Chapter 12 - Nikita
Bardil drives us to his mansion in the city. According to him, it's hidden and not even his family knows he owns it because he purchased it under a fake name.
I don't particularly care.
At some point, when we were driving away from the cabin, I made a choice.
When Bardil told me we were going back to the city, the very first thing I felt was panic. Panic because the idea of going anywhere near home and that boring, trapped life…
That's why I made the deal.
I want adventure, and while I'm with him, it seems like the best chance I'll ever have to experience that adventure.
I may as well make the most of being kidnapped.
I keep realizing that I'm smiling. Even now, arriving at his mansion and climbing out of the car.
My stomach is filled with butterflies of excitement.
I shouldn't be excited. I should be thinking of my family.
I should be considering how worried they are about me and negotiating for my release—not negotiating for adventure.
Guilt steals the smile from my face, and I let out a frustrated sigh.
Come on. It's not like I kidnapped myself. And I did try to escape. I'm not the one who put my family in that position of being so stressed.
But you are the one choosing to enjoy your time here with this man instead of thinking about the people who love you and think you must be hurt and in danger.
Bardil's mansion is gorgeous. Sitting on the outskirts of the city, there is a private beach right in front of his home. His garden leads right onto the sandy shore, and sitting in the living room the night we first arrive, I can hear the waves lapping right outside the window.
It's beautiful and peaceful.
And it makes my guilt worse.
Dammit.
I still have no idea what Bardil's plan is with me, but for some reason, I get the idea that he cares about me.
Somewhere in there, I see a decent man. He could easily have locked me up instead of letting me walk freely in his space.
He didn't have to deal with me daily. He didn't have to take me rock climbing.
He didn't even have to let me cook and eat good food.
He could have slid porridge under my door every day and left me in solitude.
Maybe, just maybe, he cares more than I think he does, and he might care if I ask him a favor. A real favor.
From my heart.
Nervously, I stand up, wondering if I'm pushing my luck and making a mistake. I've seen him when he's pissed off, and it's terrifying. But for my family's sake, I have to try.
The way I see it, he might be able to send an anonymous message to them. Something just to let them know I'm alive, being held captive, but that I'm not harmed in any way. Just knowing that will give them some relief.
And he doesn't have to give himself up. It can be totally anonymous.
Maybe he can send a strand of my hair for authenticity. You know, so they don't think it's a hoax to distract them.
I don't really know how this whole Bratva kidnapping thing really works.
With my heart in my throat, I walk through the mansion in search of Bardil.
It's a massive place, and it takes me a while, roaming high-ceilinged hallways with glass panels and views of the stars, until I hear his voice coming from somewhere near one of the end rooms.
He's talking to someone.
I slow my steps, walking quietly.
When I reach the doorway that leads to him, I stop, pressing myself close to the walls to listen to what they're saying.
Through the speaker of a phone, I hear whoever he's talking to. Angry and impatient. "Bardil, you can't keep doing this. You have to apologize and make it right. This animosity will never end!"
I recognize the guy's voice. It's his brother, Simon.
"So what? You just take their side over your own brother?" Bardil snaps back.
"You need to make it right."
"How am I the one in the wrong here? I got betrayed by people I put my trust in. People who made promises to me and didn't bother honoring those deals. People who literally threw me under the bus, and now you and the Shevs and the Abashins are siding with those people!"
"The Sokolovs?" Simon asks, confused.
"Yes, the fucking Sokolovs. They allied with the Shevs and them, and then you allied with the same people, effectively kicking me in the face," Bardil growls, clearly hurt by what happened.
What is he talking about, though? What did the Sokolovs do to him?
Getting more curious, I peek around the door, just a little.
It's an office-type room, and Bardil is sitting on a chair next to a coffee table.
His phone is on the coffee table. He's facing away from the door, so I watch him.
He has his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes as though he's exhausted and frustrated.
"I don't understand what you're talking about, Bardil. You did some fucked up shit, man."
"Look, I got screwed over the Sokolovs, and I admit I tried to cover it. I lied to you guys to hide what happened. But I was trying to fix it to save you the trouble. I didn't want to drag my family into the mess that I got dumped with. But that doesn't make me a bad person!"
Simon sighs heavily.
"I don't know what to say, man," he says, sounding burdened.
"You're my brother. You should at least give me the benefit of the doubt," Bardil grumbles. Then, before the conversation can go any further, he hangs up the phone.
Just as he's turning around, I duck back behind the door frame to hide. I do not want him to know I heard all of that. Even if, to my surprise, the conversation shifted my perspective of him, and it's actually more in his favor.
Inside the room, I hear him stand up. Shit. I need to move.
I run as quietly as I can back down the passage and away from being caught.
Ducking into my own room, I quietly close the door behind me.
I've heard my family say a lot of things about how bad Bardil is, but I never really considered his side of the story, and that they might be wrong about him.
What if everything was just a big misunderstanding?
Bardil was so frustrated now that I could almost feel his hopelessness.
Like all he longed for was for Simon to understand him.
I often feel that way.
I often long for someone to just understand me. To stop making assumptions about what I want or need and to really try to get to know me for who I am instead of who they expect me to be.
My heart grows heavy for him.
What if this entire situation were totally avoidable if someone had just taken the time to understand him?
I mean, there are two Popovs already married into the alliance. The link between his family and mine is already established, and it's clearly pretty damn permanent.
That connection is for the rest of their lives, so Bardil isn't going anywhere either.
He's locked in with us, indirectly already a part of the family, whether he wants to be or not.
I've had the thought before, and it comes again now.
His brothers and his sister are good people, so he can't be that bad.
I hear Bardil walking down the passage, past my room, and in a rush, I pull the door open and burst through it.
"Hey," I shout after him. He turns to look at me, his face tired.
"Did you need something?" he sighs.
"Yes," I grin. "I need a drink. And you're taking me. We're going out."
He groans and shakes his head. "Not tonight, little rabbit," he pleads.
"Nope, this is definitely happening. We are going. You promised me adventure, and this is the first one," I rush back into my room to get changed, shouting over my shoulder. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."
While I'm getting ready, I half expect him to come and tell me it's not happening. But he doesn't.
I get dressed in a little black dress. It's more of a beach dress, not really a dress for a night out, but the options for dressing up aren't exactly vast. I manage to make do, though, and when I look in the mirror, I feel sexy.
Heading downstairs, I find Bardil waiting for me, leaning against the wall near the bottom of the stairs. "That was longer than ten minutes," he huffs. But I notice his eyes playing over me.
"Oh, whatever, you're just impatient because something made you grumpy tonight," I smirk.
"I'm not grumpy. What gives you the impression that I'm grumpy?" he asks, seemingly surprised that I would notice such a thing.
I slip my arm through his and pull him toward the front door. "I'm a girl. Girls notice everything."
He scoffs, shaking his head.
Outside, he opens the door for me, and I climb in, still smiling. Bardil is smiling too. Amused. I like it when he smiles. His face is gorgeous. I mean, it's always gorgeous, but when he smiles, and I'm the reason for that smile, it makes me feel triumphant in strange ways.
He drives us to a beach bar not too far from his place.
He opens the door for me, and when I step out of the car, he's holding his hand out for me. My heart flutters when I place my hand in his, and he leads me toward the entrance. Music is spilling from the bar out into the street.
This is going to be fun. A great chance to unwind and maybe dance.