Motive

Klaus led the woman into the living room, although her bruises looked dark and would probably take a couple of weeks to fully fade, she seemed less sore than the night before.

He let her observe her surroundings, the penthouse was impressive, he knew it, but he also knew that the woman was as used to all kinds of ostentation as he was, so although she didn't seem completely surprised, she did seem curious to understand where she was.

In the main room, Alenna was waiting, attentive to her every move, her sister not exactly the normal sight of a fourteen year old girl she should be, always alert and blank expression, long straight hair one of the few things she was allowed to express herself, Igor had gotten some clothes for her, and while Klaus hadn't shared all the details of his plan, he'd gotten some silence in exchange for a couple hundred bucks, Alenna She wasn't exactly a fan of her father, but she was close enough to Klaus for the man to trust her.

The girl had a purple jumpsuit and long pants that perfectly covered her arms and legs, the back of her hands were tattooed, and a couple of dark lines that adorned her knuckles, but other than that, she was a fourteen-year-old girl. run-of-the-mill, even if Klaus knew his sister could kill him without blinking.

"Hello," Anika murmured, looking surprised to see the girl on the sofa, Alenna examined her closely, doing a mental count of the woman's injuries, tilting her head peculiarly, her sister forced a friendly smile.

-Hello – Anika replied in response, Klaus cleared his throat, he could see her sister looking at him curiously as she helped Anika to sit down

"Anika, this is my sister, Alenna," he informed, pointing to the girl, who nodded in her direction, "I'm going to get food, do you want something to drink?"

Anika nodded, looking self-conscious and nervous, the woman was wearing a loose-fitting Klaus shirt, her legs were exposed, so she handed her a blanket that she had on the sofa making sure she was comfortable, she could feel the attentive gaze of his sister stuck in his neck.

He made his way to the kitchen while making a face, although he had thought it would be a good idea to have the two of them as a form of insurance for Anika to trust him, the fact that he had to bribe his sister for such a delicate matter, well, a thousand things could go wrong, especially knowing that her father probably just wanted to poke his nose into her life through Alenna.

He had asked all his staff to leave the building, only his security team had access to the penthouse, he would need a couple of days to convince the woman to go with him to the cabin, gain her trust and isolate her as much as possible, Although Alenna's being there would delay his transfer for two more days, he considered it a good option to appeal to his sister to ensure that the woman did not see him as a threat.

Klaus was attentive to each of the woman's movements, her body language screaming that she was uncomfortable, her back straight and the way she looked around her almost as if looking for a way out alerted him, he had to remind himself to act as if he cared, and for that, he would have to justify moving her without authorization, maybe it had not been the best of options, he finished serving the food, it was Italian, Anika's favorite.

A couple of grape sodas for the women, he didn't understand how he could like such a sweet concoction, but he would let it go, he poured himself a glass of wine and set the table.

"Food's served," he announced, walking over to Anika and giving her what he hoped was a gentle smile, helping her up, seeing out of the corner of her eye her sister roll her eyes as she made her way to the table, ignoring her, Focusing on Anika, moving closer than necessary and stroking one of the bruises on her face, the woman swayed slightly at the feel of him near, her brown eyes widening “are you feeling better? “ he asked in a gentle whisper, Anika nodded, swallowing hard, affected by her closeness.

“Does it look so bad?” she asked frowning, Klaus smiled, the woman would be desperate for him in a matter of days

"A little swollen" he admitted, moving his hand away from the woman's cheek and observing her reaction to the loss of contact, she blushed slightly, his sadistic part wondered if she would blush that way when he fucked her, but he pushed the thought away, his plans to get her addicted to him would have to be a little different

“When you finish flirting, can you pass me the Parmesan?” Alenna asked from the dining room, Anika jumped, taking a step away from Klaus and muttering an apology before going to the dining room, Klaus looked at her sister with irritation, watching the girl put down her glass of wine with a mischievous smile.

"You can't drink" he said automatically, irritated, but Alenna shrugged, she didn't really care, Anika pressed her lips together and shrank back in her chair, looking confused.

“How old are you?”  the woman asked her sister as Klaus reached her side, Alenna directed her attention to the woman, her gray eyes cold and almost disturbing.

“Sixteen” the girl lied, Klaus snorted, taking the glass of wine from her and putting it in front of him

“she's fourteen” he replied “Don't be fooled, she knows more than she should” Alenna completely ignored him, focusing on her plate, so Klaus looked at Anika “I didn't know you might like it” he lied “but I thought a little Italian food wouldn't hurt

“It's my favorite” the woman said now, looking a little more relaxed “I hadn't noticed how hungry I was” she murmured, taking the fork with her left hand, looking uncomfortable “ thank you” she added, almost as if it had occurred to her at the last moment “for all”

"You're welcome," Klaus assured.

