by S F Draven
Chapter Fourteen: Katerina
I’m worried that this is the end of the line for me, that if Dominik even decides to come rescue me, it’s going to be too late. My entire world has gone up in flames many more times than I can count, and the more I think about how I allowed myself to end up in this situation, the more I want to run and hide. There’s nowhere to go now, there’s no one to answer to, and it wasn’t until I was pulled from Dominik’s grasp that I realized just how much I love him. I want nothing more than to be in his arms again, navigate our complicated relationship and try to remember that we’re now a team. Now, I’m right back to where I was at the very beginning of my own story, locked away, never to be heard from again. This time I don’t have a choice in the matter and that is the greatest tragedy of all.
I looked around the room I was in, staring down at the cold concrete beneath me, remembering just how familiar this entire situation felt. I remembered what it was like to be holed up in Dominik’s basement, trying to figure out how I let myself get so caught up with a story that single-handedly almost ruined my life. Little did I know that it was going to be the cause of my awakening, that it was going to be the first step in me finally finding the purpose I’d been looking for in life. Now, I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, I didn’t know how much these men were going to try to break me or who they were actually supposed to answer to. I had a feeling that I was going to find out soon enough, because I was beginning to lose track of time. I wasn’t even sure how long it had been since I last laid eyes on Dominik, as every passing minute had felt like an hour since I was thrown in here.
The only comforting thing about this room was that it was above ground, and I could see a small stream of sunlight peeking in through one of the papered windows. I wondered where I was, or what was really going to happen to me, and the more I thought about it, the more I wished I would’ve gotten out while I did. I always knew that something like this was always a possibility being that close to Dominik, especially while knowing his past, but I never thought that anyone would ever get the upper hand over him. I supposed I was still a little too naïve, that I had so much left to learn and I wasn’t even halfway there yet.
This time I wasn’t locked up by a man I was trying to understand, a man that I could look in the eye and tell him that I wasn’t afraid. This time I was certainly afraid, for my well-being, for my life, but more importantly, what they were planning to do to Dominik. I thought back to everything Dominik had told me about the person who had been messing with him from the very start. He always believed that what was happening was personal, but he could never figure out why. I wondered why someone would take so much action against him in such a passive manner. I thought about everything Dominik had talked about, about the way the money had mysteriously gone missing, about the body he found in the crate containing his product, and the loss of one of his most loyal men. At first, there was a part of me that thought it could’ve been Alexei this entire time, but once I saw him hanging from the chandelier back in New York, I knew that put an end to that theory.
Now, it was all open-ended questions, and my journalistic tendencies were starting to reopen. There was a part of me that started to question everything that had happened to me until this point, and I was starting to think that there was a possibility that I had been blinded by love this entire time. Dominik had a way of charming whomever he wanted, and that was a quality of his I picked up on quite early. I never thought that I would ever fall for something like that, but here I was, doing his dirty work and paying for his sins, when I didn’t even really know what all of his sins were. I thought about the day of the opening, when he called me by a woman’s name who he tried to pass off as one of his team members, but what he’d forgotten was that I was the one covering the story for him. I knew all of the names of all his staff members, and none of them were as memorable a name as Giselle. I began to wonder whether there was much more to the story than I may have realized, and it was in that moment I thought back to Dominik’s mansion.
I remembered how confused I was to see so many women’s items scattered across Dominik’s room, and when we got closer together I didn’t even bother to mention it again, but now that I had a bit more time to think, I wondered if those items belonged to a woman named Giselle. There was no telling what Dominik was truly capable of, or what any of these men were capable of once they got pissed off enough. I worried that I sold my soul the moment I stood by Dominik at the opening of his hotel, and I wasn’t sure that there was anything I could do to save myself now.
Just as I managed to get out of my head for a little while, the door at the far end of the room opened up to reveal a man carrying a tray of food, and it was like I was experiencing déjà vu all over again. I was glad that I was at least being fed, because I honestly had no idea if I was ever going to get out of this place. I had to keep my head held high, be strong in this situation because it was the only thing I really had going for me. I couldn’t sit back and let someone tear my life apart without so much as trying to salvage it myself. What am I going to do if Dominik never shows up? How am I going to get out of this mess when I don’t even know who or what I’m dealing with? I don’t even know where I am, I thought, reminding myself that the only way I could ever get myself out of this mess would be to use the skills I’d honed over the years.
I had to pay attention to every little detail, study every person I came into contact with, waiting patiently for one of them to slip up. No one was perfect, no one was capable of making sure everything was done meticulously all of the time, and I was going to lay in wait, eager for the moment that one of them got distracted. I had a feeling that I was going to be holed up in here for a long time, and unlike with Dominik, I was trying my best to get accustomed to my surroundings before I inevitably went mad. I knew what captivity had done to people in the past, and I refused to succumb to anything of the sort. I’d come too far to turn back now, I’d come too far to give up on the one person who had given me a better life, but this was the first time in a long time I was willing to put myself first. If Dominik didn’t find it in his heart to come to my rescue, then I could safely say that he never loved me to begin with. He made it quite clear that I was a fascination to him, but I truly believed that what we had together had become love at some point. The moments we shared together, the true passion we experienced, I couldn’t believe that something like that could be faked. I knew that there was a part of Dominik that cared deeply about me, but I wondered whether that was enough to want to get me back.
