Se connecterClara's POV
Dear Diary,
His words burned my ear to prove it. And before I could think, things already spiraled right out of my control.
I told myself to fight, to push him off this was wrong. But it was also the only thing that’s felt real since the day I said “I do.”
I forgot everything in that lustful moment: my husband, my vows, my duties. The only thing on my mind was Nikolai.
He smirked, his mouth inches from mine. “Then prove it.”
My pulse jumped. “Nikolai this isn't—”
He pressed closer, his body pinning me to the glass wall. His dark, sharp, familiar scent wrapped around me, drowning everything else out.
“Don't lie to me. You've thought about it, haven't you? Him upstairs, clueless. You down here, wet and needy you used to love this.”
“I haven't,” I whispered in denial but my voice shook.
“Then stop trembling… it's giving you away.”
And then, his mouth crashed against mine. Hard, ruthless. I pushed at his chest, weakly at first, but his hand soon gripped my wrist, and pinned it above my head. My protests melted into a gasp as his mouth claimed mine, demanding, taking.
“Stop… your father…” I broke away, breathless.
Nikolai's mouth brushed my ear, his voice low and cruel. “My father can't fuck you the way I can remember? Just how you like it.”
Almost taunting.
Before I could think, his hand slid under my dress, tugging my panties aside. One round push and my back hit the wall, a cry stuck in my throat. The lights from the mansion glowed across the pool. My heart skipped beats. Victor could walk out any second… What will I say if he catches us in this compromising situation?
Even though we once had a thing, this still doesn't make sense. I'm now married to his father. He shouldn't be doing this. We shouldn't.
As his fingers brushed deeper, I suddenly pictured Victor's wedding ring sliding into my finger. My wedding vows replayed in my head but Nikolai's touch erased them almost immediately.
“Say it,” Nikolai growled, his fingers drawing slow deliberate circles on my clit. “Say you'd rather have me.”
Tears stung my eyes. “I… I can't…”
“Liar.”
He increased his pace, carving guilt into my skin and my body proudly betrayed me. I clung to him, shaking, as he slid his middle finger into me.
“F…uck!” I tried to bite back the moan, but it ripped out anyway.
He shoved in another finger, then another, stretching me wide. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as my breath hitched Lord save me! Only that, I wanted to scream his name… not the Lord's.
For a second, I thought I heard footsteps like someone was coming towards us. I swear my heart almost jumped from my chest as Nikolai's fingers pushed deeper, pulling me away from any thought of escape.
I felt my pussy tighten around his fingers as he drove deeper a loud cry prepared to escape me but he quickly swallowed it with a kiss, his hand covering my lips.
Then I came. Hard, into his fingers.
My chest rose and fell in a frantic rhythm his cruel smirk burned on my skin, but I couldn’t face him. Not after he used me like that.
“It wasn't supposed to be like this,” I whispered.
“No,” he leaned close, voice as bold as steel. “It was supposed to be us. Until you sold yourself to him to my father.”
“Nikolai, you don't know why I—”
“Save it, I'm no longer interested in whatever comes from your mouth,” he paused. “Especially since they're all lies.” His eyes burned colder than the night air.
“This is only the beginning, stepmother.”
He walked away, leaving me shaking, shame and desire crashing together like a storm.
✷✷✷✷✷✷
[Later That Night]
Victor's arms were draped over me when I opened my eyes his soft steady breath fanned my face… it felt safe. Unlike the last few hours— I'd returned to the room feeling like sin itself.
His eyes blinked almost immediately. “Hey sweetheart,” he murmured, kissing my temple. “You came in late.”
I managed to fake a smile as guilt gnawed at me. “Yeah… I had some stuff to handle.”
Stuff? Yes. I was going to handle the rift between his son and I but I ended up being handled instead. My body ached, raw from what I'd done. Nikolai's words kept replaying in my mind, his touch, his cold accusations he wouldn't even let me explain. He never let me explain.
Victor stroked my hair tenderly. “I'm glad you're here with me.”
His kindness felt like a sharp knife, cutting deeper than Nikolai's cruelty would he keep being nice after finding out what I'd done with his son? I turned my face into his chest so he wouldn't see my eyes.
