Chapter 2 - Vera
The first thing I noticed was that Nico’s hand had not left my wrist for a single second.
Not when he pulled me out of the dressing room.
Not when he guided me into the service corridor behind the chapel.
Not even now, as we moved through the maze of hallways hidden behind the beautiful white walls of the church.
I hadn’t even known this pathway existed, but of course, Nico knew. He was never unprepared.
His grip was firm. Certain. Possessive.
As if letting go had never even occurred to him.
The wedding music continued somewhere in the distance.
I could hear the violins and an organ playing.
The soft murmur of hundreds of guests gathered to watch me marry another man felt surreal.
Just a few minutes ago, I had been standing in front of a mirror, ready to put on my wedding gown.
Now I was being abducted by the only man I had ever loved.
And somehow, none of it felt surprising. I know I should have been terrified. I should have been screaming and fighting and asking him to let me go, but I did none of that. I didn’t want to. Instead, I found myself staring at the broad line of his shoulders as he walked ahead of me.
It had been months since I had walked into his office and destroyed both of our lives.
Yet the moment I saw him standing in my dressing room, everything inside me had gone strangely calm.
Because Nico Romanov might be dangerous and terrifying, he was also familiar.
And familiarity was a dangerous kind of comfort.
The corridor turned sharply, and Nico adjusted our direction without hesitation.
He knew exactly where he was going, and there was no uncertainty in his movements.
No searching or second-guessing. He had clearly memorized the place, which only meant this had not been impulsive. He had planned every second of this.
Of course, he had.
Nico did not do anything halfway.
The realization should have frightened me. Instead, it made my chest ache.
How long had he been planning this?
Before I could stop myself, I looked at him again, but his expression remained completely unreadable. The same cold mask he had worn in his office months ago returned. The same expression he had worn when I shattered his heart. Nothing reached his eyes anymore. I was responsible for that.
The thought settled heavily inside my chest.
Suddenly, Nico stopped, and I nearly collided with his back.
“What—”
His hand tightened, silencing me immediately. I followed his gaze, noticing the two security guards who had appeared at the far end of the corridor. My stomach dropped even though I should have been happy. One of them frowned, and the other squinted as recognition flashed across their faces.
“Miss Stavros?” The words echoed through the hallway.
For one terrible second, nobody moved, and then everything happened at once.
The guard reached for the radio attached to his shoulder, but Nico moved first. One moment he was standing beside me, and the next he was crossing the hallway.
The movement was so swift it barely seemed human.
The first guard never even managed to touch the radio because Nico caught his wrist and twisted it.
A sickening crack echoed through the corridor.
The man screamed or tried to, but Nico’s other hand slammed into his throat.
The sound died immediately. I froze. The second guard lunged forward, whipping out a gun from his holster.
Before he could raise it, another figure emerged from a side corridor.
It was Viktor. The knife flashed once. Then twice, and the guard collapsed. Silence followed.
Heavy and absolute.
For several seconds, nobody spoke or moved.
I stared as my pulse thundered in my ears.
The two bodies lay motionless on the marble floor.
Nico crouched beside one of them, calmly checking for signs of life.
There were none. He stood up and adjusted his cuff, looking exactly the same as he had thirty seconds ago.
Something twisted painfully inside me because I remembered another version of him.
A version who used to carry injured animals into veterinary clinics.
A version who once spent three hours coaxing a terrified rescue dog out from beneath a table.
A version who smiled. The version I had accidentally met at the animal shelter, where I volunteered before I had fallen in love with him.
The man standing before me didn’t smile anymore.
He apparently killed people now and felt no remorse afterward.
“Nico,” I whispered.
His gaze shifted toward me. Cold, expressionless. For one awful second, I thought he might actually hate me. Not dislike or resent but properly hate. The realization hurt more than I expected.
“Move,” he said.
That was all. No explanation or reassurance.
