Chapter 14
NICOLAS’S POV
This little bird seemed desperate to get out of my cage, only to end up flying right into Daniel’s. Her eyes and face still showed traces of her earlier panic, but she lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes at me. I walked into the room slowly. “Trying to escape my cage, little bird? She looked at me angrily and replied. “You seem to like birds a lot.”
“I enjoy breaking them.”
She frowned even harder but even then, she was still beautiful. “You’re a monster but the jury is still out on what type of monster you really are“. “What type of sick person enjoys hurting animals for fun“? Milene asked
“Oh Angel, you have no idea what type of monster I am
“What kind are you, then?” She asked
I smiled. “The kind who makes sure you can’t escape. Don’t waste your time.
“Did you put those locks in just for me, or do you always keep women trapped in here for your entertainment?” she asked.
I stepped closer, backing her against the windowsill. My hands braced on the glass as I leaned in. “No,” I said. “My father had them installed. For my
mother…
She looked disgusted “You Russos are all monsters.”
I leaned closer, breathing in her scent. “My father was a monster. I’m worse.”
Her pulse raced visibly in her throat, her fear clear even as she tried to stay calm. I stepped back and nodded at the clothes. “Those are for you. Tomorrow morning, you’ll wear the silver nightgown.”
Milene walked toward the bed, keeping me in her sight. She looked at the clothes with an unhappy expression. I pulled out the phone and pressed the call button. After two rings, Dante answered with a cold tone.
“Dante,” I said, keeping my voice smooth. “It’s good to hear your voice.”
Milene looked at me suddenly as she sat on the bed head, holding the sheets tightly as her prideful mask slipped. There was silence on the other end of the call, and I smiled. I wished I could see Dante’s face right now, realizing what his niece would suffer because of his choices.
“Nicolas.” In the background, I heard male voices and a woman crying hysterically. Probably Milene’s mother. “I’d like to talk, Dante. Man to man. From one leader whose territory was invaded to another. Two men of honor.”
“I’m an honorable man, Nicolas. Whatever you are, honorable isn’t it.”
“Let’s agree to disagree.
“Is Milene alive?” he asked quietly.
I looked at her sitting on the bed, holding the red sheets tightly around her. I heard a furious male voice in the background shouting, “Til break every bone in your body!”
“Her twin?” I asked. Pain flashed across her face, and she swallowed hard.
“Is she alive?” Dante repeated, his voice shaking with anger.
“What do you think?” I replied.
“She’s alive, because she’s worth more alive than dead.
“Exactly. But let me be clear if one Outfit soldier sets foot on my territory to try and save her, I’ll make her death as painful as possible. And I can be very creative when it comes to pain.” Even from across the room. I could see how angry she was.
“I want to speak to her.” Dante said with a low furious voice,
“Nicolas, you’ve crossed a line, and you’ll pay dearly for it.”
sure you think so.”
Chapter 14
“What do you
“It’s not time to discuss that, Dante. I don’t think you’re ready yet. Tomorrow moming, we’ll talk again. Set up a camera. I want you, her brother. her father, and her fiance in the room. Damien will give you instructions for setting everything up. I’ll do the same on my end so we can see and hear each other.”
“Nicolas” Dante started, but I lowered the phone and ended the call. Milene stared at me with wide eyes. I moved closer, and though her body. stiffened. Despite her obvious fear which she was doing a terrible job at hiding, she still kept her pride. “Tomorrow, the real games begin, Angel”
1 left, wanting her to think about what I said. Damien was waiting in the hall while I shut the door. As I walked past him, I raised an eyebrow. “Is the pizza here?”
Damien followed me and grabbed my shoulder. “What kind of video are you planning to make tomorrow?”
I looked at him, trying to understand his mood, but it was still hard to figure out. “I’ll let her choose.
Damien shook his head a little, looking unhappy. “This girl hasn’t done anything wrong, Nicolas. She doesn’t owe us money. She didn’t steal. She’s done nothing bad.”
“Ever since you got married to Kiara, you’ve grown softer. She changed you.”
“No. Nicolas, not in this case. We don’t hurt innocent people who don’t deserve and this girl doesn’t deserve what you’re doing to her Damien said angrily.
1 stared at him. “You know me better than anyone,” I said quietly “But here we are
Damien tilted his head, his gray eyes narrowing. “You’re taking a big risk. You don’t know her well enough to guess what she’ll do.”
“She’ll do what they all do, Damien. She’s a woman who’s been spoiled her whole life. She’ll pick the easy way out. I want her to say it in front of the camera. I want her uncle to hear it. I want all of them to know what she’s willing to do for me. And she will”
I went downstairs, grabbed a pizza box, and took it back to the guest room in my wing. When I walked in, Milene was sitting on the bed, holding the silver nightgown. She didn’t look up at me. “What if 1 don’t wear it?”
“You can wear it, or you can wear nothing. Either way, your blood will stand out the same.”
She shivered a little but let the gown drop to the floor by her bare feet. I stepped closer to her. “Here. You haven’t eaten in over a day,” I set the pizza box on the nightstand.
She looked at it like she didn’t trust it. I waited, thinking she might push it away but she accepted it which surprised me.
“I hope it’s poisoned,” she said softly, then grabbed a slice. She cook a big bite, chewed, then swallowed while glaring at me. “Are you just going to stand there and watch me eat?”
རྒོལ་ཚེ་དེའི་ཆེའི་རྡོ་
Breaking her might not be as easy as I thought. Early the next morning. Tate came to see me. In order to relieve stress, I was in the game room, kicking a punching bag to burn off some energy. He watched me for a moment while leaning against the doorframe.
Just say what you came to say,” I growled, landing another hard kick.
“Jake called me to clean up the mess you made at the club. I found Simon dead. Honestly, I don’t want to know what happened”
I glared at him. “If you didn’t want to know, you wouldn’t be here.” Tate stepped into the room, walking toward me. “Did he touch her?”
I stopped kicking the bag. “He didn’t. He tried to watch Milene while she was showering”
Tate studied my face carefully. “Where is she now!”
“In bed.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Your bed?”
I didn’t answer, but I stared back at him. He sighed. “So, you” He paused, looking for the right words but gave up. “I thought you wanted to use her innocence as a way to pressure her uncle and her fancer”
I tried to figure out what Tate was feeling, but he was too g forcing Milene,
I walked closer to him. “Do you have feelings for her?”
good at hiding it. If he was putting in this much effort, he clearly didn’t agree with me
He frowned. “Seriously! I have a girlfriend. I don’t want Milene.”
1:14 PM c d
Chapter 14
“But you don’t like the idea of me hurting her?”
“You’re the boss. You can do whatever you want. But no, I don’t like it when you punish her for what her family did
I respected his honesty. Most men wouldn’t dare to say that to me. “Then leave. I have a call with her uncle and family in two hours, and Milene will be part of it.” Tate looked away, his jaw tightening “I should go back to work.”
“Yeah, go to your girl and I’ll take care of minc
“She’s not yours, Nicolas, She didn’t choose you. That’s a big difference, Tate said before walking away. I went back to the punching bag and kicked it even harder.
