𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 • 05 || ❝𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬❞

>𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃

· ·•◦───────·✧·──────◦•· ·

𝐊 𝐑 𝐈 𝐒 𝐓 𝐈 𝐀 𝐍 • 𝐏 𝐄 𝐓 𝐑 𝐎 𝐕

I grab the back of their neck along with their dainty hands, whoever this is has a small build, almost feminine like. I hold their arms at the back of their spine, preventing them from moving or headbutting me. The last thing I want is a broken nose.

"Leonid!" I exclaim, knowing Leonid is still in the mansion, he bolts out of his room with a thin T-shirt on and grey joggers.

"Open the basement doors." I state angrily. Whoever tries to kill me this late will need their fingernails torn off. I throw them onto the floor, they attempt to move but bump into Leonid's masculine body, and with a thump they fall back over.

The tension is something I can't handle anymore; I rip the hoodie off their head along with their stupid mask. But what I least expected was the familiar copper hair fall from its messy bun I've made fall apart by tugging on the hood.

"Kakogo khrena?" [What the fuck]

She looks at me with her bright blue orbs, not moving an inch. "Leonid, lock her up and keep an eye on her." I say sternly. Finally drawing my eyes away from her gaze. He nods in reply as I begin to turn and walk away.

I reach the top of the staircase and pull out my phone from my dressing gown. "Kristian? Why are you calling me at one o'clock in the morning?" He questions, I never usually call him, I know how precious sleep is for him since Nadia takes up all his energy.

"Are you free?" I don't know why but the anger in body is boiling so high I feel like I might explode if I don't talk to Jace. He wouldn't usually answer if he has Nadia with him. He doesn't ever want me to think I can rely on him when I can't.

"I'm coming round."

𝐌 𝐈 𝐋 𝐀 • 𝐎 𝐑 𝐋 𝐎 𝐕

The plan didn't work...

How can it not work? I hacked the camera system, I knew what to do, he had hardly any men in the house. And the plan failed. I groan in frustration and lean on the top of my knees, staring out of the jail like bars and watching as the broad bulky brick sits opposite me, avoiding eye-contact.

"So, I take it you don't talk much?" I look at him. When someone refuses to make eye-contact with everyone, it makes it obvious that they don't talk often. Maybe he's mute? He looks at me, staring into my soul.

"Okay, you can stop staring now, you've made your point." He grunts and looks down at the floor. I look around and take in the cold that bites through the pads of my clothes, it attacks my shoulders all the way down to my toes. Yet somehow, the frustration in my body warms me up. I'm fucked now.

The brick soon stands and throws some things at me, a blanket, and a pillow. He points to it without using words and walks off. I know what that means...I'm going to be here for some time.

𝐊 𝐑 𝐈 𝐒 𝐓 𝐈 𝐀 𝐍 • 𝐏 𝐄 𝐓 𝐑 𝐎 𝐕

"Wait, what?" Jace looks almost as shocked as I felt.

"Yep."

He stutters with confusion, "Does she even look the type to be working with a mafia?" I shake my head, remembering the complexion of my prisoner and their facial expressions. "Fuck Kristian." He throws his palms over his face and groans.

"The same Mila at the exhibition you went to? The one you brought that painting from?" He points the painting of St Petersburg. I nod. "You know how to pick these women." He rolls his eyes. I didn't show any interest in that woman, and even if I had, I wouldn't have done if I knew she would attempt to kill me a few days later. "Now what?" He asks with his eyebrow raised.

"I keep her here; she is a threat." I state.

"And do what?"

"Calm down Jace I'm not going to beat her, us Bratva don't beat women, even if they try to kill us." Not that we've ever had a women try to kill us before. "Call it a night, I'll speak to her tomorrow." I sigh and my gaze runs to the empty whiskey glasses.

· ·•◦───────·✧·──────◦•· ·

I barely slept the rest of that night, I'm knackered. I get dressed into something more casual, I feel like today is going to be a long day. I put on my polo top and black jeans and head down stairs where Leonid already is standing.

"Morning Leonid."

"Morning." I receive no smile from Leonid but a familiar female voice appears behind Leonid's body.

"Oh, so he does talk." She chuckles to herself, Leonid moves to the side and there I see the smile I saw only a few days ago, without the knowledge she had a plan behind it.

"Oh yes, he rips people's nails from their fingers, and their fingers from their hands, and their hands from their body...But I assume you're getting the picture now?" I ask rhetorically which makes her zip it, she seems to be putting on a fake mask and one day I will tear it off her pretty little face, although it takes some balls for a woman to stand up to mafia men.

I pull a stool and sit in front of the bars and notice the full tray in front of us, barely touched, I can already tell the toast is becoming stale. "Not eating hm?" I question her, she shakes her head honestly.

"Knowing you, you've probably tainted it with poison." She huffs.

I stare at her for a moment and watch as the toast Polina prepared is now as hard as the ceiling above our heads. "I need to ask you a few questions."

