Chapter 17 THE SILENT CALL
JASMINE:
My privileges were revoked the night after I tried to escape. The illusion of negotiation dissolved like it had never existed. Guards returned to my door. And more below my window.
I tested him, and he tightened the perimeter. So now I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the wall, replaying my mistake.
Just then, a knock came at the door, and the door opened.
Ana stepped inside, her expression cautious.
“Miss… there’s a call for you.”
I blinked.
“A call?”
She nodded. “The Don asked that you come to the study.”
My stomach tightened. My calls had been part of the negotiated terms. Those terms no longer existed.
“Do you know who it is?” I asked.
Ana hesitated for a fraction of a second. “He didn’t say.”
Why would he?
I stood. Two guards escorted me down the hallway. They were not close enough to come in contact with me, but close enough to remind me of the consequences of my actions.
The study doors were open when we arrived. Nikolai sat behind his desk, alone, with the phone rested in front of him.
He didn’t stand when I entered.
I stepped inside anyway.
“You have a call,” he said calmly.
I glanced at the phone. “I gathered that.”
His eyes held mine for a beat too long.
“It's David Gutta.”
Hearing his name surprised me. But I didn’t let it show.
“Why would he be calling you?” Nikolai asked, curious. “I thought you made it clear to him that you don’t want to be bothered.”
I crossed my arms lightly. “He’s my manager. I have a career, remember?”
A flicker passed through his eyes at that, but his voice remained even.
“Can I call back?” I asked, unbothered.
Nikolai didn’t hand me the phone immediately.
“Why would he be calling?” he asked again.
“Like I said, he’s my manager.” I retorted.
“…and the guy you wanted to get back at, right?”
There was a small pause. I didn’t utter a single word out.
“He was the one you were with at the club that night. The reason you kissed me. The reason you’re now a part of my world.” he observed. He hummed, a slow smile spreading across his lips. “It is as you said, ‘to make my ex jealous’. Isn’t that right, baby girl?”
I met his gaze steadily, still refusing to reply.
Then he pushed the phone toward me.
“Speaker stays on.”
I didn’t argue. I pressed accept.
“Hello?”
There was silence for half a second. Then,
“Jasmine? Oh my God. Jasmine.”
He sounded relieved. My throat tightened before I forced it steady.
“Yes.”
“You don’t know how many times I have tried to reach you.” As he continued to speak, his voice changed from relieved to one of barely suppressed anger. “Japan? Please tell me this is a cruel joke! What I did was a mistake. I was just experimenting with him.”
I closed my eyes as the image of him inside another man replayed in my head.
I was painfully aware of Nikolai watching me.
“I just needed space,” I said calmly.
“Space?” David exhaled sharply. “You have a job, a high paying job, a fiancé, and you need space?”
Something inside of me snapped at that moment.
A fiancé? The audacity almost made me laugh.
“You cheated on me,” I said evenly. “With a man.”
I could feel the roll of his eyes. “I already said I am freaking sorry. I messed up and I take ownership of my mistake.”
“Messed up?” I repeated softly. “You slept with multiple people while telling me you were working late. This makes me wonder if all were men.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“And then I walked in on you with him.”
Silence. Even Nikolai’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
David’s voice lowered. “That wasn’t what it looked like.”
I almost admired the commitment to delusion.
“Ride me like a horse?”
From the side, I could sense Nikolai trying to hold in his laughter.
“Yeah. It was exactly what it looked like.”
“I was confused, Jasmine. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You didn’t know how to stop.”
The words came out sharper than I intended.
Across the desk, Nikolai remained still. But something in his posture had changed, tighter and controlled.
“I love you, Jasmine.” David said suddenly.
“You love me?” I asked quietly. “Or you love what I have to offer?”
There was another pause.
“Where are you?” he asked. “Are you safe? Let me come get you.”
My lips pursed.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I glanced at Nikolai. His eyes didn’t leave mine.
“I’m not alone,” I said carefully.
David inhaled sharply. “You’re with someone?”
“She said she’s not alone,” Nikolai’s voice cut in smoothly, deadly calm.
There was silence on the other end.
“Who the hell is that?” David demanded.
My pulse spiked.
“This conversation isn’t productive,” I said quickly.
“Jasmine, wait—”
I ended the call. The click echoed loudly.
The room went quiet as I set the phone down slowly.
Nikolai leaned back in his chair.
“You still care,” he said.
“If that’s what you deduced from the entire call, then I don’t think you’ve been listening.” I scoffed.
Nikolai stood then, walking around the desk, slowly. He stopped a few feet in front of me.
“Then say it plainly.”
I held his gaze. “I don’t love him.”
There was a brief pause.
“And yet you didn’t tell him that,” Nikolai replied, voice even.
“I didn’t owe him anything,” I shot back. “And I’m not going to perform closure on command.”
Nikolai’s eyes narrowed slightly, calculating.
“Do you miss him?” he asked.
“No.”
The lie came out too fast.
His gaze held mine like he’d caught it.
“You don’t have to miss him to be tied to him,” he said. “Is he the kind of man who lets go when he’s told no?”
“No,” I admitted, quieter.
“So he’ll come looking,” Nikolai said. It wasn’t a question.
“He thinks he can fix it,” I muttered. “He thinks if he shows up and says the right words, I’ll fold.”
“And would you?” Nikolai asked.
My pulse kicked. “No.”
“Not even if he cries?” he pressed, almost calm. “Not even if he apologises again?”
I swallowed. “No.”
Nikolai studied me for a long moment, as if he was deciding what to believe and what to plan for.
“Good,” he said finally.
I let out a sharp breath. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t.”
Nikolai then turned slightly, like he was done with the conversation. Then his hand brushed a glass display case beside the desk. It was tall, decorative, and filled with expensive crystal.
He moved so sharply that his elbow clipped the edge. The whole thing rattled, unsteady for a second, then it tipped.
“Nikolai!”