Chapter 5 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ It was 38 minutes past 5p.m and she hadn’t called. I was checking my fucking watch like a fool. I leaned against the open door of the black SUV, my gaze flicking from the warehouse to the men inside. This deal should have been wrapped by now, but everything about tonight felt slower than usual, maybe because I wasn’t in the mood for patience. Luigi stood to my left, flicking his lighter open and closed, the metallic snick echoing between us grated so hard on my fucking nerves. Manuel stood a few feet away, cigarette dangling from his lips as he muttered something to another guy beside him. Across from them, our ‘business partners’ for the evening, Bruno Santini and his men were huddled around the crates, whispering like schoolgirls. Santini was short, greasy, and about as trustworthy as a snake in a crib. His boys were restless as a virgin on her wedding night, their fingers twitching toward their weapons every few minutes. I didn’t trust
Chapter 6 ⟿❂⟾ Sylvia ⟿❂⟾ He didn’t leave a card. No address. No way to reach him. For a man who seemed to have all the answers in the palm of his hands, Nikolai had simply disappeared like a ghost, leaving me to stew in my own desperation. And I was desperate. We all were. Mother Beatrice did her best, pleading with the parishioners to keep the shelter open, but for an NGO housing only women and children, generating no revenue—there was only so much the church could do. The shelter was shutting down. There was no denying it anymore. We were quite literally out of options. “Father Andrew would have known what to do,” I’d heard the Sisters whisper this morning, voices low but edged with frustration. For the three days it took me to arrive at this terrible decision, I felt absolutely miserable. Because there was something I could do. And that truth felt like a noose tightening around my throat. Agnes had made sure everyone knew. “A certain man is willing to help us, but can yo
Chapter 7⟿❂⟾Sylvia⟿❂⟾Two hours.That was how long I sat there, curled up on the broken, hard wooden pew, shivering, waiting for a man who was never going to show up.Somewhere between the cold seeping into my bones and the gnawing ache in my chest, I’d started crying without even realizing it. Silent, stupid tears that I wiped away angrily, but they just kept falling, carving hot trails down my cheeks.I didn’t even know why.Maybe it was the exhaustion. Maybe it was the helplessness clawing at my insides.Or maybe it was the terrifying realization that I might have just raised everyone’s hopes for nothing.Because what if it wasn’t Nikolai?What if the anonymous donor who had promised to help the shelter wasn’t him at all?What if I had made them believe, led them on, promised them, that someone powerful was going to step in and save us, only for it to all be a big fat lie?What if Mother Beatrice had looked at me with those hopeful eyes, had prayed over us, believing that help h
Chapter 8 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ A nun that reads erotica. Erotic romance novels, to be precise. Why do I find that so fucking spicy? I let my thumb skim over the pages, my gaze flicking between the words and the trembling woman standing by the door, her cheeks flushed, her lips parted in outrage, and her eyes burning with a mix of humiliation and fury. Oh, she was pissed. It should’ve amused me more than it did, but the fire in her eyes barely distracted me from the fact that she was soaked, shivering, and—fuck me—she had been crying. Crying. The knowledge made something in my chest tighten in a way I didn’t like. I had been sitting here for the past two hours, waiting, my patience thinning, my mind wandering to places it had no business going. At first, I was mildly annoyed. She was late. A minor offense. Then an hour passed, and I started to wonder. Another thirty minutes, and irritation settled deep in my ribs. Another thirty, and my thoughts turned dark. Has she been out
Chapter 9 ⟿❂⟾ Sylvia ⟿❂⟾ I should have told him then. That I was going to accept his offer. But Nikolai wasn’t giving me the chance. He was watching me like I was a snag in his perfect world that he needed to unwrap, one he needed to snatch. And whatever was in his eyes was pulling me in, making me forget why I’d gone out to look for him in the first place. Or anything at all. A slow, steady ache throbbed between my thighs, the heat spreading, my body betraying me in ways I refused to acknowledge. My nipples pebbled against the thin fabric of my dress, and God! The friction made the throb between my legs worse. I crossed my arms to hide it, but it was pointless. He had already noticed. His smirk was slow, so amused. “All this, and you’re going to waste it on a guy named Jesus?” My head snapped up so fast I nearly gave myself whiplash. “He’s not just a guy,” I bit out. “He’s the Messiah.” He nodded lazily, like I had just explained that water is wet. “Yeah, I
Chapter 10 ⟿❂⟾ Sylvia ⟿❂⟾ The first thing I noticed was the light. Blinding. Violent. It stabbed me directly in the face like a mystic celestial interrogation lamp, forcing a pathetic groan from my lips. The second thing I noticed was the headache. It kind of felt like tiny construction workers were jackhammering away inside my skull. Not once, not twice, but repeatedly, just for fun. A dull ringing filled my ears, making everything else sound distant, like I was underwater. I tried to stretch, but my limbs felt like lead, my thoughts moved slower than a church service on a hot Sunday afternoon, and worst of all—my mouth was drier than the Sahara. Something was wrong. I turned over, intending to bury my face into my pillow, when…wait. Tucked. Under. The. Sheets. I never tucked myself in. Ever. In fact, I usually just collapsed onto my bed like a crime scene victim and let sleep do the rest. Panic started to creep in, slow and unsettling, like a spider crawling up the
