Chapter 16 – Nik
She’d been avoiding me like the plague.
At first, I thought it was just the aftereffects of being intimate with her “jailer”—the man she claimed to loathe so much. I made up excuses for her behavior, telling myself that she was probably too embarrassed to face me after what we did.
But weeks had gone by now, and each time she spotted me from afar, she’d look away and turn in the opposite direction. The plan was to ignore this attitude; however, it was becoming suspicious.
Her sudden behavior got me thinking, wondering if this withdrawal started after we had sex, or after she went into the restroom that night at the gala. If memory served me right—and it did—she was doing just fine at the table before she excused herself.
She laughed so hard that night, and even when I dared to be naughty and touch her secretly, her body didn’t reject me. We exchanged hidden glances and shared deep, unspoken words. I thought we had a thing—some kind of connection that night.
Everything turned sour after she returned from the restroom. Her smiles seemed forced—plastic. Her attention was divided, as if she had something on her mind, something powerful enough to keep her distracted. She tried so hard to mask it, but I caught glimpses of fear and guilt in her eyes.
I refused to read any meaning into all of those signs, and if she weren’t acting all shady these days, I wouldn’t have dug up that memory. She left me with no choice but to evaluate her behavior and keep an eye on her.
I had one of my most trusted men, Boris, monitor her movements in the house whenever I was away. And from his report, it appeared she’d been spending a lot of time with the maids—especially the one called Katerina.
According to Boris, she’d developed a habit of cleaning and helping out in the kitchen. As expected, the maids were against her involvement in their jobs, but she didn’t give them a choice.
It seemed like a harmless gesture at the beginning, and I thought maybe she was just bored and decided to pass the time. But when Boris mentioned the suspicious movements with the maid Katerina, it piqued my interest.
He said he’d seen Katerina sneaking in and out of my Dikaya’s room more than once. Boris claimed he suspected those two were up to something—he just couldn’t prove it.
That explained why the maid, Katerina, always seemed nervous around me these past few days.
I used to think it was because I scolded her for spilling wine all over my document weeks ago.
But it made sense now. Her nervousness in my presence wasn’t about the wine incident; it was because she was hiding something.
I could easily get the truth out of the maid—all I had to do was ask. The fragile little thing might faint at this point if I summoned her to my office. Out of fear, she’d snitch on my Dikaya and tell me everything she knew.
But where was the fun in that?
This was a game, and Katerina was merely a pawn—her role here was insignificant. If I needed answers, I knew exactly where and how to get them.
Tonight, I’d just gotten home from a late-night outing with my older brother, Roman. He’d been out of the country for a while, taking care of some Bratva business overseas.
Roman wasn’t just feared; he was seen as inevitable. He was the kind of man who didn’t need to raise his voice to command silence. The forty-year-old son of a gun was disciplined to the point of obsession, rarely letting emotion break through his iron control.
However, beneath his cold exterior was a fierce loyalty to family that no one had yet conquered.
Roman’s quiet laughter trailed off, his relaxed form sinking deeper into the couch. He lifted his glass of vodka to his lips and took a sip. “So, tell me, brother; the rumors about the girl…are they true?”
I heaved a sigh, crossing my legs as I leaned back on my couch across from him. “Depends on what you heard.”
He held my gaze, swirling the glass in his hand. “Nothing tangible,” he said, his voice low and even. “But it’s got people talking.”
“People always talk, Roman.”
We were relaxing on the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in the city, surrounded by softly glowing string lights.
Above, the full moon reached its peak, its ethereal glow illuminating everything it touched.
Below, the city throbbed with a soft hum, the distant lights of buildings and cars blending into a stunning blur of color and motion.
“Do you know anything about this girl, Nik?” he asked me, his jet-black hair catching the moonlight.
“She belongs to me,” I answered. “I bought her.”
“I don’t doubt that. But did you run a background check on her?”
I reached for my glass and took a sip.
“You didn’t, did you?”
“I will,” came my response. “For now, I’m just enjoying this little game.”