She smiles, "That's nice, don't expect any answers." She crosses her arms over her chest.

"Sassy little one, aren't you?" I stare down at her, watching as her true feelings begin to show while her feet are hunting for the ends of the blanket Leonid gave to her. "Who do you work for?" I ask the first question, but receive nothing.

"I asked you a question Mila." She stares at me while I call her by her name. "And I told you I'm not answering any of them, so give up Kristian Petrov." She leans her back against the concrete wall.

"Your loss, you'll get cold, get frostbite and rot down here."

I stand and leave her be, she won't talk. And a woman who has confidence to attempt to kill me, will have confidence to not let down her guard or her some kind of empowerment. "Leonid, keep an eye on her for me." He nods as I walk away again to go and find some answers.

I face all my men in the living room, "Maxim can you look on the system and track her IP address? If we find it, I want you and Jace to go there and try and find anything that'll give us information."

"Dmitry, can you find out the latest on our shipments?"

"Yes boss." The men leave a part from Jace.

"How you holding up?" He looks at me and I sigh.

"Everything is just getting on my nerves at the moment, how's Nadia?" My mind travels to the little human who always tends to keep me company even with the littlest of sounds and conversations.

"She's good, she misses you and coming here." He chuckles.

Little Nadia, she is so adventurous, she loves this house. She is already crawling everywhere It's unfortunate that little copper has ruined that for her.

"Has she answered any of your questions yet?" I shake my head in annoyance, only if she would answer a few questions, Nadia could be here again.

"She's been here for a few hours and is already a pain in my arse." I huff.

Jace chuckles at me, but I know he couldn't agree more.

"So, what's the plan now?" He asks.

"I don't know." The first time I have no plan. I've had someone attempt to kill me and here I am without a plan, I'm baffled. No one has managed to get do close before, but it was obvious she'd fail, no one can kill me even if they tried. And Mila Orlov is a prime example.

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The rest of the day drags. I've been looking at the laptop most of the day, trying to figure out where Mila came from, but she is smarter than she gives off, she's deleted our recent footage.

I look at my watch which reveals the shocking time. It's gone six. I quickly jolt out of my seat and walk out of the house and straight to my car. I fire a quick message to Leonid and Maxim to tell them I'll be back in a few hours. Every Monday and Thursday I go to see her, and today Mila has become such a distraction, that I've forgotten.

I get into my car and begin the agony of a drive.

For some reason, it doesn't take me long to get there. It must've been the orange lights I rushed past. I stare out of my window and watch as Nikita talks to someone across the room. She's squealing, and moving her arms all around the place. I drive a bit closer, but not too close. I begin to listen carefully to every word.

"Where is she then?" Nikita's voice is full of panic and distress, it tugs on my heart strings, but I try and shrug it off and listen further.

"Maybe she's on holiday or something Niki, I wouldn't panic too much." The other girl says and leaves Nikita behind, crying in the little chair. It breaks me to see her cry, I've never seen her like this. And I can only assume she is crying over her fake friend who is currently in my basement.

I wait a few more minutes before deciding to leave, I'm invading her privacy and I have done too much, but right now...She needs to be left alone to cry. It kills me to drive away from her, watching her in my rear mirror. I sigh and refuse to look in the reflective material anymore and keep my eyes on the road and not look back.

I'm back at the mansion now, it's nearly eleven o'clock. I pass the living room quickly to avoid eye-contact with the painting in front of me and storm down to the basement. My body is full of so much anger and hatred towards Mila at the moment, breaking Nikita's heart. I sit in the oak stool opposite the basement cell and watch as Mila rests on the tiny mattress. She doesn't move, which leads me to believe that she's sleeping. Her copper hair is sprawled across the white pillow and her foot pokes out from under the blanket Leonid gave her.

"Don't you think it's creepy to watch someone sleep?" She jolts up and looks at me. "Meh, I like to call it observing."

"How was it?" The cogs begin to whirl in my mind, how was it? How was what?

"What?" I look at her, but she has the most devilish grin on her face.

"Visiting your sister of course."

The sentence makes my blood boil further, Mila somehow has been here for nearly a whole day and has already found ways to get under my skin. I bolt up to the cell bars and put my arms against them, my knuckles whiten from the pressure building up.

"What are you talking about?" I question her, but her smile grows wider.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Kristian, I know you're there every Monday and every Thursday, precisely at around six o'clock, just to observe something you will never have." She's standing now, walking up to me.

How she knows about Nikita I don't know, but if she knows. Who else does?

"Who do you work for?" I ask aggressively.

"I told you Kristian, I don't answer questions." She smiles again.

"Then who else knows?"

"How would I know?" She shrugs, sitting back on the mattress and wrapping herself back up. I quickly turn and grab the stool I once was sat on and throw it against the bricked wall. I feel the rage travel through my veins, but I refuse to let Mila see any more of my frustration.

I give her a glance before I walk back up the stairs and shutting her out in the darkness.