Chapter 11 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ I had spent the whole night watching a nun sleep. And now I had to work extra. I took the glass of scotch in my hand to my lips only to find it empty, I groaned in frustration. The bottle was somewhere on the floor where I had kicked it hours ago and I had no intention of going to retrieve it. I could barely take my eyes off my laptop, which was still open on the bed, the glow of the screen being the only lighting in my room. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night, and from the look of things, I won’t be getting any today either. My eyes went to the security footage on the other screen. Sylvia. I had planted cameras in her room even before she returned to the room last night, maximizing her absence. I didn’t need to, not when Manuel had already gone to pick them up this morning, not when everything went exactly according to my plan. I could have disabled them after putting her to sleep, but I didn’t. And now, even after spending an hour handli
Chapter 12⟿❂⟾Sylvia⟿❂⟾I fucking hate change. No matter how good it is.Three days since we moved, three days since Nikolai disappeared from my room like he’d never existed. Three days, and he was now just a ghost, a shadow haunting the corners of my thoughts. I barely knew him, hell, I didn’t know him, but somehow my life now practically revolved around him. He was in these walls, his hands were on me when I shut my eyes, and his lips were in my ears when I listened just enough, saying the dirtiest things. And that was really terrible, because I was cheating. On God, on my faith, and on my body. “Your body is the temple of God.” I felt so seen that sometimes I just cringe.It was that feeling of someone watching you. When your skin prickles, and the back of your neck feels cold, but no one’s there. Yeah, that. Only this time, I swear I could feel eyes on me—no matter how empty the space was.Maybe I should’ve expected it. I mean, you’d know that men like him don’t linger and ce
Chapter 41 ⟿❂⟾ Sylvia ⟿❂⟾ Two days had passed. Why hadn't he forgotten? "What?" I stalled, my mind scrambling. "Don't play dumb, Sylvia. It doesn't suit you." His eyes alone were enough to command my full attention. "There's no way I'll forget that when you were cumming around my fingers, you called out another man's name." “Jesus, Nikolai.” I groaned, pressing a hand to my burning face. “I literally just prayed for forgiveness minutes ago.” His eyes remained hard, but his hand came up anyway, fingers trailing along my collarbone, they dipped just beneath the thin neckline of my nightie to trace the curve of my breast. A casual, possessive touch. Like he was making a statement. “Then you better start talking,” he said, voice full of wicked promise. “Or you’ll be offering a different kind of prayer—with your face against that same altar.” He gestured to the crucifix with his head, “I bet he’d love to see just how filthy his holy little lamb is.” My entire body seized up. “Lord
Chapter 40 ⟿❂⟾ Sylvia ⟿❂⟾ Two days of solitude had given me too much time to reflect my sins. I finished the last prayer bead, pressed my lips against the small silver crucifix as my final words echoed in the stillness of my room. "Thank you Jesus for sins forgiven." I whispered, though I wasn't sure if I was truly seeking absolution anymore. For just a moment, I felt clean. At peace. Safe. Then the floorboard behind me creaked and I realized I wasn’t alone. Slowly, I crossed myself and turned, still on my knees, to face whatever demon had come to swallow me, most likely as punishment for the thoughts in my heart. Then my eyes adjusted to the dim light of my room, and my heart slammed against my ribs. Of course it was him. He stood there like a fallen angel, beautiful and terrible in equal measure. His imposing frame blocked what little moonlight filtered through the window, casting him in silhouette. He was dressed the part of a masked psychopath stalker, down to the hoo
Chapter 39 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ “We've got something." I followed Viktor to the makeshift investigation house we had just established at the Lab House. Computer screens lined the wall, surveillance footage playing on some, data scrolling across others. "We found a partial print on the envelope," Viktor explained, gesturing to Luigi who sat hunched over a keyboard. "Not enough for a match in any database, but it's something." "What about the symbol?" I asked, staring at the blown-up image of the serpent wrapped around a dagger. "Nothing concrete yet," Luigi replied without looking up. His fingers continued their relentless dance across the keyboard. "It's not associated with any known group in our records. I'm running it through international databases now. With Liam’s help.” I nodded slowly. "And the security footage?" Viktor released a breath. "That's where it gets interesting. They knew exactly where the cameras were. Moved in blind spots whenever possible." He pulled up the
