Chapter 173
NIKOLAI’S POV
I embraced the challenge and trained day and night, battling tough opponents twice my size.
No matter the odds, I pushed myself to no end. I sparred with opponents bigger and stronger than me, and though I endured a few defeats, I also savored some hard–won victories.
Here, away from the rest of the world, I embraced complete autonomy. I was liberated to unleash my potential. No one hindering me. No one belittling me. Nobody could dictate how far I could go, nobody could dim my confidence, and nobody could make me succumb to doubt.
I felt liberated. No dissuasion. No shackles.
When I first started I didn’t even know what I was doing but I always ended up surprising my own self.
I was shocked to discover how much I had in common with him. Although I had initially thought our personalities were quite distinct, I eventually realized that a dark part of me lurked beneath the surface. I discerned that I was just as convoluted inside. There was a certain darkness within me. I’m not sure if this sinister side had always been part of my character or if it was something that he had stirred up within
- me.
I didn’t cower away from the sight of the blood. I have killed men and slept through the night like a goddamn baby.
When I had my first kill, It was like I finally understood what he was. It was as if, at that moment, I finally grasped the true nature of Alessandro and my parents.
As I began to realize my own strength and capabilities, the more I was emboldened to stand on my own. I had finally had enough of being controlled by others, so I started to become more and more comfortable in my own skin each day. It was a liberating feeling, understanding that I was no longer a child, but a woman to be reckoned with.
It is truly astonishing what one can accomplish in a single year if one focuses on personal growth and development.
Realizing the benefit of my heightened focus, I was able to make the most of my shooting lessons; however, I found myself gravitating all the more towards training with a variety of weapons, such as knives, nunchucks, and practically anything else imaginable.
Leah and her father ordered Marco to train me and now he was my partner, my trainer, and a good friend. We fought with one another like savages, he made me this good.
But lately, something in his demeanor had shifted. During practice, his touch lingered longer than necessary. His eyes sometimes followed me too intently. I caught him staring once as I changed out of my soaked shirt after a spar. He quickly looked away, but the damage was done. It wasn’t the first time, and the feeling of being watched had become unsettling.
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He kicked the knife out of my hands and before I knew it, he grabbed my arm and slammed me to the ground, and held a sharp little pocket knife against my throat.
“I think I taught you better than that, you were unguarded, distracted; never let your guard down in a fight, Nikolai. All it’s going to take is a second before someone jams this knife right into your delicate throat and ripped it apart,” he whispered in my face.
There was a strange intensity in his tone, too personal, too close. His face hovered too near, breath ghosting over my lips like he didn’t just want to win the fight, but possess something more.
My chest heaved up and down, I closed my eyes and instead remembered Alessandro, hovering over me, his bluish–grey eyes dark like the night. sky, the devilish look on his face as he uttered the four simple words.
“I killed your parents“.
I opened my eyes as a fire brewed in them, I slammed the top of my head into his forehead making him lose his concentration. The knife he
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had to my throat cut into my skin, I could feel a trickle of blood running down between my chest.
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