•Evangeline•

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"You are free to do whatever you want," Bianca told me.

My mouth fell open and I was out of words. I didn't know how to react. No one had ever said those words to me. Hearing her words, I brightened up a little despite still mourning my parents' death.

I was free to do whatever I wanted...

I wanted...

When I was locked up in my room I used to think about all the things I'd do when I'd get out of there. Now that I had the chance, I had no idea what I wanted to do first. I looked around, taking it all in.

I have been living here at my dad's friend's house for four days now and everything has been so surreal. I have never lived this life before, there is a single lock on the door that is for me not for anyone to lock me inside.

I don't really have anything to do, I roam the gardens in the morning just like I always wanted to, it was nice to feel the sunlight on my skin. There is a huge library in the house, it has so many kinds of books, the kind of books I have never seen before or read about.

But I still didn't want to stay here, I wanted to go back to my home. I wanted to live my life independently now, maybe go to college and get a job or something.

Suddenly it felt like I had so much to do in so little time!

I jumped up in Bianca's arms. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

She laughed and hugged me back. "You should thank Nikolai"

I pulled back, my stomach sank just as his name slipped from Bianca's mouth. For some reason, he intimidates me... he intimidates me a lot. Maybe, he just had the kind of personality that scares people. He is dark and brooding and his eyes are murderous. His eyes scare me the most.

"I will when I'll see him..." I replied, fumbling with my fingers.

"Now, I need to go back to my place, my boyfriend is going crazy without me" she laughed. "You sure you will be fine, kid?"

I nodded eagerly. "Mhmm..."

The last thing I needed was more supervision.

Giving me one last short hug, she walked out of the room. My stomach grumbled, and I realized I hadn't had lunch today. I descended the stairs and went to the kitchen.

I hadn't seen many kitchens in my life before but I know this kitchen is something out of the ordinary. It was huge and all day long, the kitchen staff was available if a person needed anything. Even if I asked for the weirdest meal on the earth, they would somehow make it for me but I wasn't going to ask for it. Right now I just needed a snack.

"What would you like, ma'am?" the elderly woman asked.

"Um, do you have a bag of potato chips?"

The entire kitchen staff looked at me as if I have grown two heads. Suddenly, they all dispersed and started to rummage through the cabinets, they all seemed alarmed.

"It's okay if you don't... I'll have a sandwich instead"

They let out a breath of relief and whipped up a sandwich for me in under ten minutes.

"I'm so sorry for the chips, ma'am. We'll have them in the kitchen by tomorrow"

I smiled. "It's fine..."

With my sandwich in one hand and a drink in the other, I went straight to the library. I pushed open the door and set my sandwich and the drink on a table, the table was perfectly set by a very comfortable armchair.

I started searching for the perfect book to pass my time. I needed another activity, tonight when I'll go to Nikolai to thank him. I'll ask him if I can go back to my house, so, I could finally start my life.

I finally found a good book and went to settle on the armchair. I started reading as I ate my sandwich.

I was almost ten pages into my book when the library's door kicked open. My attention shifted toward the door as two men entered. They were talking among themselves, they hadn't noticed me yet. My gaze followed them as they walked further in.

Then I noticed that one of those men was Nikolai, he was the one who was walking ahead while the other one followed. They disappeared from my sight and went to the back. Although the nosy part of me wanted to go see what they were doing; the cautious side of me stopped me from doing so.

Shaking my head, I shifted my attention back to my book but my focus has been lost now. I was more concerned with the presence in the library than my book. A few seconds later, I heard the footsteps coming back from wherever they went.

I moved around in my seat as nervousness crept up, what if he saw me here and got mad at me?

When they appeared in my eye shot again only then did they notice me. Nikolai halted and then a frown appeared on his forehead.

Uh oh! He's mad, isn't he? I think he is.

He looked at me the same way as before like I was an odd creature out of this world and he was appalled by my presence.