I knew how much stress he’d been under dealing with these people trying to disrupt his entire life, and I wouldn’t argue with him if he saw this as his ticket to freedom. I hated that now that I was in love with him, I was willing to sacrifice myself so that he’d have an easier time, but I supposed that was the very definition of love. He’d done so much for me in the past, and I remembered the look on his face the moment I was taken from him; it was genuine. There was a part of me that worried he was still laying in the street somewhere, wasting away without so much as anyone to help him. I knew just how resilient of a man he was though, how capable he was of doing whatever he set his mind to, but I couldn’t spend the rest of my days holding out hope that someday he was going to come to my rescue.
This was the first time since this entire story began that I had to ask myself if saving myself was even worth it. I thought about what I had to go back to, about the people I’d had to shun to maintain this relationship with Dominik. I had no one left, my career was shot after the story broke as well as my connection to Dominik, and without him I was afraid that there would be no chance of me ever reinventing myself. I couldn’t believe that I’d allowed a man to have that much control over me, but it was at that moment that I realized I couldn’t really afford to live without him anymore. He had become my entire life, and I wanted nothing more than to be sure that he felt the same way about me. Words are always easy to come by, but it’s the actions that I’
m still waiting to see.
The man didn’t say two words to me like Alexei had when this all began, he just placed the tray at my feet and sat across from me until I ate something. I was absolutely starving, but I ate as slowly as possible so that he didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing me behave like an animal. He seemed rather unbothered by my presence, as though he wasn’t in the mood to be toying around with me anymore. I remembered just how adamant he had been to drive home the message to Dominik that there were very terrible things that were going to happen to me, but now I wasn’t so sure. The more I studied his expression, the more I realized that it was sadness that he was dealing with. I wondered what a man like him could possibly be sad about, and I never thought that he could even have emotions, much less be hurt by something. I thought back to the day I was taken, combing through my memories as I remembered the faces of every man that was there that day.
I wonder if something happened to one of the men, and if one of the men is somehow connected to this one. It was quite possible that these men shared more than just a mutual bond for work, it was possible that some of them may even be family. I could feel myself starting to itch to begin asking questions, but I decided against it for the time being, realizing that I had to pay attention to far more details, get a bit more information under my belt before I could even pull a card like that. He left me alone again not long after, and I finished up the remainder of my food in silence. My body was starting to regain some of its strength as I had a chance to refuel, but I began to worry that there was a reason these people wanted me to be so alert. They’re going to try to grill me for information, see if I’m willing to spill all the intimate details of Dominik Volkov’s business plans, I thought, realizing that I was a pawn on either side of the game all along, but I knew where my loyalty lied. No matter how much they were going to threaten me, I wasn’t going to rat out Dominik after everything he’d done for me. Not now, not ever.
I thought I was going to spend the rest of the day rotting away, but just as I managed to finally drift off to sleep, I felt a kick to my stomach that jolted me awake. I looked up to see a figure of a woman standing over me, clutching her pearls as she stared down at me almost as if she was looking at herself. At first, I thought that I had to be dreaming, that there was no other way that this could’ve been possible. It didn’t make sense to me, to have her standing there when I was pretty sure it was a band of hulking men that had attacked and kidnapped me. I toyed with the possibility that maybe she was a captive like me, but that theory didn’t make much sense either seeing as how perfectly dressed and clean she appeared to be. I felt like a small child next to her, as though she wasn’t here to hurt me at all, but it wasn’t until she spoke that the pieces began to align.
“I know that you must be incredibly confused right about now, but I assure you that nothing bad is going to happen to you. It’s not you I’m trying to send a message to, it’s the man that did this to you,” she said, and my brain was so foggy that I couldn’t understand the words that were coming out of her mouth.
“Who are you?”
“All in due time, my dear. All of your questions will be answered very soon,” she said, and I stared back at her, my eyes adjusting to her features as it was like looking in a mirror.
I was starting to feel rather woozy, and that was when I remembered the slightly strange taste of the food that the man had brought to me earlier. I tried to keep myself awake and alert but it was absolutely no use, whatever was on that tray had begun to sink into my bloodstream and I was ready to pass out yet again. This time, I woke up with an excruciating headache as my eyelids fluttered open to reveal the same beautiful, young woman sitting across from me in a metal chair, waiting for me to awaken.
