Page 65 of Innocent Bratva Twins

I kick the base of the door hard enough to hurt my own foot. Then, in a dramatic tantrum, I shout at it and slam my fists into it.

I’m wasting energy.

Hours have been wasted over the past three days since Nico locked me up in here—hours spent trying to find a way out.

It turns out that his penthouse is ridiculously secure, and unless I want to jump off the balcony of this thirty-two-story high building, I don’t think there is a way out of here.

With nothing else to do, though, I keep looking. Boredom seems worse than giving up. At least this is something to do—something to keep my mind busy. The moment I stop looking, I get the sense that it will feel like I’m betraying myself by simply giving up the fight.

Niko is still going to work every day. He leaves me here alone while he heads out into the world to pretend that everything is normal.

I guess, for him anyway, thisisnormal. He’s kidnapped me and he’s keeping me prisoner in his home, and I think it’s totally normal for him.

I’ve heard crazy, scary, dark stories about the mafia. But in the world I lived in, my little, peaceful, normal world—those stories were so absurd that I brushed them off as unbelievable, most of them.

A normal person doesn’t process things like a criminal. There are so many lines I would never cross. So many lines that create my moral compass that aren’t negotiable in my decision-making.

Does Nico have those lines? The morals?

I huff and walk past another door. This one isn’t even locked, I know because I tested it earlier, but I kick it anyway. Frustration is getting the best of me. The worst part is that a big part of my frustration is something I’m deeply in denial about, but basically, I’m failing to be in denial about.

No matter how hard I try to hate him, I can’t.

I’m angry with him.

I have a hate towards him.

I want to throw things at him the moment he walks into the house.

But I can’t hate him.

My heart won’t let me.

He’s taken away from freedom. He’s taken away my entire life at this point; I can’t go back there and work for that company. It’s not even a real company. I wasn’t adding value to the world. I wasn’t working towards good things. My entire life, without my parents to support me, I worked my ass off to get everything that I had. I worked real jobs, I studied hard, I was a good person.

My heart sinks as my understanding of the situation deepens.

This is a horrible, terrifying mess.

I don’t have a job anymore.

And I’m trapped inside this penthouse with no way to get out.

And I should hate the man who put me in this situation.

But I don’t.

My stupid, pathetic, annoying heart is still in love with him.

Monday turns into Tuesday. Tuesday turns into Wednesday.

I do my best to keep my distance from Nico. Whenever he’s home, I stay in the guestroom with the door closed. When he tries to talk to me, I keep my answers short.

But I’m going crazy.

I want to know when I’m being set free.

He can’t keep me here forever, can he?

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