Chapter 2 #2
“Are you ok?” I ask.
“Yes. But, um, your brother asked me to ask you if you wouldn’t mind leaving your room today.”
“He did?”
“Yes. He’s spending all day at work today. And Sofiya has gone out for brunch with some of her high school friends.”
I flinch. I never had high school friends. I haven’t had a friend since before I was eight.
“So, Mr. Ivanov wants you to leave your room today. Spend some time in the other parts of the house.”
Maybe it won’t be so bad, especially since I’ll be by myself. “All right,” I say slowly. “I guess I can do that.”
“Great.” She points to the food. “Eat up.” She shuts the door behind her as she leaves.
Once I’m finished eating, I exercise and take a shower and change into a simple pair of loungewear pants and a cotton t-shirt. With no one else around to please, I just want to be comfortable.
I find myself going into the large library that Dimitri has stacked with all kinds of books. He always brings me books so I’m never without any. But do I want to spend the day reading when I could do other things with no one else around?
I head into the kitchen where Alice is sweeping the floor. She pauses, her eyes wide, like she was caught doing something she shouldn’t. But what I have no idea.
“Katya, you’re out of your room.”
“Yes.”
She gives me a timid smile. “That’s good to see. Um… I made some banana bread. If you want some.” She points to it on the counter.
“Thank you.” I take a piece. It’s soft and warm on my mouth. Recently baked. “It’s delicious.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“You’re a much better baker than Ann was.”
Instead of giving me a happy smile, she gives me a pained one instead.
“Are you ok?” I ask her.
“Oh, yes. Fine.”
“What did you do before working here?”
“I was a teacher. But I was laid off.”
“How did you go from being a teacher to being a housekeeper?”
“It’s a long story. One for another day.”
I finish my piece of banana bread and stare down at my hands. “You know, I was really anxious when you first showed up. I don’t handle change well. But you seem nice. Much nicer than Ann ever was. So, I’m getting used to you.”
“That’s nice of you to say. But why don’t you go sit down now? I’m sure you’re tired.”
As if on cue, a sudden bout of sleepiness hits me. “You know what? You’re right. I am feeling tired.”
I stumble towards a chair at the table. My body slams into it much harder than I expected it would. What is happening? Something doesn’t feel right inside of me.
“Alice, I’m not sure if I’m ok.”
“You are ok. Just let it take over you. You’ll be all right.”
“I will be?”
She grimaces. “Yes. And… I’m sorry. He made me do this.”
Who? But before I can ask, darkness takes over me.
Alek
I’m waiting in my home office when I hear the doorbell ring. After Dimitri discovered my previous house when I kidnapped his wife, I had to move. Bought this new house in cash so it’s untraceable. Dimitri won’t be able to find it so easily like he did last time. Which is perfect for me.
I can hear one of my guards open the front door and then footsteps. A female voice. Alice.
My smile won’t leave my face as I leave my office and head into the foyer. That’s when I see my guard, Tony, and Alice talking together.
My smile drops from my face. “Where is she? The sister?”
Alice can’t look me in the eye. “In my car.”
“Did she put up a fight?”
“No. I… used the drug you gave me. I baked it into some banana bread. She ate it. Didn’t suspect a thing. I got her into my car without anyone else noticing.”
“Not even the guards stationed outside Dimitri’s home?” I know he doubled them after I attacked.
“There were less of them. Dimitri’s wife is out with friends today so the guards went with her. Only one remained behind and I got Katya into my car when he was in the backyard.”
“So, Dimitri didn’t suspect a thing then. Good.”
“He…” Alice hesitates. “It was clear to me that he never expected her to leave her room, so I think he thought she would be safe, even with less guards around.”
“He put his attention on his wife,” I murmur. All because I kidnapped Sofiya once before. He thinks I was going to do it again. Dimitri never even considered I’d go after his sister instead.
Katya Ivanov. Everyone knows her name but no one has seen her in over twelve years. Until now.
“And you’re sure you have his sister?”
Alice shrugs. “There was no one else. It’s his sister.”
“Good. Now, you’re going to want to quit your housekeeping job. Dimitri will kill you when he finds out what you did. I’ll pay you handsomely. Set you up for life for this. Thank you.”
“I won’t be caught?”
“I’ll do everything in my power.” Though, Dimitri could find her and kill her and I’d have no way of stopping it. Not that I would really care since Alice was just a means to an end. I have no love for her. “Now, Tony, bring Katya inside. I want to meet my new prisoner.”
Tony does as I say. Alice stands in the foyer, staring down at the floor like she can disappear into it. But we both know she can’t.
The front door opens and Tony comes back inside, carrying a young woman in his arms bridal style. She’s still unconscious.
The first thing I notice is… how beautiful she is.
Long dark hair, fair skin, pretty features.
She looks a lot like Dimitri, just the female version.
And while I hate to admit it, Dimitri is handsome.
I may not be into men but it’s obvious to anyone who sees him.
Makes me hate the fucking bastard more. If he were ugly, I’d have a leg up on him.
But I’m glad Katya is pretty. It will make this all the more fun.