A whistle came from behind him and my gaze went to the man in the back. He seemed to be in his early twenties with dark black hair, green eyes, and a slight smirk on his face.

The man behind Nikolai appraised me up and down and then his eyes settled on my bare legs, where they lingered. Uncomfortable under the scrutiny of their gaze, I shifted in my seat. I tugged my dress down to hide my legs. The dress was short, almost every single dress Bianca has bought for me was quite short. They all ended over my mid-thigh, leaving most of my legs bare.

Nikolai put his hands in his pockets and strolled toward me. He stopped when he was at the foot of the couch. I slightly pulled my legs more into myself, so they won't touch him.

Both of his big, inked hands landed on the armrests on either side of me. I clutched my book a little more tightly and held my breath, slightly startled.

He was so close that his smell lingered in my nose, he smelled like heady, expensive cologne, it was so clean and masculine. I just couldn't describe his smell in any other way.

"Look at me," he said in his authoritative tone.

I'm pretty sure that any person will do whatever he wants them to do whenever he uses such a tone. Unable to not listen to him, I looked up.

His jet black hair mopped over his forehead contrasting beautifully with the bluest eyes I have ever seen. It was the first time I was looking at him from this close, I took in every single feature of his. He had a really sharp bone structure, the dark stubble only added to his good looks.

I may not have seen many people in my life before but I know Nikolai was one very good-looking man.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, his voice deep, so gravelly low, and rough.

An unwanted jolt traveled to my stomach, was it fear?

"Did you follow us?" he asked

I frowned at that and immediately shook my head. "No, I didn't... I was reading my book. Bianca said I could."

"Hm..." A low masculine hum.

His eyes then traveled down my body while mine stayed on his face. His eyes dropped to my chest, and then toward the book resting on my lap before they settled back on my face.

He leaned in and tilted his head to the side. I felt my heartbeat in my throat. Is it even possible to feel your heartbeat in your throat? He leaned in until his mouth was by my ear and his stubble pricked into my cheek. Involuntarily my eyes closed and I breathed in his amazing smell.

"You are sitting in my chair" he whispered, his warm breath fanning my ear and the side of my face.

Blood rushed to my cheeks, nose, and ears with embarrassment. I should have asked for permission. I shouldn't have barged in here like I owned the place.

I opened my mouth to say something but words had abandoned me. How can this happen to a girl whose whole life has been spent reading books? How can words betray me like this?

He chuckled, like very deeply and darkly. The sound of his chuckle traveled between my legs. How can one feel someone's laugh in their stomach? I gasped as I felt a throbbing down there... between my legs.

How the hell?

The feeling was so foreign and odd and it nearly took my breath away. Nikolai finally moved a little back and faced me, looking me in the eyes while his nose was almost touching mine.

"I..." I swallowed to help with my parched throat. "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

With his thumb and his forefinger, he gripped my chin. "Do you know what happens to girls who find themselves alone in a room with a man like me?"

My breathing seized, and my eyes went wide, my lips parted ever so slightly. My skin burned from where his fingers were touching me, I have never felt this way before. It felt good but not good, I just couldn't understand it. A tantalizing bolt traveled between my legs and I tightly closed my thighs together. My throat dried up, I chewed on my bottom lip to come up with an answer

And then my eyes fell on the man leaning against the bookshelf behind him. He had crossed his arm over his chest and had a full-blown smirk on his lips as he watched us.

I mustered up some courage and breathed out. "But we are not alone..."

Nikolai raised an eyebrow like he was not expecting me to answer him. His eyes lit up with dark amusement as if he found my answer extremely funny or stupid, I wouldn't know. His grip on my chin tightened, and he tugged my face closer to his. My skin burned underneath his touch, I could feel the heat emitting from my ears, and every single part of my body.

"Do you want to find out? I could send him out..." he asked, amusement lingering in his eyes.

Find out? Find out what? The way he said it, scared me to death. No, I don't want to find out what he does with girls when he is alone with them. It sounds terrifying and my knees were getting weak with each passing second.

