Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Nicolai’s POV
He actually picked me up and carried me across the campus almost naked like I weighed nothing. I hated that I had to hold onto him to keep my balance hated how solid he felt under that damn suit hated how my brain kept whispering stupid things like he smells good or that his grip felt too warm way too natural. He was horrible arrogant dangerous and ridiculously attractive which only pissed mich off more. By the time we reached his SUV Antonio was already there leaning against the door with blood on his knuckles grinning like a psychopath. Alessandro finally set me down and I glared at both of them. “Who the hell did you ask where I am?” Antonio shrugged casually. “Your little shadow what was his name?” “Sebastian,” Alessandro answered. “Right Sebastian. That little bastard would not talk. Lucky for him Rafaele showed up and told us you study here.” I glared burning holes through him. Before I could snap something Alessandro put a hand on my shoulder not harsh just commanding. “Get in.” “I am not your dog,” I growled. But I was already moving. Pride was a luxury I did not have tonight. I climbed into the backseat refusing to let him carry me again. Alessandro slid in right after me while Antonio drove. “Where are we even going?” I asked after a while when the city lights thinned. Alessandro did not answer immediately. “Home.” “I have a home.” “Not anymore.” Silence. Then “How is Sebastian?” Alessandro looked over lazily. No emotion. “Still alive. If that comforts you.” “That does not sound comforting.” Antonio chuckled. “Kid has guts. He stalled us for half an hour. But Rafaele already guessed your hiding spot.” I stared at Alessandro again. “This is exactly why I did not tell anyone I was leaving and why I did not involve anyone. And you beat someone who does not know what you want to hear?” Alessandro did not bother looking at me. “Silence is also an answer.” I laughed bitterly. “You two are sick.” The rest of the drive was quiet. Finally we reached the property. And holy hell this place looked like someone built a museum a fortress and a palace and decided none of them were big enough. The driveway alone was longer than my whole damn street. I stepped out barefoot in boxers staring at the massive front like an idiot. The house glowed under soft lights not warm lights sterile ones like everything here was supposed to be seen but not touched. Cameras everywhere. Of course. Alessandro walked ahead like the place bowed for him. Antonio opened the door for me the grin gone replaced by that look of I can drag you if you try anything. I followed. Inside the air felt clean and cold and controlled. The marble floor was too perfect the silence too heavy. “If you need something,” Alessandro said without looking back “do not ask Antonio. He gives terrible advice.” “And who am I supposed to ask?” “Me.” I stopped. “No thanks. I will manage.” He turned and faced me fully for the first time since the car. “Welcome home Nicolai.” My spine stiffened. My chest tightened. “This is not my home.” He smiled barely there. “Not yet.”
I sat in this room that was already larger than the entire lounge in the dormitory. Alessandro had given me a short tour of what he considered most important and I had managed to roughly memorize where the kitchen, his office and his bedroom were. Though I could not think of a good reason why I needed to know where his bedroom was which to my annoyance was directly across from mine though I was relieved that I had my own room. But next to all this luxury and expensive decor which I barely cared about there was something that weighed heavily on my stomach. On the desk lay a contract which Alessandro told me to read and acknowledge. This contract stripped me of all power in every area. I had to do everything this man wanted whenever and wherever he wanted. Even if he demanded to put me naked on Times Square and let him take me publicly afterward or serve him as a butler or a little sex slave or anything else. The worst part was that my father had signed this shit. He knew exactly what he had given me into. I was aware that our family had grown weaker over the last years and that my father did all of this to rebuild strength but that we had fallen so far that he agreed to such a contract was simply unbelievable. I could not understand how I had ended up in all this shit even though I did know it. I had let Selena die. Although I would have ended up here anyway since the only thing I could think of to save her was to fake her death and get her out of here with Sebastian as her guard but I could not even properly plan that before she pulled her own stunt to feel free one last night which in the end cost her her life. There was nothing left that I could do or even wanted to do. Everything had become so pointless and I let myself fall onto the huge king size bed with the silk sheets and stared at the ceiling until the sun shone through the window that took up almost the entire wall showing a beautiful garden. Once I would have wanted to paint it while life unfolded out there. But I had no ambition left no energy to get myself to do anything. The door simply opened and Alessandro walked in as if he owned everything here which to be honest he did including me. I did not turn my head I did not even look at him I only heard his steps approaching softened by the carpet. He stopped beside the bed. “You were not at breakfast.” I closed my eyes. “Not hungry.” A moment of silence then I felt the mattress shift slightly. He had sat down. I did not sit up I just lay there staring at the ceiling as if I could disappear through it. “You should eat you will need the energy.” I scoffed lightly turned my head to the side and looked at him for the first time in hours. “And if I do not? Will you break my jaw and force feed me? Would fit your style.” His expression remained calm maybe a bit colder than earlier but maybe I imagined that. “If that is what I wanted you would already be eating,” he said quietly. “But I want you to understand yourself that there is no point in destroying yourself.”