Page 50 of Seduced By the Russian

Slowly, Lisa returned to her brother and Nikolai while still putting a little distance between herself and Nikolai. “Let me go with my brother. Please.”

“Lisa,” he turned to look at her, putting a hand through his silky hair. “I can’t do that.” Aleksei looked like he was going to punch something.

“Why can’t you?” Lisa whispered, pleaded even.

“I just can’t.”

“You have to give me something.”

“Don’t you fucking get it!” Nikolai exploded suddenly, taking everyone in the room into another level of surprise. “I need you, Lisa. I want you here. This is where you belong, right beside me.”

Lisa swallowed, her heart doing a tumble of its own. She stared at Nikolai in confusion, willing not to get too excited or overly confused. “I belong here?”

“Lisa, I… I know I have not been exactly honest since I found out about who you truly are, but you have to admit that anyone would have acted that way. Your family is an enemy to mine.”

Lisa snapped back to the present. “How can you need your enemy, Nikolai? Is this another game of yours?”

“No, Lisa. You are not my enemy, and neither is Aleksei.”

“I’m not?” Aleksei asked, surprise laced in his tone. What happened to the Nikolai he had spoken to a few hours ago?

“When Aleksei was doing everything to get you back, I realized that I would never really be able to let you go. I have… I have gotten so used to you that I wouldn’t be able to… it won’t be the same with you gone.”

The Russian Bear was actually nervous.

“But at the same time, I couldn’t just let it all go after everything. I needed someone to blame for it all. So, it got me thinking. Till a few hours ago, no one knew who kidnapped you or why you were taken. Dmitri suggested we visit the facility that was in charge of your upkeep. That was where we found out that your father arranged it all.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Aleksei said, chuckling. “You are only saying that, so I would leave without Lisa.”

“I knew you would say that.” At that instance, Dmitri walked in with some files in his hands. He opened them on the table, albeit dramatically, and Aleksei took the first move. He inspected the documents, and with each page, his eyes grew wider. Lisa was dying with anxiety, so she joined him as well, glancing through the leaves.

Nikolai was right.Her father’s name and signature were everywhere. Aleksei would have been able to recognize that writing anywhere.

“Why would he do that?” Lisa whispered to no one in particular. “He left me to suffer while he… he….”

“He found out your mother cheated on him and that you were not his child. This way he killed two birds with one stone. Destroyed your mother and got rid of you.”

“But she was innocent!” Aleksei couldn’t wrap his head around it. He knew his father was capable of anything, but he didn’t actually think he would hurt a kid.

“He wanted to kill her at first,” Nikolai continued. “But my father talked him out of it. I guess that was the first thing he did to get your father angry.”

“Fuck!” Lisa mouthed, dropping to the bed. “My life is such a fucking soap opera.”

“That’s why you should stay here with me,” Nikolai said, kneeling beside her. “Your brother and mother can come visit you anytime. I promised you that I would protect you when you first got here, and I’m not going back on my words.”

“That isn’t enough reason for her to remain here,” Aleksei blurted, earning a glare from Nikolai.

“He’s right,” Lisa sighed, getting on her feet. “I need to return to my family.”

“Even though I am in love with you?”

A deafening silence enveloped the room as the weight of the words sunk in. She had been dying to hear those words all this while, yet she couldn’t believe them now that they were out in the open.

“You what?”

“I love you, Lisa. A part of me thinks I always have. I’ve just been such a jerk about it.”

“Nikolai…”

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