Chapter 38 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ “You’re sure it wasn’t them?” Viktor exhaled on the other end of the line. “Not really. We haven’t known them long enough to recognize a pattern, but one thing I’m certain of is that those guys are sloppy as fuck. This particular heat was precisely calculated. It doesn’t fit their style.” My fingers clenched around the phone. “Casualties?” “Two of our men.” His voice dipped, carrying the weight of loss. “Travo and Sergei. They were guarding the Lab House. Didn’t even have time to call for backup.” The words hit me like a gut punch. Before I could process the fury swelling inside me, my fist connected with the car door repeatedly. Pain exploded up my arm, but it was nothing compared to the raw anger simmering beneath my skin. “Our merchandise?” I ground out, flexing my bleeding knuckles. “Gone. All of it.” Viktor’s voice was edged with frustration. “They knew exactly what they were looking for.” “Fuck!” The word tore from my throat, raw and vicious
Chapter 37 ⟿❂⟾ Sylvia ⟿❂⟾ "I can wait until you're inside.” Luigi offered, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. "No, thank you," I said quietly. "I'll be fine from here." Luigi nodded, his expression carefully neutral. Was he judging me? Did he know exactly what had happened between Nikolai and me? The thought made heat creep up my neck. I stepped out of the car and straightened my clothes, suddenly hyper-aware of how I looked. Jeans and a simple button-up shirt. Not my habit. The evidence of my transgression was literally written all over me. I waited until Luigi's car disappeared around the corner before making my way to the convent. My body felt foreign to me—still humming with the ghost of pleasure Nikolai had wrung from it, aching with the hollow aftermath of his rejection. My thighs still bore the phantom impression of his hands. I slipped through the side entrance, the one closest to the dormitories. If I was quick, I could make it to my room before— "Well, w
Chapter 36 ⟿❂⟾ Sylvia ⟿❂⟾ One moment, I was floating in post-orgasmic bliss, and the next—ice. Pure ice in his gaze. "Who the fuck is Sin?" My mouth opened and closed, no sound emerging. The name had slipped out without thought. The shame hit me like a bucket of cold water. I scrambled to sit up, painfully aware of my nakedness, my exposure. My thighs were still slick with my own cum, lips swollen, hair disheveled. "I—it's not—" I fumbled for words, but nothing came. How could I possibly explain? The coldness in his eyes was unbearable after the heat that had been there just moments ago. "Nikolai, please..." My voice sounded small even to my own ears. "I can explain—" He cut me off with a sharp gesture. "Go on." His voice was terrifyingly calm. I would have preferred yelling. At least anger would have been something familiar, something I could understand. This cold detachment was so much worse. "It's not what you think," I managed, though I had no idea what he was thi
Chapter 35 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ I needed a minute, so I stood up. She did too. "Do you know what happens to good girls who walk willingly into the devil's lair?" I asked, circling her slowly. She turned to keep me in sight, refusing to be intimidated. "They get burned?" "They get consumed," I corrected, stopping behind her, my front pressed to her back, my hands settling on her hips. "Devoured. Until there's nothing left but ashes and pleasure." I felt her shiver against me as I brushed her hair aside, exposing the delicate nape of her neck to my mouth. I kissed her there, just the lightest press of lips, and she practically melted against me. "How often do you touch yourself, Sylvia?" I murmured against her skin. Her breath hitched. "Ne—" she stuttered. "Never?" I slid my hands from her hips to her stomach, spanning her waist with my fingers. "Not even when thoughts of me kept you awake at night?" She hesitated, and I chuckled. "Don't lie to me, little nun." "I... try not t
Chapter 34 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ I lowered myself to my knees before her, bringing us to eye level. “Sylvia, we talked about this. No touching between us.” She exhaled stubbornly. "Touch me." Two words that cracked my restraint like glass. "Where?" Her hand rose, trembling slightly, to touch her own cheek. "Here." Then her neck. "Here." Her collarbone. "Here." I remained motionless, letting her map the path of her desire, “Every place you touch," I promised, "I'll remember.” Behind me, the sounds from the room grew more heated. Sylvia's eyes flickered to the glass then back to me. "They're performing," I explained. "Acting out a fantasy for whoever might be watching." "Is it always like that? Just... performance?" I considered the question. "For them, yes.” "And for you?" she pressed. "When you watch, is it just... physical release? Or is there more?" "It was," I admitted. "Before you. Simple. Uncomplicated." "Now?" "Now nothing feels simple." My hands gripped the arms of th
Chapter 33 ⟿❂⟾ Nikolai ⟿❂⟾ The loophole was so unexpected, so pragmatic, that I laughed despite myself. "You've really thought this through." "I told you," she said with a small smile. "I've been praying about you." "And God's answer was to watch me get off?" Her smile widened. "God works in mysterious ways." I shook my head. "You are so fucking bold.” "Sometimes," she agreed. "Now, don’t keep a lady waiting." The temptation was overwhelming, to show this pure, untouched woman the darkness inside me, to let her witness my most private ritual, to corrupt her even as she remained technically pure. "If we do this," I said slowly, "you sit there." I pointed to a smaller chair in the corner, positioned to view both the room beyond the glass and the main chair. "You don't move, don't speak, don't touch yourself or me. You just watch. Understand?" She nodded, her pupils dilated with what could only be desire. "I understand." I hesitated, giving her one last chance to