8. Credit score > I step out of shower and wrap a towel around my waist. Camilla steps in after me to take a bath. I glance at the clock and see it’s been an hour. After sex, we worked out. I am feeling much relaxed right now. I love Jessie to death but a bit of personal time without her feels refreshing. Kids are hard. Which reminds me I need to hire a new Nanny. I think to myself and grab my phone to check the profiles Emma had sent me a few days ago. After a few minutes, Camilla steps out and says, “Jeez, Miko! Give yourself some slack.” I look up and see her taking a dress out of my closet. I shake my head in amusement. When did she put her clothes here? “I am not working!” I mutter. “Seriously, you sometimes nag me like a mother,” I say, and she laughs. “So, what are you doing?“ “Jessica’s nanny has quit. I am trying hard to find a new one.” It’s been two weeks and I haven't found anyone good enough yet. Maybe I am being too picky. “Why? She was with you
Almighty Jonas: ‘Waiting outside.’ I smile and grab my bag to walk outside. “Bye!” I tell Ira and Natalie. “Enjoy!” Natalie says without taking her eyes off Ira’s laptop. I shake my head. I am sure they are off their online research on Mikolaj and Jonas right now. Whenever a topic starts, they love to dig for every information available online. By information, I mean genuine things. Not just gossip, but achievements, scandals, lawsuits. Odd choice of entertainment. Natalie has a nag for snooping too. A hacker trait? And she is being a bad influence on Ira. … I walk out of the Dorm building and look around to spot Jonas. My eyes fall at a Porsche Carrera GT. He roars the engine loudly and all heads turn at the car. I open the car door and whisper shout at him, “I have friends here Jonas and they talk!” He laughs. “Oh Riley… They already think you are dating me. Let me show you off a little.” My cheeks turn red with embarrassment. Once we started working on our projec
I prod my finger into it and pull it out. My jaw goes slack when I see what’s inside. It’s a small gun drawer. There are two handguns and an assault rifle. There are some files too. A small laptop along with two hard disks. A fancy looking flash drive grabs my attention. It’s tiny. Do people still use that? I think to myself and pick it up. “WHAT THE FU-K ARE YOU DOING?” A voice roars behind me and I flinch. …. I think I peed a little. I put the pen drive back and shut the drawer close. When I turn, I see an angry man striding towards me. He is in a freaking towel. Where the hell are his clothes? He covers the distance in 2 seconds. I yelp and step back in surprise. My back hits the wall. “I… I am sorry.. I shouldn’t have…” I tilt my head to look at his raging face. My first realization. It’s Mikolaj Josef. He is tall and my head barely reaches his shoulders. My second realization. I fucked up bad. Such a terrible first impression. Little did I imagine, it was only
10. Panic.> .SLAP!My face tingles with warmth where her palm landed. It takes all my strength not to grab her by the hair and set her in place.I turn my face and fix my gaze at her. I can see uncertainty in her eyes as realization crosses her mind. “You can't ask me to do that. No one has any right to ask this of me,” she says in a quivering voice. Her big round eyes are simmering with tears. It doesn’t faze me. I have seen many cunning personalities hidden behind innocent faces. Does it work so often that Garrett has sent his own daughter into a Lion’s den? I will make him pay for this. “You are standing in my office with my safe compromised. I will decide what to do with you, Little Riley.”She lets out a little gasp.“You know me,” she accuses. “Yo-You know I came here with Jonas…” Her plump lips tremble as she fumbles, trying to form words “Th- then why-““Shut your mouth,” I tell her in annoyance and move away from her. I think hard. Of course, I got the
11. Ride>It takes me a while to get the goddamn keys of the conference room. I didn’t know it could be locked. I guess it’s a cue to get a detention room in this building for such cases. After today’s incident, we are upgrading security and changing protocols, anyway. I unlock and open the door, but don’t see her inside. A chair is away from its spot. I walk towards it and see a small figure curled up on the floor on her side.“Fuck,” I mutter and rush toward her. “Riley!” I put my hand on her shoulder to shake her a little. She doesn’t bulge. I put my fingers on the base of her neck to feel her pulse. It’s slow. She is in a deep slumber.I brush her hair aside to see her face. Her skin is cold to touch and her makeup is smeared with tears. I sigh and sit next to her with my back on wall. It’s pointless to wake her up. I am sure I am the last person she would want to see. But do we have any choice?I remove my jacket and put it on her. Then I put her phone on the ta
12. Olive Branch>When I get out of the lobby to get into my Uber ride, I notice the car assigned by Mikolaj is still waiting for me. A middle-aged man gets out and walks towards me.“Ms. Riley,” He says and I instantly feel bad about the man.“I had told Mikołaj I won’t need your car,” I justify myself. Why is he even waiting?He smiles and nods.“I wanted to inform you that I have been instructed to escort your ride till you reach home.“Oh. His loud voice clarifies that he wanted the cab driver to hear this. I don’t protest and get inside my ride. It doesn’t make me feel great. But Mikolaj was right. Accepting his help in the middle of night would have been a better idea. But after what he did, I am not willing to accept any olive branch from him.I fall asleep in the cab and the fact that someone is escorting this car makes me feel a little safe. …I reach my room after an hour, then slump into my bed. The room is empty. Looks like Ira and Natalie didn’t come back.