With the little courage I had left, I shook my head. "No..."

He laughed and his hand left my chin. He stood back to his full height, giving me one last glance. He stepped back and turned to leave. The guy standing behind him winked at me, giving me a full-blown smile.

Uneasiness seeped into me as Nikolai walked towards the door. I needed to talk to him. I wanted to thank him for everything and also I wanted to ask if I can go to college or back to my home.

Not knowing what to do, I blurted out his name. "Nikolai!"

It was the first time, I had said his name out loud.

He halted immediately, his shoulders squared. I don't know why but saying his name like that felt wrong, very wrong. He turned to face me, all the amusement disappeared, and his facial expression turned dark and menacing.

"I... Um... I need to talk to you..." I said, playing with the book in my hand.

He stilled for a second and kept watching me like a hawk. "Tonight... my office..."

I nodded and looked down at my lap, waiting for him to leave.

The guy who was with him laughed. "Goodbye, Evangeline"

He knew my name, I didn't know his name. I finally looked at him and gave him a little smile back. "Bye..."

Nikolai gave his head a gentle shake before they both turned and left the library. I finally let go of the breath I was holding in. There was just something about Nikolai that scared me to death but he also didn't seem that bad. I don't understand him but then again I don't understand most of the things around here.

Gosh! I'm such a freak! Why couldn't I be normal and not embarrassed and not half-die when someone talked to me?!

•Evangeline•

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I paced back and forth in my supposed bedroom. I will leave soon, go back to my home. I shouldn't get too comfortable here like I did with the library.

You are sitting in my chair...

God damn it! I should have asked for permission first. I glanced at the wall clock and it was almost midnight. He asked me to come to his office at night but he didn't specify exactly when.

I combed my hair and smoothed my dress before I stepped out of the bedroom. I descended the stairs and then stopped, is it appropriate to go to his office in the middle of the night?

"Hey, sweet cheeks."

I jumped up at the deep voice from behind me, I turned and saw the man who was with Nikolai earlier in the library.

He was almost as handsome as Nikolai but less intimidating, he and Nikolai could almost pass off as brothers—maybe they were brothers—but this guy had a friendly aura, the kind of personality that one can easily warm up to, Nikolai, on the other hand, seemed like he was carved with ice.

I tucked my hair behind my ear and shifted on the balls of my feet. "Hi..."

I was still a little hesitant with all these people. It was natural as I have never spent time with anyone but my parents and Leo.

He offered me his hand. "Scott Mancini"

I placed my hand in his and we shook hands. "Evangeline Bolton"

He grinned. "I know who you are, Evangeline" he paused and thought for a while. "Well, now I do, a week ago I didn't even know that you existed"

"A week ago I didn't know you existed either" I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

He laughed at that, for some reason he found it amusing. He leaned against the nearby wall, putting his hands in his pockets, he appraised me up and down. "Is it true that your father had locked you up in a room your entire life?"

I wrapped both of my arms around myself and nodded. I don't know why everyone kept making a big deal out of it. From what dad told me, most people hide their children from murderers and really bad people. And he was right, I could never forget how brutally someone had murdered them, the only reason I was spared is that they didn't know about me. "Yeah..."

He raised an eyebrow. "He used to hit you or something?"

My eyes widened at his words. "No, he would never, well he did once..." my heart suddenly drowned, thinking about my parents' death all over again. "My dad loved me. He loved me so much, he didn't want me to get hurt, so, he always tried to protect me."

"That's fucked up! What about your mother? She never said anything to your father about his creepy ways of protection?"

Irritated by his words, I pursed my lips. "Creepy? Did you call my dad a creep?"

He snorted. "A psychopath is a more accurate word but then again in the underworld everyone is"

I frowned. "What's the underworld?"

The amused expression got replaced by shock. He stood up straight and approached me with calculative steps. "You don't know anything about the underworld? The fucking La Cosa Nostra?"

