong girl if he thinks he can bully me into anything.
After my shower, I change into the new clothes, pulling their tags off and tossing them onto the bedside table.
I'm so tired that as soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm asleep.
***
When I wake up, I'm confused for a few seconds.
My mind races as I try to work out where I am and why everything looks so unfamiliar.
But it all comes back to me, and suddenly I'm wide awake.
Dammit. It wasn't a bad dream. It was all real.
Groaning loudly, I rub my fingers against my eyes to push away the last remnants of sleep and get my head into focus.
Then I throw the blankets aside. I can't be lying in bed all morning. I've got some escaping to do.
That's my plan. Do a full search of the property and the area around the cabin and scout out an escape route. It can't be too difficult.