Before my very eyes, Katya begins to blink as consciousness comes back to her. She looks around the room with a frown on her face. Her eyes are a beautiful blue color. Striking and deep.
When her eyes land on me, they widen and that’s when she begins to panic. The scream that erupts from her mouth is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. She kicks and flings her body around so much that Tony drops her to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
She lands on her body with a huff before she starts screaming again and backs herself up until her spine hits the wall.
“God, she’s annoying,” Tony grumbles. “Stop screaming.”
“Tony,” I snap. “Leave this to me. Go wait outside.”
Tony does as I say and I head over to Katya, who refuses to stop screaming. Alice steps out of my way, shame written all over her face. She obviously did not agree with kidnapping Katya but it’s amazing what someone will do for money.
I kneel down before Katya. “You need to stop screaming.”
She covers her hands over her ears and continues to scream like she’s dying.
That’s when her eyes land on Alice and her screams immediately stop. “Alice?” she whispers, her voice strained. “What’s happening? Where am I?”
Alice backs away, unable to look at her. “I’m sorry, Katya. I’m so sorry.”
Katya finally looks me in the eye and she’s a pretty sight to behold. “Who are you? What do you want? Where am I? Why am I not in my room?”
“I’m Alek Morozov. And you’re in my house.”
“What? How? What’s going on?”
“I had Alice here kidnap you. She fed you some banana bread, I believe. Made it easy to bring you here.”
She sucks in a breath. “What? What?”
“I’ll be real with you, Katya. I don’t like your brother. We’re not friends.”
“You mean you’re… enemies?”
“Yes. That’s why you’re here. You’re going to help me hurt him.”
“No!” she screams and tries backing away again but there’s nowhere for her to go with her back to the wall. “No, no, no!” She screams and panics so hard that her breath comes out in fast pants. “No,” she says in a softer voice, clutching at her chest. The panic is obvious on her face. “No.”
And right before my eyes, she falls over and passes out. The panic was too much for her it seems.
Katya is not at all what I had been expecting. For one thing, she’s much more pretty than I thought she would be. And two, she’s a lot more scared than I thought possible for a human to be. I’ve never seen someone panic this way. It’s… disconcerting, to say the least.
“You may go, Alice. I’ll take it from here.” I pick Katya up – she’s incredibly light – and bring her down to my basement where I had a specialty cage made just for her. It’s large enough for her to stand up in. I even included a pillow and blanket because I’m not a complete monster.
Katya is going to stay here for a while. I don’t need her dying of cold because it is fucking cold inside this basement.
I place her in the cage and shut the door, locking it. When Katya wakes up, her entire life is going to be changed.
Katya
When I wake up again, for a moment, I hope that everything that just happened was a dream. It had to have been because the reality…
But then I fully wake up and realize I’m not back in my room at all. I’m in a… cage?
It’s a human sized cage inside a cold, dank basement. There’s a faint musty smell to the air that makes the entire place reek. I’m truly a prisoner. Alek Morozov, my brother’s enemy, kidnapped me. And Alice the new housekeeper helped him.
Did Alek plan this all? Is he the reason Ann left only to be replaced by Alice so he could bring me here?
I shudder at the thought.
I sit up and look around the room. On instinct, I try the cage door but it’s locked. There’s no way I’m getting out of here. The basement has one tiny window in it, letting in light, telling me it’s still daytime. How long have I been gone? When will Dimitri and Sofiya realize I’m not there?
It could take all day, given how often I’m in my room. My presence won’t be missed for a long time.
I squeeze my eyes shut and let a few tears fall. I’m no longer in my room. In fact, it’s the opposite. I’m stuck in a cage in my brother’s enemy’s home. I’m not in Kansa anymore, that’s for sure.
But the longer I sit in the cage… the more at ease I feel. It’s not that different from my room. A small, enclosed space. I can be safe inside of here. It’s in the outside world where I’m not safe.
The only door in the basement opens up and Alek enters. Now that I’m not as panicked, I can get a better look at him. He’s tall and broad shouldered. Dark hair with the faintest of grey at the temples. Older than Dimitri but not by much. Handsome in a distinguished kind of way.
But also utterly terrifying given the fact that he kidnapped me.
He looks me over so I hug my knees into my chest, making it so he can’t look at my body. “You’re calm now.” He sounds… surprised by that fact.
“You can’t hurt me in here,” I whisper.
“In where?”
“In the cage. In my room.” This cage has to be my new room or I’ll die. I just know it. I won’t be able to survive any of this.
“This cage?” he asks, pointing at it.
“Yes.”
“You think it’s… your room?”
“It has to be. I have to be in there. Or…”
“Or?”
I shake my head.
Alek approaches the cage but he doesn’t open the door, seemingly content just to look at me, like I’m an animal he’s studying. “You seem a lot more calm than I was expecting given how you were acting earlier.”
“Because I’m safe in here. Safe. It’s enclosed. I’ll be ok. I have to be. I have to be.”
Alek’s eyes darken. “You’re a lot more interesting than I thought you would be.” It’s both an innocent comment and a dangerous threat.