I shook my head. "No one has ever told me anything about it"

Then a smile stretched across his face, he laughed a little. "What did your dad say he did for a living?"

"He worked at the bank," I told the truth.

"The bank?" he laughed while saying the words almost like it was unbelievable for someone to work at a bank. "You poor little thing..."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Stop talking to me like I'm a stupid person. I may not know many things but I'm a fast learner."

The way he talked to me made me feel less about myself. It's not my fault that I have been kept away from many things. The only world I know is from books, movies, and documentaries that my father had shown me.

He grazed his thumb over his lower lip as his eyes dropped to my chest and then to my bare legs. He stepped closer and I stood my ground. If it was Nikolai I would have been intimidated but Scott didn't have that effect on me. I wasn't afraid of him nor did I get nervous in his presence.

He frowned. "Aren't you scared of me?"

I shook my head. "Nope, not even a little bit"

He chuckled lowly, the previous playfulness swept off of his face and now his gaze turned dangerous like he wanted to eat me alive. My confidence wavered a bit but I still stood my ground. My mother did not raise me to be a coward.

"You should be scared of me, maybe, I'm the monster your father warned you about..." his voice changed, he suddenly became so brusque.

"You don't look like a monster..."

I know I was playing with fire here. He might be dangerous, he might murder me the way my parents had been murdered but I wasn't going to cower away from him. I will run to Nikolai.

"Appearances are often misleading, sweet cheeks. Didn't your father teach you that?"

I finally took a step back as it was getting a little too strange for me. "Are you trying to scare me?"

"Maybe..."

I swallowed uneasily. "Well, it didn't work"

He finally chuckled, getting rid of the tension between us. A part of me was a little relieved that he changed his demeanor. "You have so much to learn about this world, sweet cheeks"

I stuck my nose in the air. "And I will, I told you I'm a fast learner."

He then wiggled his eyebrows. "Have your parents ever told you about the birds and the bees?"

I titled my head, lots of thoughts conjured up in my mind. "The what?"

"Sex..." he said as a matter of factly like I was supposed to know everything about it.

"You mean gender?"

His eyebrows shot up, and then he burst into a fit of laughter. "How old are you?"

I shifted my weight from one foot to another, my teeth gritted, and I dug my nails into my palms. I felt embarrassed and agitated by his constant degradation.

"Eighteen!"

Before he could say anything, his phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pockets and glanced back at me. "It was fun talking to you," he winked, "Sweetcheeks..."

He turned and disappeared into the next room. I was so glad that he had left. I know I might come off as ignorant that is because I have never had the privilege to learn things as normal people do.

I have taken my dad's words over everything, I had no choice. I had nowhere to go, or no one to ask.

It's only been a few days but I have come to realize that people knew so much, there was so much in this world that I know nothing of. People who worked here looked at me like I was some kind of stupid animal, it made me feel embarrassed and less about myself. I didn't like this feeling at all.

I wiped the single tear that slid down my cheek and continued on my way to Nikolai's home office. Once outside, I knocked on the large wooden door and waited.

"Come in..." came his low manly voice.

Heaving a sigh, I entered the office and looked up to see him sitting behind his desk. He was busy working on something as he typed on his laptop. My dad had one exactly like it.

He seemed angry, irritated over something. He wasn't wearing his coat, his tie was hanging loosely around his neck and he had folded his sleeves, revealing more of his tattoos.

How many tattoos does this man have?

I cleared my throat. "Is it a bad time?"

"Yes..."

Blunt.

I nodded. "I could come by later..."

"No, spit it out. Whatever you wanted to talk about" he still seemed deep into his work as he waved his hand for me to talk.

Nervousness crept up again, all the confidence I had washed away like it was never there. "I wanted to say thank you..."

He stopped typing, his fingers stopped mid-air.

"Thank you for everything you have done for me, now I'd like to go back to my home"

His one hand rested on the table while he rubbed the back of his neck with the other. He seemed tired, worn out.