A lot of thought ran through my head at that point and for a second, I thought I wasn't going to fall asleep until I did.
I didn't know how long I slept but was woken up by a gentle knock on the door. “Who's there?”
“Good morning ma'am, breakfast is ready and the master's waiting in the dining room already.”
I answered that I'll be there in a bit and footsteps followed until I barely heard them. I swiftly made my way to the bathroom, did all my essentials and went down.
The dining room smelled of coffee and buttered toast. Victor had his eye on a paper cheerful and oblivious.
“Good morning honey,” I walked up to him, kissing his cheek.
“Morning darling, how was your sleep?” He smiled, finally taking his eyes off the paper.
“Smooth.”
Almost immediately, Nikolai walked in his scent invading the whole room. He exchanged pleasantries with his dad and sat across from me, calm as ever with that wicked smirk on.
Breakfast soon kick-started with Victor rumbling about stocks. Although I had no appetite especially being on the same table with Nikolai, I had to force myself to eat just to avoid unnecessary questions from Victor.
I felt a hand slide under the table Nikolai's hand. His finger brushed my thigh. I flinched, nearly knocking over my coffee.
Victor looked up. “You okay, darling?”
“Mm-hm.” I forced a smile. “Just… hot coffee.”
Nikolai sneered mockingly. His lips barely moved but he was audible enough for me to hear him.
“Tell him the truth, Clara. Tell him you were in my bed before his.”
I swallowed. “Please, stop.” I whispered, eyes on my plate.
He only smirked, taking his hand higher. I bit down on my lip so hard it nearly bled.
It went on like that Nikolai tempting me while his father ate with enthusiasm. I had to excuse myself before anything stupid could play out.
Later that day, while Victor was out with his business partners, I seized the opportunity to speak with Nikolai. I cornered him in the hallway. “Please Nikolai. Just listen. I didn't leave because of what you think.”
“Oh, really? But I feel I know exactly why.” His voice was ice. “You wanted more than love could buy.”
“That's not true,” I snapped. “If you'd just let me—”
“You're not worth the explanation anymore.” His words hit harder than a slap.
“At least just—”
“Clara, it's over between us you caused that and you're already married to my father. So please, whatever explanation you have now, it's not valid.” He made to walk away but I grabbed the hem of his shirt instinctively.
“Then why do you keep tempting me?” I could see his muscles tense and his eyes darkened. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me again.
Clara’s POV"The brakes are engaging automatically, Marcus, so hit the emergency manual override right now," I yelled, my fingers gripping the cold steel handle of the internal wall support as the freight elevator shrieked."The terminal is completely dead, Clara," Marcus shouted back from the primary control panel, his palm slamming hard against the unresponsive touch screen. "Victor's countermeasure code just jammed the secondary circuits from the main office. We are totally frozen.""Are we dropping," Nikolai asked, his voice low and incredibly strained as he leaned his massive frame heavily against the left corner of the metal cage."No, boss, we are jammed tight," Marcus said, pulling a mechanical crowbar from his tactical pack. "The backup emergency clamps locked onto the secondary guide rails. We are hanging suspended right between the fourth and fifth floors.""We are sitting ducks in this metal box," I said, looking up toward the rectangular maintenance hatch on the ceiling.
Clara’s POV"Initiate the bypass sequence on the main grid right now," Nikolai ordered, his fingers flying across the glowing keyboard of the tactical laptop resting on his knees."I am routing the connection through the secondary proxy servers," Marcus replied from the front driver seat, keeping his eyes on the dark road ahead. "But Victor upgraded the entire mainframe after the harbor incident. The firewalls are incredibly thick.""I do not care about his new upgrades or his expensive firewalls," Nikolai said, his voice cold and completely devoid of panic. "I built the original backdoors for this corporate network ten years ago. He cannot erase my foundational code without destroying his own security system.""Are you going to shut down the entire tower," I asked, adjusting the heavy tactical vest against my chest."No," Nikolai answered, not looking away from the bright screen. "If I shut down the entire tower, the system will instantly recognize it as an external cyberattack. The
Clara’s POV"Hand me the heavy shears right now, Marcus, and do not tell me to leave it alone," I said, holding out my right hand without turning around from the small cracked mirror."Clara, you do not need to do this yourself," Marcus said, his heavy boots shifting against the cold concrete floor of the underground railway vault. "We have men who can handle the tactical disguises. You could stay behind with the secondary guard detail.""We are past the point of staying behind, Marcus," I countered, my voice completely flat as I gripped the cold steel handles of the industrial shears. "If my hair hangs down outside the rim of that tactical security helmet, Victor's advance scouts will pull me out of the line before we even clear the subterranean freight elevators. I am not letting a few inches of dead weight get me killed tonight."I raised the heavy metal blades to my shoulder. With three quick, brutal snips, long locks of dark-dyed hair fell onto the grease-stained concrete floor.
