Page 49 of Seduced By the Russian

Aleksei knew his father, so that couldn’t possibly have been the end of the story.

“Sh…” Aleksei pulled his sister back into his arms. “It’s all good. He allowed me in here.”

“How? Why?” Lisa couldn’t believe Nikolai would do something like that without expecting another thing in return. He was a ruthless businessman and didn’t believe in gifting. “What did he ask you to give him?”

“Elizaveta…”

“You have to tell me,” she said. “I won’t go anywhere with you if you don’t.”

“I don’t want you to worry about a thing.”

“I have been worrying about my wellbeing since I got into the system, so this is little compared to that. What does Nikolai want from you in exchange for my freedom?”

“Us,” Aleksei whispered. “He wants the Bratva’s wealth. We’ll be left with nothing, but that’s fine. It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Elizaveta, listen to me! I would give up my life as long as I know you are safe.”

Lisa wanted to tell her brother that Nikolai wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, but even she was beginning to doubt that.

Damn her feelings!

Damn love!

Chapter Twenty-Four

The door suddenly pushed open again, but this time, Lisa was ready for whoever it was. She glared at the door as Nikolai walked in with a look she couldn’t describe. Lisa made to hide her brother behind her frame, but Nikolai barely paid attention to Aleksei. To both their surprise, he planted himself firmly beside Lisa and pulled her flush to him.

“You’ve had enough time with her,” he muttered, not bothering to hide his jealousy. “I know she’s your sister, but … that’s enough.”

Lisa’s breath caught in her throat as she thought he was finally going to say he felt something for her, but he abruptly ended it. There was no surprise there, anyway. But what Lisa couldn’t understand was the essence of all of this. Wasn’t he letting her go anymore?

Suddenly, Lisa forced herself away from his arms and moved to one end of the room, putting as much distance between them as possible. Even though it was hard for Lisa to loathe him, she desperately wanted to feel that way towards him at that moment. He was a monster who only wanted to have his way despite the fact that he knew it would hurt her.

“Elizaveta…”

“Don’t call me that!” she yelled, glaring daggers at him. “You don’t get to call me that. I don’t care how long you think you’ve known me for; whether you watched me race about in nothing but diapers. To me, you are a monster. That is what you are.”

“You don’t really feel that way.” Nikolai oozed unfaltering confidence, and it irked Lisa because he was right. The truth was that she wanted to run into his arms because, despite everything, she felt safe in there. Lisa missed his scent badly, but she wasn’t going to do that to herself.

“Elizaveta, stop it!” Aleksei chided subtly. “Let’s just go home. Nikolai, I’ve done what you wanted. I’m here now.”

“But I don’t want that anymore,” he said, casually, shrugging. “I want to change the terms of our deal.”

“What?” It was Lisa who yelled in exasperation, not believing her ears. Who the hell acted this way? What exactly did he want now? Was this because of the way she spoke to him when he came in?

“Lisa goes nowhere,” Nikolai muttered. “I can’t let her go with you.”

“But you agreed to… our mother… Nikolai, why are you doing this? I don’t want to wage any more wars.” It was apparent that Aleksei was exhausted from it all. He was a great and intelligent person, but he was no match for Nikolai. Sooner or later, all his plots against the Davydov family were bound to take a toll on him.

But that wasn’t even what Nikolai was referring to.

“Lisa is…”

Was he nervous?

Lisa stared in bewilderment as Nikolai struggled with what to say. She had never seen him this way because he always exerted impeccable confidence and speech. This was strange.

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