Chapter 50
NIKOLAIS PON
It’s been two weeks since I heard anything from Alessanden. Since that morning he forced me to suck his dick under the table, theventi poties a digir fri, call, m even a sign that he still exists in my life. The silence has been deafening, but honestly, I couldn’t be happler.
At first, I was convinced he would return within a few days, maybe a week at must, þest to forment me again. But at the days stretched leti beo full weeks, 1 realized 1 had been given something inte, Freedom. Real, undeniable freedom. Na kured interartisst, dia tenor, anbrirable moments where | bad. like he didn’t have complete control over my life.
I have been eating the food that the mid conks without any stient, amming every hite without the Inoming niety of his presence. No forced dinners. smng glances from across the table. It feels liberating. And secondly, Lapin has kept me busy throughout the weeks. At first, his presener annoyed me, bat
after countless exhausting gym sessions and long conversations, Per gotten used to him.
The gym has become an escape, a place where I push my hody to the limits, leaving me to drained to think about anything, or anyone else. By the time I return to my room at night, my muscles ache, my mind is blank, and sleep comes easily. There’s no room for thoughts of a certain billionaire pain in my
Currently I was in my room, Fally prepared for the next event. I pulled a black t–shirt over my head, smoothing it down before reaching for my ram. Logan had insisted on going to a har tonight, saying we deserved a break after two weeks of grueling training. I hadn’t been thrilled about the idea, but the more had thought about it, the more I had realized this could be my chance,
A crowded bar, a moment of distraction, that was all I needed. If Logan drank enough, maybe I could slip away unnoticed, blend into the streets, and finally disappear. Alessandro had been gone for two weeks. If I left tonight, he might not even notice until it was too late.
The thought sent a strange mixture of excitement and fear through me.
Freedom. It was so close.
I laced up my boots, giving myself one last look in the mirror. I looked… normal. Not like someone trapped in a twisted contract, not like someone waiting for their captor to return. Just a regular guy about to go out for drinks with a friend.
Over the past few days, I had learned something valuable–Alessandro’s estate had another gate. Unlike the main entrance, which was always manned by security and lined with cameras, this one was tucked away behind the estate, heavily protected but less monitored. It was likely meant for emergencies, last–resort escape route that only a few people knew about.
I wasn’t supposed to know about it.
But I had been watching. Learning.
they were distracted. That was when I would leave. That was where I
The guards there rotated every few hours, and there was a small window of time when th would meet Logan
I met Logan in the next fifteen minutes, my heart pounding with every step I took toward the hidden gate. The night air was cool against my skim, a stark contrast to the heat burning in my chest. Was it excitement? Pear? I wasn’t sire.
I had timed it perfectly. Just as I had predicted, the guards were shifting positions, leaving a small gap in their watch, I moved quickly but carefully, sticking to the shadows, my breath steady despite the adrenaline coursing through me.
Reaching the gate, I scanned the area once more before slipping through. The moment I was on the other side, a strange sense of relist washed over me. I
WAS OUT
Logan was already waiting for me by his car, leaping against it with an easy smirk. His dark jeans and fitted shitt made him look effortlessly put together, as if he hadn’t just spent the entire day pushing me to my limits in the gy
“Took you long enough he teased, pushing off the car and opening the passenger dour for me.
I rolled my eyes, slipping inside. “I was being careful ”
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Chapter 50
He shut the door behind me and walked around to the driver’s alde, sliding in smoothly before starting out of prison of something ”
I didn’t reply. Because in a way, I wat
As Legan pulled onto the road, I stole a glance at the estate in the rearview mirror,
walls disappearing into the sight.
For the first time in weeks, I felt like I could finally breathe.
The club was a sensory overload the moment we stepped inside. The bast from the music pounded through my then, the neon lights Hering in a doming amay of colors. The place reeked of alcohol, sweat, and merpriced cologne, I felt a strange sense of deja vu. I hadn’t been back here since that
The last time I’d stepped into this chib was with Sabrinn, my twin sister. We had been out together, for a while. It was supposed to be a night of fin–nf freedom.
just the two of us, trying to escape from everything the
But
itit tumed into the last night I would ever spend with her.
Sabrina had been laughing as she danced, her bright smile lighting up the dark room. Then, in the blink of an eye, it all turned to chaos. I heard a shot. The loud bang ringing in my ears. I turned around just in time to see Sabrina drop to the ground, her body lifeless. Blood spread across the door floor, a stack contrast to the flashing lights above.
The club had been filled with people that night–people who could’ve done something, could’ve helped, but didn’t. Instead, they stood frozen, watching an my sister was taken from me.
That moment was the day I died inside, and the day my hatred for this place, and everything it represented, was born. I despised it. I despised the people who still came here, who partied as if nothing had happened.
But tonight, I was here for a different reason
To escape.
