Page 9 of Viktor

I tuck my hair behind my ears. “Thank you for rushing here, but I’ve got it now. I’ll see you later to train?” I open the door and practically throw him out.

Then I walk back into the kitchen for my juice, finding my glass is empty. My eyes flick around the room while I stand deathly still, expecting to hear something, anything. But it’s silent. A shiver runs down my spine.

Was whoever it is here until just now??

My uniform is all packed, and I’m ready to go to training. Show Claudia that I’m not a complete disaster and don’t need to be replaced in our next show. I can do this; I am capable of becoming Prima. I have been dancing since I was seven, and I was born for this.?

I’ve gone through the stages of bloodied toes and aching positions until I perfected every movement I could possibly do. But I’m still not enough. Work harder. Never stop.

We spend thirty minutes on the barre, doing the basics before moving onto our own choreography. I choose to be by myself today so Damien can’t offer to partner up with me. It seems awkward since this morning. I understand he is concerned, and so am I, but this is my mess.?

My eyes glide along the other dancers, especially Charlotte, our current lead dancer. AKA my competitor. I watch her movements, knowing I’ll need to be better than her. She’s always seemed to be a little cold toward me, but I’m not sure why. Damien tells me to just leave it, that she must be jealous, so I should just ignore her. That I’m the better dancer.

But the more I watch her, the more I don’t believe it. Not once has she made a mistake. Sometimes I wonder how I’m going to beat her perfection.

Six hours later, I’m changing out of my uniform. I’m avoiding the showers here, as knowing that everyone can see my naked body somehow makes me nervous. I push the thoughts away for a moment while I think back to last night. Am I really safe? Surely, if Viktor wanted to hurt me, he would have by now??

I don’t know what he wants. It’s frustrating.

I groan as I hear the rain against the glass doors before I step outside. I can’t help the sag in my shoulders. God hates me.

I make a run for my car down the street on my sore feet, pushing through the people with umbrellas because I stupidly didn’t bring my own. Fall is usually warm here, with pretty views and barely any rain. But now, the weather matches my stressed mood.?

When I reach the car, I stab the key into the door to get in as quickly as possible. And because of the day I’ve had, I check the back seat and lock my doors as soon as I’m inside to make sure I’m alone. Only then do I lean back and breathe.

Shaking my head to myself, I put the car into drive and pull out into traffic, checking the mirrors more than usual in case I see a car following me.

When I ease into my driveway, I check around all my neighbors’ houses to see if anything seems out of the ordinary. New cars, or just anything strange. The windshield wipers and rain are making it hard to see anything.

But as far as I can tell, there's nothing amiss.

Chapter nine

Viktor

It’sdarkinherhome, the only sounds being the cars driving past me. But I want to find out what she’s up to. I had already been inside, and her home doesn’t have any personal touches except a couple of photos hanging on the wall. One that I found was of her as a young child with who I assume is her mother at a ballet performance, and they look alike. I place it back where it was and continue through the house. She seems like an only child, with an absent father. But why say she has a brother? So easily, too.

After I've found nothing in her home about a sibling, it makes me think of my family. Having four brothers it wasn’t easy growing up in a big family. Especially after my mother was murdered.

My fists clench at the memory, rage boiling just beneath the surface. My father did a great job with us over these last ten years, and we’re all still close. He had asked us to run our own parts of the business outside of Chicago, which is where he lives now.

We’re all going back for Christmas in a few months. It feels like I haven’t seen them in forever.

We still protect each other no matter what, though. The loyalty of the Petrov family is unmatched. My fingers itch to call them, wanting to know if they are having problems with the Koskovich family and traitors, but I’m sure they would know.

Each night, I can’t stay away from Amaia. Following her to make sure she's safe, watching over her while she sleeps. Wanting to touch her. Last night, I ran my fingers along her bare pussy.

The tip of my finger had entered her and wanted to go further, but I stopped myself. She isn’t ready for me yet, so I backed away.

After memorizing the layout of her home, I sat in the car, waiting for her to go to sleep like always. Now, I watch her through the windows. She walks out the steamy bathroom in a towel, clutching the top of it. She leaves the blinds open. But she must know she’s being watched, sauntering around in a towel. She stands facing the wall where I know there is a full-length mirror and drops the only fabric hiding her little tight body. I nearly groan. Perfection.

She stares at herself for a moment before running her hands over her body as if she is inspecting herself. My brows furrow as she grabs at her skin on her lower stomach and pinches it. She drops her hands and shoves on some clothing, keeping her eyes on the floor.

?

My phone vibrates and I look down, seeing Konstantin’s name flash.

“What did you find?” I ask as a greeting, knowing the reason he is calling’s because he drudged something up on her.

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