“I’m sorry that we had to dose you so highly this time, Katerina. I suppose one of my men expected that you were going to try to run if you didn’t have enough drugs in your system. As much as I don’t plan on hurting you, I can’t do anything if you try to step out of line. I know that I have a lot of explaining to do, a lot that you’re still a little iffy about, and it’s time you have all the answers you desire,” she said, and my ears perked up, waiting for her to tell me more.
“Who are you?” I asked again, hoping that this time she was going to be a little more forthcoming.
“My name is Giselle, perhaps you’ve heard of me,” she said, and that was when my jaw dropped. I looked at the woman staring back at me, taking in her fragile features, wondering how a woman quite so frail could’ve taken down Dominik’s men. I was sure that she must’ve had help. It was at that moment that all of the memories of being in Dominik’s closet, of hearing her name fall from his lips began to flood back into my mind. I was staring at someone that I had no idea existed, but there was something about her that felt strangely familiar. It was then that I began to question my sanity, wondering if I was actually dreaming or not. She was a live, breathing woman that gave me an inside look into what could’ve happened to me had I gone down a different path. Maybe she was much more resilient a woman than I was, or maybe she was the one that made Dominik so quick to believe that everyone was out to betray him.
“Dominik hasn’t been very forthcoming about any information regarding you, but he has said your name once, and the look on his face made me believe that you must’ve been someone special to him,” I said, trying to fish for information.
“I was someone special to him, I was the only woman for him for a very long time, Katerina. He was everything I could’ve ever wanted in a man, but he had terrible secrets that I could not see myself getting accustomed to. He had a life that was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, and I wasn’t about to compromise my humanity for his sake. I wanted to write a story on him just as much as you had, but I see now that your loyalty has shifted. You no longer care about your craft, and believe me, I understand. I’ve been where you are before, and I have to say that it is a dangerous thing to dream that big. He gave me all of the same opportunities that he gave you first, and at the time it felt like a dream, until I started to realize that I was living one of my very own nightmares. It was clear then that I had to do something to get out, otherwise Dominik would’ve had no choice but to put an end to me once and for all. Trust me, Katerina, he sure did try,” she said, and the look on her face was one of utter pain, as though the memories reminded her of a life that was once her bitter reality.
“You’re the woman whose stuff is still crowding Dominik’s home. For a while, I was wondering who he possibly could’ve gotten so close to that he would’ve bought a ring, but now I see that you were just as much of a disappointment as the other women in Dominik’s life. He really did care about you, and he probably did give you everything you’ve ever wanted, but how did you repay him? You betrayed him, and for a while he had such trouble ever getting past what happened between you two,” I said, defending Dominik even though I wasn’t quite sure if he was ever even going to come to my rescue.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Katerina. You were once right in my shoes, going through the exact same motions as I did, but the only difference is when you finally come to your senses, it’s unfortunately going to be too late for you,” she said, but I didn’t agree. There was a part of me that saw something special in Dominik, something that made me believe that there was still something to salvage between us. Only time would tell if he’d find it in his heart to come and find me, because the more time I spent with Giselle, the more I understood his need for wanting to get rid of her in the first place.
“He loved you, and you used him,” I said, very sure that was what happened. At that point, I didn’t care how naïve I must have looked, I didn’t care about what I valued in the past, because now I was in love with a man who I believed I’d do anything for, even if that meant laying down my life for him. Giselle didn’t want to protect me, she didn’t want to set me free once and for all. She wanted to see what Dominik had been up to since he’d tried to take her out, and
she wanted to get ahead of him to make sure it didn’t happen again.
“He used me. He took me prisoner so he could silence me!”
“But then he gave you the life you’ve always wanted, but all you ever cared about was having the upper hand. How is that working out for you?” I asked her, watching as the blood began to boil beneath her skin. I knew that I was playing a dangerous game by taunting her in this way, but I couldn’t help myself. After everything that happened, there was still a part of me that believed what I had with Dominik was real, and he was just as broken up about all of this as I was.
“It’s working out just fine, thank you for asking. He’s going to suffer for what he did to me, he’s going to pay for all the people he’s hurt over the years, and I’m going to make sure that he never gets to see you again,” she said, angrily.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt me,” I said, taunting her further.
“That was before I realized how stupid you are. You had countless opportunities to get out of this mess, and still you stuck by him. Why, I’m sure I’ll never know. I loved Dominik once upon a time, until I saw what kind of rage that man truly possessed, and I couldn’t bear to let it get in the way of everything I’ve worked so hard for,” said Giselle.
“You have a very narrow way of looking at things, Giselle. It seems to me that you’re a very smart girl, and you might’ve been just an out for Dominik in the beginning, but you built something together that you couldn’t help but destroy. That is no one else’s fault but your own. You didn’t want him to get in the way of your career, but you did everything in your power to step right in front of his, and now you’re trying to make sure that he doesn’t have anything left to his name. Who’s the villain now?” I asked, and I watched her fly into a fury, slapping me hard across the face, and I was very sure that if I gave her another moment, she’d claw my eyes out before I could get another word in.
