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1309 Words
The doorknob turned slowly.
Lia stared at it as if her eyes alone could stop it from moving. Her mind screamed at her to do something—run, hide, anything—but her body refused to cooperate.
The knob twisted again.
Who were these men?
No.
She already knew the answer.
Her gaze flicked toward the laptop still glowing on her bed.
You knocked on the wrong door.
Her chest tightened.
“Nikolai Volkov,” she whispered.
The name felt dangerous even spoken out loud.
Another hard knock shook the door.
“Miss Hassan,” the same deep voice said from the hallway, calm and almost polite. “We would prefer not to break it.”
Lia forced herself to move.
Her brain finally caught up with the danger flooding through her body.
She grabbed her laptop and snapped it shut, shoving it under a loose floorboard near the bed. