The Little Thief

ALEKSANDR

The harsh sound of the cell door slamming shut echoed in my ears, followed by the rhythmic thud of Nikolai’s boots as he trailed behind me toward the elevator.

“What on earth was that about?”

Nikolai’s voice was laced with genuine confusion as he slid into the elevator beside me, his gaze fixed on the closing doors.

I ran a hand through my dark hair, fighting the urge to yank at the strands as if that could somehow clear my muddled thoughts. I’d never been this affected by a woman before, and it made me suspicious of the one I now held captive.

“I honestly have no clue,” I admitted, shaking my head in bewilderment.

From the corner of my eye, I caught Nikolai’s frown. Then, as if time had slowed, he turned to face me, his hands casually tucked into his pockets.

“She’s quite attractive,” he remarked nonchalantly, seemingly testing my reaction.

I scoffed, responding before I had a chance to filter my words.

“She’s more than attractive. She’s damn beautiful.”

A scowl formed on my face as he grinned, realizing I’d just given him the reaction he was fishing for.

“Do you want me to move her to one of the guest rooms upstairs?” he offered.

I shook my head.

“No. We don’t know her true identity or why she was with Cristo,” I said. “We can’t trust her.”

The elevator doors slid open and we stepped out into the grand foyer of my home.

“We could have found that out if you hadn’t bolted from her,” Nikolai retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I responded with a rude gesture.

“Aleks, she could be telling the truth,” Nikolai’s tone turned serious. “She might have been a prisoner in Cristo’s home too.”

I had considered that possibility, of course. But I wasn’t about to risk her slipping away if she could prove useful to me. If she had been living with Cristo, she might know the ins and outs of his operation.

“Have Feliks bring her some food and water,” I instructed him. “I’ll talk to her again after my meeting with Don Marco.”

Nodding, Nikolai headed toward the kitchen to relay my orders to Feliks, my chef.

I retreated to my office, shutting the door behind me before reaching for my phone to call Andrey, a hacker I kept on retainer to find information or make it disappear as needed.

He picked up immediately. He knew I had little patience for waiting.

“Pakhan.”

“Find out everything you can about a young woman named Kaia who lived in Don Cristo’s house. I’ll send you a photo soon,” I said.

“Yes, pakhan.”

The call ended, and I tossed my phone onto the desk, leaning back in my chair. Andrey was efficient. Soon, I’d know all the secrets of my little thief. Then we’d see if she was also a little liar.

KAIA

The cell door slammed shut, sealing me off from the world once again.

My heart was still racing from when Aleksandr had touched me. His long fingers had wrapped around my neck, squeezing gently while his eyes seemed to consume me as if I were his favorite dish.

A blush crept up my neck as I remembered the sensation.

He had caught me off guard.

I had seen him briefly at Cristo’s house, but it was dark and he was dressed in black, his face mostly hidden. Now…

Now, seeing him standing before me, unobscured and larger than life, my body went into a sort of frenzy, and I found it hard to breathe.

I knew he was handsome. I’d seen his photos. But I’d been around handsome men before, Cristo included. There was just something about Aleksandr’s aura. His confident, utterly arrogant demeanor that commanded attention. Mine included.

I couldn’t help but notice his height. How could I not when he towered over me, seemingly using his size to intimidate me? And he was broad. His wide shoulders and the muscles rippling under his shirt were evident as he approached me.

Was I developing a crush on the pakhan? I cringed inwardly at the thought. It sounded like something Irina would say. She had picked up all the American slang from going to school here.

~Irina.~

Aleksandr had left before I could mention her. He had seemed… agitated with me. It was evident in his eyes and the way he looked at me.

Aleksandr was a good fifteen years my senior. To him, I must have seemed like a mere child. Perhaps that’s why he felt a pang of guilt for keeping me captive.

When a man named Feliks brought me a tray of aromatic rice and a piece of fish that looked like it would dissolve on my tongue, I thought my hunch was right.

But I couldn’t bring myself to eat. Not when I had no idea where Irina was. If she was safe. If she had anything to eat. The thought of her going hungry twisted my stomach into knots.

I asked Feliks to leave the tray by the door and drank the water instead. Before he left, I told him I needed to speak with the pakhan urgently. I said that it was crucial. Feliks gave me a curt nod and exited the room.

I had no other option but to wait for the pakhan to decide to show up. Until then, I let my worries for Irina consume me and my tears flow freely.

ALEKSANDR

The meeting with Don Marco took longer than anticipated, and then I had to handle some business at one of my clubs, which I used for money laundering.

By the time I returned to the estate, the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, painting the sky a soft yellow.

Exhausted, I loosened my tie and tossed it on a sideboard as I headed to the kitchen for some coffee. I still had tasks to complete before I could catch a few hours of sleep. But there was one thing that had been nagging at me since I left the house.

“Did you check on the girl?” I asked Niko as soon as he walked in behind me. I avoided saying her name. It felt too intimate, and this girl was nothing more than a tool for me.

He nodded, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot.

“Feliks said she’s not eating,” he replied, taking a sip and cursing when he burned his tongue, but then taking another sip regardless. “She told him she needs to speak with you urgently. That it was important.”

I set my own mug down without taking a sip. With a sigh, I left it on the counter and headed to the elevator, knowing I was giving in to her demands. But I was intrigued. Had she finally understood that resisting me was futile? That things would be much simpler if she just cooperated?

By the time I reached the steel door, I had regained my composure. I punched in the code to unlock the door.

The lock clicked and the door creaked heavily as I pushed it open, narrowly avoiding the untouched tray of food on the floor. It held what looked like Feliks’ renowned rice pilaf and a piece of grilled mahi-mahi. The water bottle, however, was empty.

“Feliks is an excellent cook, you know,” I said casually, moving the tray aside to step further into the room. “He’d be upset that you didn’t try his food.”

She was sitting up on the small cot, her head bowed. Her knees were pulled up and her arms were wrapped around them.

When I entered, she lifted her head, and I could see the tear stains on her cheeks.

I halted, taken aback. I hadn’t expected this. She had been so resilient until now, and seeing her like this threw me off.

I felt an odd pull in my chest and fought the urge to rub it. I stopped a few feet from the cot, slipping my hands into my pockets to seem less threatening, even though I could kill a person a hundred different ways with just my body.

“You wanted to see me, kotik?”