Dinner passed in silence, Alenna was the first to leave, taking Klaus by surprise when she gave him a hug, his sister was one of the few people he had ever allowed to see him vulnerable, their relationship was close but complicated, they became He wondered if maybe she really had asked her father to stay with him for a couple of days, but he dismissed the thought, their father didn't agree to anything without getting something in return.

"She's a little young to have tattoos," Anika murmured after Alenna left, Klaus sighed and took a drink from his glass of wine.

“She’s too young for a lot of things” – he murmured under his breath “But it's not strange in my family” he offered, in an attempt to appear open to a conversation, he really wanted to go to his office and make sure that the merchandise that had to be delivered that night was in order He had things to do, but if he really wanted to make his plan work, he had to focus on Anika.

The man's gray eyes hardened slightly, making Anika think that perhaps he wasn't comfortable talking about his family, she swallowed hard, returning her attention to his plate of food, eating with her left hand was quite a challenge, but she wasn´t planning to leave nothing on the plate, it had taken her a bit to register that she hadn't eaten anything in almost twenty-four hours, so each bite felt like heaven, besides, it was her favorite pasta, so she felt satisfied.

Klaus was looking at her intently, she could feel his gaze on the bruises on her face, which made her feel a little too self-conscious.

“Why didn't you want an ambulance?” the man asked abruptly, narrowing his eyes in her direction, Anika swallowed hard, she knew he would eventually as questions, but she wasn't sure she could answer them, she didn't knew the man, she couldn't risk it

"I don't have anyone to turn to anyway," she lied.

“But you have money” the man reminded her, almost mockingly, Anika blushed, remembering that she had offered him something in exchange for his help, she looked at him, weighing it up, he looked visibly more relaxed than before, his hair was slightly mussed, he was an attractive man, tall and well built, she tried to remember the moments when he had helped her in the shower, but the only thing that came to her mind was the image of the man from behind, when he had caressed his cheek, she had felt a familiar tingle. on her abdomen, the smell of shaving lotion had filled her nostrils, she wondered what it would have been like to meet the man under different circumstances. Would she have trusted him so easily or was she simply affected by his kindness?

"I have money," she repeated, sighing. "I…it's complicated," she finally said, hoping it was enough.

“Anika” the man said sternly, slightly turning his chair so that he was now facing her “They kidnapped you”  he reminded her  “they hurt you” Anika shuddered at the memories “I understand if you're afraid of being alone, but I need to know something more than that”

“Because?” she asked feeling on the verge of tears, the question was silly, but the feeling of emptiness in her chest made her feel vulnerable, Klaus took her hand and caressed it, although her nails were dirty and broken, in contrast to the hand perfectly clean.

“Because it's not every day a terrified and wounded woman desperately asks you for help” he reminded her, making her feel a little guilty “if the men who took you come for you again, I need to know if I'm in danger too”

Anika gasped, feeling stupid, she hadn't thought of it, she was an idiot, of course the man was worried about his own safety.

“ I don't know who they were”  she assured, looking into his eyes “God, I was just at a party, and those men appeared out of nowhere, I thought... I thought...”

Before she could finish, she was in a flood of tears, feeling vulnerable and dirty at the same time, Klaus stood up, picking her up carefully.

“ Hey, hey, you're fine now” he assured, stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort her  “Shhhhh, no one is going to hurt you here” the man assured “you can stay with me until you feel safe” he reminded her, wiping away her tears while comforting her, Anika was overwhelmed by his kindness, all her life people had used her for their own benefit, Klaus's sweet voice and gentle caresses made her feel somewhat calmer, knowing that a stranger could have more compassion for her that her own father was an indescribable feeling, but reassuring.

"S-sorry" she murmured, hiccupping as she sat up slightly, Klaus had sat her on his lap while he tried to calm her down, so she tried to walk away, embarrassed, but the man held her firmly with one hand on her hip while he held her with the other. She forced herself to look into his eyes, lightly caressing her lip with her thumb.

“You don't have to apologize” he assured “If you hadn´t met me, now, you would probably be in a scary place, it's normal to be afraid, never apologize for it”

Anika blushed, caught in the depth of those gray eyes, she finally relaxed, Klaus seemed like a sincere and caring man, why would she be suspicious? She had never seen him in her life, it's not like he had any ulterior motive behind that gentle smile.