Her quick footsteps faded away, and she disappeared into her bedroom. I stood there for a second, watching the empty hall until I took a step forward, following after her—wanting to be near her.
It was a strange, fucked-up feeling, but since I had woken this morning, she was the only one I could think of. Ayla’s face had faded away in my dreams, replaced by the mute nun.
I had woken up in a sweat, confused at the sudden changed vision. And since then, she was all I could think of.
The blonde-haired nun, silent, with the most expressive beautiful eyes.
And now, here I stood, outside her door like a lost fucking puppy.
Alessio would be laughing his ass off. I would never hear the end of it from Phoenix.
Damn it!
But instead of turning away, I pushed the door open and walked inside. She was alone in the room, her bodyguard nowhere to be seen. Her room must have been left unlocked. I wasn’t surprised, though. Looking at her now, I knew there was no chance she would escape. There was something trapping her here. Not Igor or these closed doors.
Valerie was sitting in the same chair, facing the windows—sitting in the same exact position as yesterday.
She didn’t turn around at the sound of me. Closing the door behind me, I walked further into the room, anticipation licking its way through my body.
We were alone.
My lips tilted up in a smirk. There was nowhere for her to run now.
I spotted the notebook and pen on the bed. Walking toward it, I grabbed them and made my way to her. She still hadn’t turned away, and my fists clenched at the idea of her purposely ignoring me.
Playing hard to get, baby?
I scoffed, shaking my head. I wasn’t a man to play games with—she would be crushed in a matter of seconds.
No games, silent myshka. You wouldn’t like the consequences.
I was the only one allowed to play games. An interesting game was about to be played.
I wasn’t going to take Valerie. No, she herself would ask me to—beg me to. It would be all her. As long as I played my cards right, her secrets would be mine, and Valerie would be asking me to fuck her in a few days.
Just a little bit of effort on my part—and then easy peasy.
My feet stopped in front of her, blocking her view of the window. She looked up at me, startled before masking her expression.
Placing the notepad and pen on her lap, I straightened up again. Valerie looked down at her lap and then up at me.
She stayed unmoving, silent, her gaze fixated on me.
I found that I couldn’t tear my eyes off her, either.
After clearing my throat, I nodded toward the notepad. “How are you today?”
Are you fucking serious, Viktor? What are you—a fifteen-year-old virgin trying to get some pussy?
She took her eyes off mine and looked down at her lap. And then she took the pen in her hand, putting it on the paper.
I stared at her face; it was filled with concentration as she slowly wrote her words down.
I am fine. And you?
I read the words when she showed me the paper. Sending her a small smile, I shrugged. “I’m alive—biggest gift of the day.”
Valerie frowned, her face changing from calm to worried.
Are you in danger?
After quickly writing, she showed me the paper again.
“Not really. Are you?” I questioned, taking the subject off me. She didn’t need to know anything about it. The less she knew, the better.
The worry lines faded at my words, and then the silent myskha shook her head.
Not really.
I raised an eyebrow at her answer. “That’s not an answer. Is it a yes or a no?”
Her lips settled in a straight line before she furiously started to write down on the notepad again.
You gave me the same answer.
I brought a fist to my mouth, trying to hide my laughter. Ah, there she was. The feisty nun peeking up at me again.
It left me wondering if I was the only one who saw that side of her. She appeared to be closed off, almost emotionless, but there was fire in her. And I wanted to explore that.
“It’s the only answer you’re getting,” I replied, daring her to fight me.
She didn’t. Instead her eyes met mine, and we were both lost yet again.
The sound of the door snapped my gaze away from her. I stared at Igor as he stood against the closed door, his eyes going from Valerie to me.
He frowned at the sight of me. Crossing his arms, he stood there but stayed silent. He knew better than to say anything back to me. Yesterday had served as a lesson to him.
I looked back at Valerie to see her staring at Igor now. Her face was filled with fear, her fingers clenching and then unclenching around the pen.