Slowly, incredibly slowly, he shifted his attention toward me. And just by his single look, a shiver ghosted beneath my skin. Silence took over the entire room, and my chest tightened with incredible force.

What is wrong with me?

He reclined back in his seat, his two fingers brushing against his lips, his dark gaze drinking me up, taking me in. I forgot all about the brave girl I thought I was a second ago with Scott.

"What home?" he asked, he looked like he was genuinely confused by what I had said.

"My home, where I lived with my parents..."

He nodded like he was having a conversation with himself. "But your parents are dead."

He said it with such indifference that it hurt me. I knew that but I needed to go back, live my life, study, and find a job to get by. I didn't want to be a burden to someone else.

My heartbeat drummed against my ribcage. "It's still my home..."

"What will you do?"

I raised one of my shoulders. "I don't know... find a job first"

His eyes turned a shade darker, and a look of resentment crossed his face. "You think it's easy?"

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, I didn't want to face humiliation again like did with Scott. His question made me rethink my decision. I didn't know a thing about the real world, my brief information came from movies and now I don't think they are a trusted source.

"I don't know..."

He got up from his seat and keeping his gaze on me he walked around his desk, with a menacing aura that made my heart jump out of my throat.

"Evangeline, do you have a death wish?"

My eyebrows shot up, and a strange sense of fear washed over me. I shook my head. "What do you mean?"

"The people who had murdered your parents... Don't you think they will come back to finish the job?"

The sudden shock from his words made me tense my muscles. Goosebumps rose on the back of my neck, I swallowed, there was a bitter taste at the back of my throat that I couldn't seem to get rid of every time my parents' death was mentioned.

"Do you think they will?" I asked

"Probably..." he walked over to me, he stood so close that I could feel the heat of his body warming mine. Intimidated by his closeness, I looked down at the ground. "Look at me when I talk to you, Evangeline"

A stern order.

As if by reflex, I obliged and looked up at his face.

"You are safe here. You are not going back" his tone was definitive, leaving no room for an argument.

"I don't want to be a burden..." I whispered.

He raised his hand and with his pointer finger, he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear from one side. His finger grazed my skin, and then I felt it again, the heartbeat between my legs.

"A burden?"

I pulled my lower lip in. "Um... Uh... I don't want to be a freeloader..."

He chuckled... a dark low chuckle that managed to get underneath my skin and set my body on fire. "I have enough money, Evangeline. You can freeload as much as you like"

I really liked the way he says my name. It rolled off his tongue so smoothly. I liked the sound of it. I nodded still looking into his bluish-grey eyes.

"Now is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" he asked, "If not then get out."

It was rude how he told me to get out but I still said what I wanted to say. "College..."

"What?"

I intertwined my hands before me and smiled up at him, my cheeks heated. "I have been homeschooled my entire life, I graduated recently. I want to go to college, a real college with other people"

He gave me a stern nod. "I'll see what I can do"

My eyes lit up and my whole body tingled with excitement. "Thank you, Nikolai!" my voice came out as an embarrassing squeal.

A slight smile appeared on his face. "It's late, go back to your room, Evangeline, and sleep"

I turned and made my way out of his office. I went straight to my room as he had told me and shut the door just to lean against it for a few minutes. I wanted to make sense of what I was feeling for Nikolai. He affects me in a really weird way, I feel funny in my stomach.

Am I in love?

My eyes widened, the only real couple I have seen in love are my parents. Apart from them, I have only seen Disney's cartoon movies and animated characters falling in love.

Maybe, I feel this way because he is the first man I have interacted with, for the first time in eighteen years. My body seemed to have a mind of its own whenever he is near. I really don't understand this feeling but I like it.

I heaved a sigh; slumping onto the huge bed and nuzzling my face in the pillow.

But then suddenly, my parent's dead faces appeared before my eyes and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Good night, precious—my parent's voice resonated in my mind before I slowly drifted into a deep slumber.