Chapter 5 - Gemma

My heart was in my throat as I panicked, pacing back and forth in the bedroom.

How could I be so stupid? Why did I ever think going to the Levovs was a good idea?

Those thoughts circled within my mind over and over again, further fuelling my ceaseless steps.

Even if the bedroom was ridiculously nice—far more luxurious than any bedroom I had ever known or had myself—I didn’t have the additional brainpower to focus on anything other than the impossible position I landed myself in.

I was a complete idiot. There was no other way of putting it.

I tried to have faith in the very family that I wrote the piece on, outlining potential crimes they committed. For whatever reason, I thought that offering them the chance to give their side of the story would somehow land me in their good graces, and I wouldn’t have to worry about their retaliation.

However, I only seemed to speed up that process by speaking with Benedikt. It made me wonder if my luck ran out the moment I spoke to him specifically or if they all would’ve handled the situation similarly.

Given how the apple likely didn’t fall far from the tree, I could only assume the latter.

My trust was incorrectly placed, and I put myself in the worst possible situation I could.

As I paced, I couldn’t get my head out of that never-ending loop. I wished I had never even taken on the piece. I should’ve taken one look at the subject matter and turned it away before requesting a new assignment.

Thinking it over, it was a lofty request to make of an intern. To put that kind of weight on my shoulders was egregious.

And yet, I could try and blame my boss all I wanted, but it wouldn’t change the fact that I willingly walked into that club. I gladly took on the project since I was far too ambitious to turn it down, and I had decided to seek out the Levovs for their piece.

Above all else, I wished I had never even heard of that name. I wished I was just as clueless as most of the nation and could continue with my life as if nothing happened. If only I could turn back time and manage to do exactly that.

But it was too late. Benedikt had me in his possession, and, given the ample security cameras I saw the moment he pulled into the driveway, along with his wealth, I couldn’t see a single way out.

I was stuck, and while I normally wasn’t one to just give up, I wasn’t sure what my other options were.

Regardless of how I looked at it, it was a losing battle, and the Levov resources would find me dead and buried before I’d ever make it out of the house. Before I could ever get the word out about their crimes.

When my voice gave out and I couldn’t think of anything else to scream at him, my feet couldn’t keep carrying me around the room, either. I eventually dropped onto the bed, reluctantly accepting how comfortable the mattress was.

Even if my body was exhausted, my mind continued to run, let loose with the damning thoughts of how horribly I screwed up. How I typed out my life sentence the moment I started that article.

As I closed my eyes, I couldn’t help but see Benedikt’s face in my mind from when he was barely an inch away from me in the car. The smug grin on his stupidly handsome face.

If things were different, I would’ve found myself tripping over my own feet just to be near him. I would’ve gladly gone out with him if he had asked me.

But things were far from that simple.

He was beyond attractive, and he had more than enough influence to silence me, but that didn’t mean I could just get married and call it a day.

If I didn’t make it back to work, I’d lose out on my internship, and if Benedikt were to decide one day that he was done with me, I wouldn’t have anything left at all. I would be left high and dry, with nothing to show for my efforts, all because of a stupid mistake.

There was too much at stake for me, yet he was treating it like just another casual Friday night.

Regardless of what I thought or what I wanted, my life was about to change, and there was nothing I could do about it.

***

The moment my eyes peeled open the next day, I was greeted by a lovely headache that made me want to curl up and go back to sleep. But by then, the reality of everything came flooding back, and there was no way I’d be able to close my eyes again.

My stomach ached from the weight of everything, and after spending the last portion of the night shouting at Benedikt, my whole body felt like it needed a full week to recover.

To my dismay, the bed had been more comfortable than I wanted to admit, and if I hadn’t been so distraught about it all, I was sure it would’ve been the best sleep of my life.