TWENTY

His presence filled the doorway, tall and imposing. For a brief moment, I just stood there, heart pounding, unable to tear my eyes from him. The sight of him, the man responsible for all of this, made my pulse spike. My stomach twisted, every nerve in my body screaming at me to run, but I was frozen, burning with anger.

"What do you want?" I snapped, trying to steady my breathing, but the words were sharper than I intended.

He looked stunned to see me there or to see me wearing his clothes. I could tell they were his. They smelled like him. Like the space. Like he had the previous night. When he kissed me, when he came at me, when he filled me.

My heart… it was palpitating.

He took a step inside and the door slammed shut behind him. That one step caused my heart to go haywire with panic and fear. My body still ached from the outcome of his touches last night, I wanted him nowhere near me.

But God, he looked undeniably good. Viktor was shirtless. My eyes trailed down his skin. The only piece of clothing on his body was a black swim trunk, hanging dangerously low from his waistline. His naked upper body had my head reeling. I spaced out - drinking him in - his body was so contoured, his arms, his protuberance biceps. I didn't know where to focus on, his broad shoulders, his pecs, his defined abdominal muscles; I was desperate to know what was beneath his trails of six packs, his entire skin was glistening with beads of water and his deep blonde hair with dark roots was damp and sticking to his face, little line of hair were visible up close, settling just beneath his plump red lips. His skin glowed so… I gulped, eyes wide as I continued to stare at him.

“The cops?” He asked, mocking me. “You’re going to tell them what?”

Before I could back away again. He closed in. He was in front of me. Towering me with his incredible height. He must have been swimming, I noted, he must have been swimming. And he was so close. His body touched me. I felt the bulge in his shorts press against my belly. He was close—too close—and I stiffened, trying to step away, but he wouldn’t let me. His body was pressed up against mine, and I couldn’t escape it. I looked down, unmoving, my forehead pressed against his chest.

That monster of a dick.

I took an impulsive step back. Cleared my throat, looked back up at me. “You kidnapped me.” My voice had softened. “You raped—”

“Don’t lay such accusations on me!” He looked furious, seething, his jaw tightening. “You asked for it!”

“I was drunk...” My voice broke, and I wiped the tears from my face with the back of my hand, barely able to breathe past the tightness in my chest. “I was so drunk... I didn’t know what was happening!” The words came out choked, a sob barely held back.

My tears did nothing to him.

He was unmoved.

Viktor’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought he might actually care about what I was saying. But then, without a word, he turned to the side, walking over to the wooden drawer across the room. He slid it open with a sharp, practiced motion, revealing stacks of cash tucked neatly inside. He pulled out a thick stack of bills and walked back to me, his steps slow, deliberate.

He extended the money towards me, the crisp bills gleaming under the dim light. “Take it,” he said, his voice flat, almost business-like. “Twenty thousand dollars. All you have to do is leave. Never come back. You can walk away, and you won’t ever have to deal with me or any of this again.”

I stared at the money, feeling a wave of nausea rise in my chest. The audacity. The coldness of his offer. As though that could erase everything—everything he had done.

I let out a bitter laugh, but it quickly turned into a choked sob. "You think this is gonna fix it?" I scoffed, my voice trembling. "You think twenty grand is enough to make everything disappear?"

His jaw clenched, but he didn’t say a word, just waited for me to take the cash. Like this was somehow supposed to be enough.

I snatched the money from his hand with a shaking fist. Without thinking, I slapped it hard against his face, the sound of the bills smacking his skin echoing in the room. My hand stung, but it didn’t matter.

“Take your money and keep it,” I hissed, my breath coming in short bursts. “You think I’m some kind of whore you can just buy off? You don’t get to fix this with cash. You—” I cut myself off, my throat tight with rage. “You don’t get to buy your way out of this.”

I could feel the heat of my anger rising, hotter than the tears burning down my face. Viktor stood there, frozen for a moment, the slap still hanging in the air between us. But I didn’t care. I had to stand my ground. Even if the world felt like it was breaking down around me.

This wasn’t just about the money. It was about everything he’d taken from me. And I wasn’t going to let him walk away from it like it was nothing.

“Then, leave!” Viktor’s voice thundered, his anger filling the room like a suffocating weight. “Get out of here before I change my mind about letting you off the hook!”

“I’m leaving!” I screamed back, my voice raw with desperation. The tears came hard and fast, my chest heaving with uncontrollable sobs. “Show me my fucking way out!”

“You don’t gotta ask twice.” Viktor’s words were cold and final. “Bonnie’s going to show you your way out.”

Before I could even process the words, Bonnie appeared in the doorway. Wordlessly, he reached out, grabbing my wrist with a grip that was firm and unyielding. I flinched, but there was no room for resistance. Through blurry, tear-filled eyes, I could barely make sense of the room as he yanked me forward.

I tried to get my bearings, but my vision was a haze of tears and shock. I looked over my shoulder, the last thing I saw was Viktor—his face tight, lips drawn in frustration, the weight of what had just happened heavy in his eyes. But it was gone too quickly, replaced by a dark blur. Then, without warning, a bag was thrust over my face, plunging me into darkness.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t understand what was happening, but I could feel it—the cold, suffocating grip of helplessness.

Bonnie’s hands were rough as they draped me over his shoulder again, my body limp against his. My head hung low, my face pressed into his shoulder as sobs racked through me uncontrollably. I wanted to scream, to fight back, but I was too far gone, too exhausted from everything. I couldn’t keep going like this.

The weight of the bag, the pressure of his hold, and the pain that had consumed me over the last few hours were too much. It all collided in a swirling mess of helplessness. All I could do was let myself be carried, my sobs the only sound left in the darkness.