Nikolai’s POV"The hardware on these dead guards is completely locked, Nikolai," Marcus said, stepping into the dim, cold light of the generator room. He slammed three rugged tactical tablets onto the metal table right beside my keyboard. "My tech guys cannot get past the biometric handshake. Victor’s people must have updated their encryption keys before they deployed the team to the museum.""They updated the external keys, Marcus, but they did not change the core operating system," I said, my fingers already flying across my mechanical keyboard as I plugged a data cable directly into the side port of the first swiped tablet. "Victor was always too cheap to pay for custom software. He used a standard commercial security frame from a foreign supplier five years ago. He thought a complex password was enough to keep the world out.""Can you crack it?" Clara asked. She was leaning against the heavy iron support pillar behind my chair, wearing my oversized flannel shirt. Her shoulders loo
Clara’s POV"Cover your ears and drop to the floor right now." Nikolai roared, his large hand slamming against the back of my neck to force me down onto the damp concrete."What is happening." Camille screamed, her hands clawing at her ears as the entire tunnel began to shake. "Is the roof falling down on us.""Just stay down and keep your mouth shut, Camille." I shouted back at her, my face pressed close to the cold ground.Before Camille could utter another single syllable, a deafening explosion shattered the silence of the lower levels. The heavy brick wall at the far end of the loading dock crumbled completely into dust as a massive steel bumper punched through the masonry. A heavy armored transport truck smashed through the debris, its massive tires spinning and screeching against the concrete floor. The smell of burning rubber and pulverized stone instantly filled the air, turning the narrow tunnel into a choking grey cloud."Nikolai, get inside the vehicle right now." Marcus ye
Nikolai’s POV"Drop your weapons and face the wall right now, Nikolai." a loud voice shouted from the entrance of the ancient history wing."You have to make me drop them first, gentlemen." I shouted back, crouching down immediately.A heavy blast of automatic gunfire ripped through the air before I could even take another breath. The bullets hit the large glass display case right above my head. Hundreds of sharp glass shards rained down on my shoulders, cutting through my suit jacket."Split up into two groups. Secure the left corridor and do not let him move." the team leader commanded from the dark."I am right here. Come and get me if you think you can." I yelled back, firing two quick shots from my pistol to keep them back.My bullets slammed into a stone pillar. I dragged my body behind a massive limestone Egyptian sarcophagus. A sharp, burning flash of pain shot straight up my left leg. The old injury from the docks was acting up again under the strain, but I forced my teeth to
POV: ClaraThe greenhouse smelled of damp earth and rot, a heavy scent that stuck to the back of my throat. It was supposed to be a sanctuary, a glass-walled escape from the marble and steel of the mansion, but even here the air felt thin.I found my mother sitting on a stone bench, her hands folde
POV: Nikolai The beach at six in the morning was grey and flat, the tide pulling back from the sand in long, slow sheets.Victor walked ahead, hands behind his back, talking. Quinn kept pace beside him, nodding at the right intervals. I walked a half step behind them both, which was where Victor p
POV: Clara The Draven beach house looked like something that was built to intimidate people rather than welcome them.It had floor-to-ceiling glass walls which reflected the setting sun. Apparently Victor loved it here, so of course I hated it on sight.He parked with a satisfied sigh and turned t
POV: NikolaiThe mansion looked worse in daylight.I stood in the doorway of the breakfast room with my coffee, watching the staff move through the ground floor like a cleanup crew after a natural disaster. Someone was on their hands and knees picking sequins out of the carpet. Another was collect