13. Compensation > A door knock brings me out of my slumber and I realize I dozed off. I close the yearbook in my lap, then drag myself out of bed while rubbing my eyes. “Coming… Give me a minute…” This room is a mess. Ira will be pissed when she realizes I didn’t do shit the whole day. I throw the year book inside the luggage bag, then zip and push it underneath the bed. I could still make it to the last two lectures. I must. I open the door, expecting Ira or some girl, instead I see a man in a crisp gray suit standing in front of me. I blink in confusion. “Yes?” “Miss Riley. I am James Patterson.” He forwards his hand and my mind screams not to shake it. His expensive tailored suit, trimmed gray hair and neatly shaved face gives me a sense of foreboding. It’s all too familiar. Just like Mikolaj fuckin Josef, this man is scary. Not in looks, but in personality. Also, I can tell he is an attorney. My dad is one, so I know when I see one. “How can I help you?”
Now you know. > Next morning I wake up early with Jessica crying. I get out of my bed half asleep and walk towards her room and see her nanny, Hazel, trying to calm her down. “Oh my girl…“ I call her out and she opens her arms towards me. Her face is smeared with tears. Just like me, she looks tired, and is half asleep. I take her in my lap and pat her back, trying to soothe her down. “She slept very late last night and kept looking for you.” Hazel tells me and my heart clenches. “Why didn’t you call me?” She gives me a sympathetic smile. “It’s my job. Just when I thought I would call you, she fell asleep. But kids this age have significant memories… She also has bad separation anxiety due to-” I give her a hard look, and she stops herself. I know what she was about to say. ‘Because of her mom,’—Bullshit. Rose had hired her. So I understand Hazel has a soft spot for Rose on this whole matter. I wipe tears from Jessie’s face and murmur, “It won’t happen again..
. - Riley - .“Lie down with me?”Mikolaj nods and pulls out his phone, typing a quick message. I watch him, feeling an odd tightness in my chest that I can’t quite understand. When he finally tucks his phone away and lies beside me, I turn onto my side to face him. It’s then I notice the slight hitch in his breathing, each breath rough and uneven, his face etched with lines of pain.“How bad are your injuries? Your liver?”“It’s fine. She was creating a fuss for no reason,” he says with an air of annoyance towards the stern lady. “My ribs are still a mystery. We will know more after x-ray.” His voice trails off, and I glance up at him, raising a brow.“And…?”“Nothing serious. I’m hoping it’s just a hairline fracture, not a full break…”“Sounds awful.”“Not that bad, trust me. I am just worried about how I will handle Jessie jumping around in bed.”I go quiet when I hear Jessie’s name. How things will be when I get back to my life. West could try to kidnap me again, or Maxim. Would I
. - Riley - .As they wheel through a dimly lit hallway, lethargy and dull pain wash over me like a heavy blanket. My back aches, my left arm throbs, and there’s something digging into my neck that’s becoming increasingly annoying.The stretcher carrying Miko pulls away from me and he protests, “Take us to the same room!”“No…” the medic who tended to us in the chopper says pointedly.“Oh, for fuck’s sake, it’s not a hospital!” Mikolaj snaps at her.“Our commitment to our work rivals that of an emergency room.” She claps back in a mockingly professional tone and I am wondering if I should laugh or be wary of her statement. “Plus, do you want to die of internal injuries?”“Yeah man… We need to make sure the person paying us doesn’t drop dead,” the guy with the dislocated shoulder croaks, eliciting a round of chuckles from the others. “I feel fine,” Miko mutters, sulking.“She needs some privacy, and you need an ultrasound.” With that, she rushes into a room with the man who has a bull
Ride. - Mikolaj - .“All clear.” The Merce ahead of me says after a quick sweep of the room. A brief glance behind tells me the man limping along with me is losing his strength. “Stay here and make sure no one comes from behind,” I tell him. We both know it’s unlikely—everyone in this building is either dead or incapacitated. Still, I would rather he conserve his energy than exhaust himself before the mission is over. We’re not safe until we’re out.“How is it going?” Raylan asks over my ear piece and I grunt.“Not sure if she is here,” I reply, keeping my focus on the bodies lying down. My urge to drill another bullet in each of their heads is strong, but there’s no point in disrespecting the dead, especially when it would invite more legal complications than we already have.“Fuck.”My heart hammers in my chest as I ask, “What?”“Yours is the only team having some action. Rest of the sites were… Not the one,” he says with a slight pause.Based on the analysis of the sunlight and
110. Rescue . - Riley - . My hands tremble as I grab the door handle and pull. It doesn’t budge. Did West come back, or is it just the seven of us under attack? A small part of me wonders if it's the police. I have no choice but to wait and watch my luck unfold. So I do that. I sink in a corner and flinch with each gunshot. Rapid sharp cracks make my heart jump as I realize someone is firing an automatic rifle. This can't be a rescue mission. Considering the chaos outside I will definitely die before the night ends. Chewing on my lips, I glance towards the bathroom and consider. I should try 911 again. My legs are weak beneath me as I tiptoe inside and lift the lid off the toilet tank. I reach in and feel the cold plastic of the phone. Next, I go to the mattress and lift the edge just enough to grab the folded piece of tissue that hides the unused pregnancy test. I shove the test into my pocket, promising myself If I survive this night, first thing I will do is take the test. My