Nothing. Just one word, and I obeyed. Viktor dragged the bodies toward a maintenance room while Nico pulled me forward once more.
We reached another corridor, and voices drifted toward us.
Female voices that were only getting closer.
Nico reacted instantly, his hand moving to my waist. Before I could process what was happening, he pulled me through an unmarked door.
The room beyond was small and dark, filled with cleaning supplies and stacked chairs.
The door shut behind us, and everything went silent except for my heartbeat.
I found myself trapped between Nico and the wall.
He was far too close, the familiar scent of cedar and his expensive cologne wrapping around me.
“Not one word,” he whispered, placing his hand over my mouth. I hadn’t even thought about screaming or asking for help.
Memories assaulted me immediately. Every single late night when we shared laughter. The lazy Sunday mornings in which I had wanted nothing but to be wrapped around in his arms. Just six months ago, I lived in this scent, and now it only brought back painful memories from a past that was long gone.
Outside, the voices grew louder, and I recognized some of them, including Ava. They were the bridesmaids who had been helping me through the wedding preparations, even when I knew none of them. I hadn’t cared, though, as long as there was someone to manage things.
“Has anyone seen Vera?” Ava asked, sounding slightly concerned.
“I thought she was getting ready.”
“The ceremony starts in twenty minutes.”
“I am sure she is somewhere around the bridal suite. Let’s look.”
“I will go look at the rooftop,” Ava suddenly said. “She prefers being in the fresh air when she is stressed.”
Of course Ava knew that. I wanted to open my mouth and call her name and let her know where I was, but I did not do such a thing.
Panic colored their voices, and I closed my eyes.
Nico remained completely still beside me, listening and waiting.
His shoulder brushed mine, and his chest rose and fell steadily.
He was so close that I could feel his body heat, yet somehow, he had never felt farther away.
The voices eventually disappeared, and silence returned.
I opened my eyes. Nico was already watching me.
For one brief second, neither of us looked away, and I wanted to tell him everything. The truth. The words gathered in my throat, but then his expression hardened, and the moment vanished. He opened the door.
“Let’s go.”
And just like that, the distance returned.
We left the storage room and continued moving through the church.
Eventually, we emerged into the underground parking structure where a black SUV waited near the exit, engine running.
Everything about this operation had been planned with military precision.
Nico had not come here hoping. He had come here knowing.
Knowing he would be successful in taking me, and nobody, including me, would stop him.
He waited. “Get in.”
I stared at the vehicle, knowing uncertainty waited ahead.
Then I climbed inside. Not because I had no choice, but because there was nothing left behind me worth staying for.
The door closed, and a moment later, Nico entered beside me.
Viktor took the driver’s seat, and the SUV pulled away from the church.
Miami drifted past the windows as lights blurred together.
I finally gathered enough courage to look at him, but Nico stared straight ahead.
Emotionless and unmoving. As if I wasn’t even there.
That hurt more than anger ever could because at least anger meant he still felt something.
This felt like judgment. Like a sentence already passed.
And I had the terrible feeling that whatever waited for me at the end of this journey was only the beginning.
I kept waiting for him to say something.
Anything.
A threat.
An accusation.
A question.
Instead, Nico remained completely still.
For months, I had imagined seeing him again.
I had imagined a hundred different versions of this conversation, and some ended with him yelling or demanding answers.
Some ended with him refusing to even look at me, but none of them had prepared me for indifference.
For the possibility that I had finally succeeded in destroying everything between us.
Life had a cruel sense of humor.
The drive lasted nearly forty minutes, and eventually the city gave way to privacy gates and sprawling estates.
The Romanov property appeared beyond the wrought iron fencing.
This was not his penthouse in the city, which only meant this was just another safe house.
He wanted to keep me hidden. The gates opened immediately, and the SUV drove through.
And for the first time since Nico walked into my dressing room, genuine nervousness settled in my stomach.
This felt final.