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EMMA
We walked inside and there were people everywhere. The women all wore cocktail dresses while the men paraded around in their expensive suits, sipping champagne. Did they even know what kind of event they’d be watching tonight? My guess was yes. The whole situation made me sick, but it infuriated me even more.
“I need your phone, Emma,” Nikolai said, drawing my attention. He held out his hand, and I could see the seriousness in his eyes.
“Why?”
It wasn’t hard to figure out—it was probably so no one could film the fight or any other shady things he had going on under his roof.
Still holding out his hand, Nikolai kept his face blank. “It’s not just you,” he informed me. “Everyone else isn’t allowed to have theirs either. I’ll give it back to you when we leave.”
I didn’t want to get rid of my only lifeline, but it didn’t appear as if I had a choice. I reached into my purse to grab my phone and handed it to him. If there were a next time, I’d be sure to bring a decoy phone.
Nikolai slid my cell into his jacket pocket. “Thanks. You can follow me. The festivities don’t start for another hour.”
“Festivities,” I bit back, ensuring he could see the disdain on my face. “Is that what you’re calling it?”
Chuckling, Nikolai waved for me to follow him. “I call it as I see it, baby girl.”
The hallway he took me down was further away from the people in the living room, and a prickly tingle ran down my back. “Where are we going?” I demanded, hoping he couldn’t hear the unease in my voice.
Nikolai stopped at a closed door and opened it wide, revealing a room filled with wall-to-wall built-in bookshelves and a large mahogany desk in the center that looked as if no one had ever sat at it.
Placing a hand on the small of my back, Nikolai gently nudged me in. “Since we have time, I thought we could hang out in here, get to know each other better.”
I walked inside and away from his touch, trying to get as much distance between us as possible. Nikolai shut the door behind him, and I breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t lock it.
“I know everything I need to know about you, Nikolai,” I huffed impatiently. “We have nothing to talk about.”
Eyes twinkling with mischief, Nikolai moved closer. “I wouldn’t say that. There’s a lot I can offer you.”
“Like what?”
I didn’t want him getting close, so I moved over to the large window, only there was nothing to see but darkness. During the day, there was probably a spectacular view of the valley, but right now, it was nothing but a black void: ominous and eerie.
Coming up behind me, Nikolai met my eyes in the window reflection, his gaze predatory. “I can offer you the world, Emma. Anything you could ever want.”
I jerked around to face him. “I want Carter free to leave. That’s what I want.”
Nikolai snorted through his laughter. “Yeah, anything but that.”
“Then you lied,” I fired off, throwing my arms in the air. “You can’t give me anything I want.”
A sly grin spread across his lips. “What about jobs? With me by your side, I can get you in any magazine or on any runway you desire. Designers will be begging for you to model their clothes.”
He was too close, making my heart race, and not in a good way. “I don’t need you for that. I’ve been doing that all on my own.”
Nikolai’s smile grew wider, and it was as if he shifted into a different person. The energy around him turned darker. “You know, I didn’t think it would be this easy.”
Easy?What was he talking about? I knew it was something terrible by the menacing gleam in his icy blue gaze.
“What was easy?” I asked, furrowing my brows in confusion.
His gaze raked down my body before settling back on my eyes. “Getting you here. Granted, I didn’t expect Reynolds to throw a kink in my plans. I thought it would’ve been your brother taking your place after the whole prostitute blackmail scheme. Things would’ve been a lot easier that way.”
“Your plans?” I questioned. “What about Scar?” Scar was the one who wanted revenge on my father and the others.
Nikolai laughed and it sounded so evil it sent shivers down my spine. “That worthless piece of shit had nothing to do with this, Emma. He was just a means to an end. I needed his name to get this started.”