Chapter Comments
Chapter 51
The club war booming, the has thrumming themagh my chest like a second heartbeat. I had only been here an hour, and Engen ist kler laughed tos loudly, draping an him around my shoulder as he swayed to the mousić
| wasn’t nearly as carefree. My fingers clenched armind the cool glass of my drink, my eyet–scanning the ressed, half reperting tomeching min this moment of hebdom
Then, through the flashing lights and shifting bodies, I saw him.
Mark
An old friend from high school, walking toward me with a tray of neon colored thats balanced in one hand. He still looked the same–same coelor gris, sharp blue eyes. For a moment, it felt like stepping back in time, back before everything had gone to hell.
“Well, well, look who finally decided to have a social life, Mark smiked as he stopped beside me, setting the tray down on the table.
Hefore I could reply, another familiar voler cut through the noise.
“Hey, Nikolai!” lack, another old classmate, appeared at my side, grinning as he nudged me. But then his smile faded slightly, his expression sobering. “Hey. man… I just wanted to say–I’m really sorry about Sabrina.”
Mark nodded, his usual cocky demeanor softening. “Yeah… We heard what happened. I can’t even imagine…”
The words made my throat tighten.
I forced a shrug. looking away. “It was a long time ago.” A lie. It didn’t matter how much time passed–ber absence still felt like a fresh wound.
Jack hesitated before placing a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it briefly. “She was amazing, man. I remember how she used to kick our asses at pool. Never let hear the end of it.”
That almost made me smile. Almost.
“Yeah, I murmured. ‘She was good at that.”
Mark exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, I know this place probably brings back bad memories, but… if you need anything, we’re here.”
I nodded, swallowing past the lamp in my throat. Thanks.”
Jack pushed a shot into my hand, lifting his own. “To Sabrina?
I hesitated.
Then, with a slow breath, I clinked my shot against theirs. “To Sabrina.”
The alcohol burned as it went down, but it was nothing compared to the ache in my chest.
No matter how much I drank, no matter how much I laughed with them tonight–her absence was still there.
And it always would be.
The song changed and that’s when everyone that was on the dancefloor started making their way to the bar for a drink top–up.
Just then, Logan stumbled back to our table, langhing and holding onto one of our other Epends for support. He was now wearing a huge birthday pin on his shirt and sunglasses in the shape of 23 uver is eyes, making me laugh as soon as he sat down next to me and threw an arm around my neck.
He was so drank that he even collected the birthday stuff from someone he didn’t know,
He didn’t look like the man I always train with in the gym.
Chapter 51
“I love you!” he shouted over the muste. “Anil my feel hast.”
He posted before his eyes focused on something else on the table,
OM SHOTSE he yelled, inaking mur friends take a glass and reis
Mo the air.
Jesus Christ, he was completely wasted, As Logan made a toast that made no sense mer the loud music blaring though the speakers, mergone cheerd, Ben downed their shots, slamming their glasses hack on the table.
I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling as I let my gase drift mer the closed. That’s when I saw her.
She was standing near the bas, her dark eyes flickering in my direction before quickly looking way. Her hair caseaded den her back in waves, and i a dress that clung to her in all the right places. Something about her felt familiar, but I muldn’t quite place why. Maybe it was just the shohol meeting with my head.
But for the first time in a long time, I felt something stir inside me. I say, so of course I had to feel it.
Fuck, How long had it been since I’d had sex with a girl? Since I’d felt a soft body against mine, since I’d lost myself in someone who
me, control me? The longer I stood there, the stronger the urge grew. I needed this. I needed something, someone to remind me I was still
“Have fun” Logan grinned, stumbling out of the way as I got up from my seat to move past him.
I be back, slow down on the drinks Logan I told him, but he simply shrugged, grinning at me.
I picked up
I up my drinks and moved to the girl, offering her the fruity one with a smirk. “Figured you might like something sweet.
She raised an eyebrow but took the drink, bringing it to her lips. “You just assume I like sweet drinks?”
I shrugged. “Did I assume wrong
She smiled around the rim of her glass before taking a sip. “Maybe not.”
I took a swig of my beer, watching her over the rim of the bottle, “What’s your name?”
She tilted her head slightly, as if debating whether to answer. Then, she set her drink down and stepped just a little closer. “Mia”
Mia. Pretty name.
“Nikola 11
I told her, and the hummed like she was testing the name on her tongue.
“Well, Nikolai,” she said, placing a hand on my arm, “are you going to keep staring at me, or do you want to dance?”
I hesitated for a split second. But then, without thinking too much, I took her hand and let her lead me onto the dance floor.
The bass pounded through my chest as we stepped into the throng of bodies, heat surrounding us. Ma turned to face me, swaying her hips to the rhythm, her hands trailing up my arms before settling behind my neck.
I let my hands settle at her waist, pulling her in just enough to feel her warmth, her breath against my neck. It had been too long since I’d been this close to a woman without anything else looming
For the first time in a long time, I let myself forget.
Forget Alessandru.
Forget the contract
Forget everything except the music, the heat of Mia’s body against mine, and the moment of stolen freedom I had carved out for myself that night.
A FORCED CONTRACT MARRIAGE WITH THE DEVIL