“Don’t lose yourself in it, brother,” he said, those blue eyes pinned on me. “You might get carried away and let your guard down.”
“I won’t. I’m the one in control.”
He paused, watching me in silence. “No argument there. Just don’t underestimate her. She’s a stranger you know nothing about, and that makes her dangerous.” He let the words sink in for a moment. “Keep an eye on her. She might be up to something.”
Roman was older, wiser, and more experienced. If he thought it was necessary to look into her, then perhaps now was the time to do so. I’d played this game with her long enough anyway.
That night, I headed straight to her room and walked in without knocking. Her bed was empty, everything else was intact, and the scent of her perfume lingered in the air. But I couldn’t see her anywhere.
My eyes squinted, suspicion creeping into my gaze as I stepped further into the room. I scanned the cozy interior, wondering where she was when the sound of the toilet flushing caught my attention.
She stepped out holding something in her hand, and the second she spotted me, she flinched. “Oh, my God!” An abrupt gasp escaped her lips, her hands flying to her chest. “You scared me.”
My eyes flicked to the device in her hand, my expression dark and blank.
Quickly, she hid it behind her back and avoided my gaze.
“What’s that?” I asked, my voice stern, laced with suspicion.
“Nothing.”
The guilt on her face betrayed her composure, coupled with the fact that she couldn’t dare look at me. Her body was tense, and her hands trembled subtly.
With slow, measured steps, I approached her. “I’ll ask you again; what’re you hiding?”
Her chest was heaving, her breath caught in her throat. When she raised her head, I saw fear in her eyes—the kind she’d never shown before.
The door opened behind me, and the maid Katerina walked in. Even without looking back, I heard the sound of her gasp when she realized I was in the room. I could smell her terror.
I sensed her trying to sneak back out and called, “Stay right there, Katerina.” The authority in my voice was enough to make someone as fragile as her pee her pants. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Dikaya blinked a few times, her eyes flicking in the maid’s direction.
“You’re gonna tell me what you’re up to, what you’re hiding from me. Or else, I will punish your new best friend in ways you can’t even imagine.” The threat was clear, and she knew I wasn’t bluffing.
She looked at Katerina, then turned her tearful eyes back to my face. She hesitated for a moment, scratching the back of her head as if she was pondering her next move.
I stretched out my hand, a silent command for her to give up whatever was behind her back. Reluctantly, she reached out and placed the device in my palm. I looked down at it and froze at the double lines on the strip she’d handed to me.
My gaze flicked back to her face. This time, she looked right into my eyes like she was searching for something. “You’re pregnant,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
She locked her jaw. Her expression darkened as though this was a bad thing, and she hated it.
I glanced back at Katerina, who immediately lowered her head to avoid my eyes. “Leave us.”
She didn’t hesitate even a second before rushing out and shutting the door behind her.
Dikaya was carrying my baby in her womb, my legacy; that explained why she’d been keeping her distance. She was afraid, which was normal for most pregnant girls her age.
I stepped forward, closing the distance between us. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
She lifted her head to hold my gaze as she blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes.
“You’re never leaving me,” I declared, my voice deep and threatening. “So if you have any plans to escape this mansion soon, I suggest you abandon them. Because from now on, I’ll be watching you like a hawk.”
Her eyes widened in terror, and although she didn’t say a word, I could almost hear her cursing at me in her mind. That hatred she had in her eyes the first time I brought her here had returned. And this time, it was burning like a wildfire.
She could despise me all she wanted, but this baby was a game-changer. I would do anything to protect my legacy, my unborn child—even if it meant locking her up.
Dikaya didn’t understand that I was keeping her safe behind these walls. Now that she was carrying my child, if word got out, all my enemies would have their eyes on her.
This baby had just put a giant bullseye on her back, and it was my job to keep both her and the baby safe.
“Get comfortable,” I said to her. “You’re gonna be here a long time.”
With that, I walked away, leaving her to her thoughts and anger.