. - Riley - .Thankfully, I am already on the move to put the toilet tank lid back on when Scarlett slams the door open.“What did you do?” she demands.“One of them grabbed me… I- I just reacted,” I say, reaching to flush, praying that the flimsy plastic bag somehow saves the phone.She nods, her expression unreadable as she turns on her heel. “Come with me.”Her silence makes my heart thump and I follow her down the hallway, my mind racing. “Scar?” I ask in a small voice.“You could have come to me!” she snaps. “Reed is trying to seal a deal with them, and the man you attacked is someone important.” She is quiet for a moment, breathing hard as she asks, “Seriously, tell me, are you seeking trouble for no reason?”“I am NOT!” I defend myself, my anger rising. How could she say that to me? “He was groping me. What am I supposed to do? Let him feel me?” “As long as he is not screwing you without payment, I don’t see a problem. Get down on your high horse and focus on keeping your head
. - Riley - .As West locks the door from outside, I turn and my eyes meet the stare of security camera, its red blinking light taunting me. Is Mikolaj really watching or is West just playing mind games? Doesn’t matter. I am pissed at both of them. West kidnapped me, but Mikolaj... He literally forced me to live with him so I would be miserable.“Does my misery make you delighted, Mr. Josef?” Slight shake of my head I add, “I fucking hate you… Hate that you used me to get your stupid revenge.” I know he cannot hear me, but if he could, would he even care? Turning on my heel, I stroll into the bathroom. As my hand grips the cold knob, the rage drains away, leaving the hollow ache. My emotions are a chaotic mess, bouncing between hurt and fury. I should blame the sex party West forced me to stay in. The atmosphere of lust and excess made my eyes bleed. Figuratively. Then he had the nerve to ask for a kiss. And the worst part… First thought that crossed my mind was how Mikolaj would re
Deal. - Mikolaj - .“They will try to squeeze you dry, Miko. This 10k stunt was just to put you at ease with the idea of spending money. I know you’re stressed, and this is why you need to consult others before spending any more money,” Raylan says as he pulls over in front of Camilla’s house. Apparently, paparazzi are still lingering around my house, hence Camilla brought her here.“I will also look for an expert who can advise us on negotiations. If they contact during the night—which we both know is highly unlikely—ask me or Camilla first. Don’t decide anything alone.”I’m too exhausted to show my annoyance. So I simply nod and grab my bag to walk inside. House is dark with a dim glow pouring from the laptop on dining table. Camilla is sitting there, clenching a tissue in her fist.“Camilla?” She closes the laptop and straightens her back.“Took you a while…” she asks in a strange voice.“Yea,” I reply, my eyes searching her face. She seems somewhere between upset and composed.“I
Ping. - . Mikolaj . - .Raylan kicks on the door, and with a loud thud it slams against the wall. I stroll inside and look around for the occupants. Then I see him. Victor glued to the couch, startled. “About time,” I say as he gets up and takes a run towards the door.Raylan blocks his way, pushing him back inside.“Wh- What do you want this time?” Victor asks as Raylan nudges him one more time as he stumbles onto the carpet.“Camilla told me about your polite comment a few hours ago,” I sneer at him. “We were curious what it meant.”After my meeting with Jacob and Natalie, I got an interesting call from Camilla and I took flight back here immediately. Since the website Jacob told me about is inaccessible, I am hoping to find some answers here. “I-I meant no offense.”The door knocks and Camilla’s voice comes through. “Are you guys in there?” Raylan lets her in and her eyes widen, seeing Victor. “Where the fuck are your clothes?” Then she frowns, her eyes searching for something. “
Party of sorts - 2. - . Riley . - .I had asked West last night if he had contacted anyone, but he didn’t spit out a word either.“Why are you here, Tank? Do you need something?” Scar says as before I can ask Tank anything.“A blow job,” he says with a twinkle in his eyes. I know he is talking to Scarlet, but his fixed gaze at me pisses me off beyond no explanation.“Try that and I will bite it off. Then maybe shove it in your mouth,” I grit through my teeth.His face contorts with anger as he strides towards me. Scarlett rushes between us, creating a barrier while my fingers twitch to grab the knife on the counter behind me.“West won’t be happy if you create a mess in here.”“He isn’t my fuckin boss.” He snarls.“Even others won’t be happy. This is an important meeting, Tank. Please… Calm down.”With a jerk, he grabs Scarlet’s hand and backs away. “Join us for the party or die in the kitchen, but you cannot leave this area until the party is over.”“I was looking forward to attend