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CARTER
Friday had come, and it was almost ten o’clock in the evening. Emma hadn’t stopped pacing the floor. Nikolai supposedly said he’d find her wherever she was, and I was curious to see if the douchebag showed up on my doorstep.
Since Wednesday, Emma had been staying with me, and word spread through the gym that we were together. Her father shook my hand today and said that I was his first choice out of all the fighters in the gym. When it came to Ryley, Camden, and Uncle Pax, they’d all been like fathers to me, helping me train to be the best. I hated keeping the situation with Scar away from Ryley, especially when it concerned his daughter, but I had to believe he’d trust me to do what was right. That was what I planned to do, no matter the cost.
“You’re going to wear my hardwood floors out, Emma,” I teased, hoping to lighten the mood.
She continued to pace, and I watched her. I could see the redness under her right eye where Reagan had punched her during training today. Emma ended up turning around and roundhouse kicking Reagan, giving her a mark to match. Emma was a fighter, and I knew she could handle herself, but I wasn’t able to curb the need to protect her. It was an innate desire that wouldn’t go away.
Emma stopped pacing and sat down on the edge of the couch, nervously focusing on her phone. We had one more minute before the time ticked ten.
“I’m ready to get this over with,” she grumbled impatiently.
And just then, the doorbell rang. Emma jumped to her feet, but I held up a hand, wanting her to stand back while I answered the door. When I opened it and got a look at the guy’s face, I wasn’t shocked to see annoyance. He appeared to be around my age and dressed in a fancy suit, but nothing about us was similar other than our body size.
Emma sidled up next to me and sighed, but I kept my glare on the cuntbag in front of me. “You were right,” Emma said to him. “You did find me.”
He smiled at her. “I told you I would.” Fucking prick. I wanted to smack the grin off his face.
Emma glanced up at me, but I wasn’t about to take my eyes off him. “It’s Nikolai,” she stated, her voice devoid of emotion.
“Yeah, I figured that,” I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist. Nikolai glared at me before settling his gaze back on Emma, the lust clearly showing as he raked his eyes down her body.
Nikolai nodded toward the car. “Let’s go. You’re both riding with me.”
He turned and we followed him right toward a black SUV with dark windows. Two other men were waiting for us, sitting in a black sedan behind Nikolai’s vehicle. Nikolai opened the backseat door and pulled out two blindfolds from inside. Paxton had warned us this morning that they’d want us blindfolded. Emma peered up at me quickly before Nikolai slipped the black cloth over her eyes. I stepped in between them to help her into the backseat; I didn’t want him touching her any more than he had to.
Smirking, Nikolai held out my blindfold. I took it and met his stare head-on, not intimidated in the least. He stepped closer and lowered his voice so Emma couldn’t hear. “I’m curious to see how long you last.”
“I can promise it’ll be longer than you,” I fired back.
Nikolai chuckled darkly. “We’ll see about that.”
Once in the car with Emma, I slipped on the blindfold. She reached for my hand, and I pulled her close when the vehicle began to move. The ride was silent, and I welcomed it. I had a feeling Nikolai and I were going to butt heads a lot, especially if he kept flirting with Emma and antagonizing me.
We’d been in the car for about twenty minutes when we stopped and Nikolai got out. The door to Emma’s right opened, and Nikolai called out to the others. “I got Emma. You two get him.”
Emma let go of my hand, and I was pulled out of my side, sandwiched between the two men. We were outside for only a few minutes before the sound of a door opening caught my attention. I was walked up a couple of steps, and then a blast of cold air whipped across my skin. The door shut behind me, and the blindfold was pulled off my head. I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t what was in front of me. Looking over at Emma, she was just as shocked as I was.
Instead of being in a rundown warehouse or a dilapidated crack house like I assumed, we were right in the middle of a foyer with white marble floors and a crystal chandelier above us. A double staircase led to the second floor where two men stood guard, guns flashing in their holsters.
Nikolai motioned for us to follow him. “This way.”
Taking Emma’s hand, we walked down a long hallway, Nikolai out in front and the two suited men behind us. On the walls were several Picasso paintings, and we passed several exotic sculptures that had to be worth thousands.
Once we got to the end of the hallway, Nikolai stopped outside a closed door and rapped on it twice. “Come in,” Scar called out. I recognized his voice.
“Is that him?” Emma asked, her voice barely above a whisper. I shot her a glance from the corner of my eye and nodded.
Nikolai opened the door, and a cloud of cigar smoke billowed out, filtering into the hallway. He waved for us to go in, and I squeezed Emma’s hand, pulling her with me into the study. There was a large desk in front of the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the grounds. I could see Scar’s bald head from the top of the office chair, but he was turned away from us, puffing out more cigar smoke. On the opposite sides of the room were two men I hadn’t seen before, dressed in suits like all the other people in the house.
“It’s so good of you to join me here tonight,” Scar quipped, swiveling in his chair to face us. He set his cigar down in the ashtray on his desk and smiled at Emma when he stood. “You look just like your mother.” Emma didn’t respond but kept her glare on him. Scar turned to me and bellowed out a deep laugh. “But I see she has her father’s temper.” Dressed in an expensive suit like the other goons in the room, Scar wandered around to the front of the desk; he looked like the Godfather. “I had a feeling I’d be seeing you tonight.”
I kept hold of Emma’s hand. “I wasn’t about to let Emma come alone. The company you keep is questionable.”
A laugh barreled up his throat. “If anyone can keep Emma safe, it’s him,” he said, nodding over at Nikolai. “He’s a Michelson, one of the sons of the topmost powerful families in New York.” Emma gasped and I jerked my attention to her. She stared over at Nikolai, her eyes narrowed in disbelief. “See. I knew you’d recognize the name,” Scar pointed out. “You were in New York, after all.”
Nikolai swung his curious gaze her way. “Do you know my family?”
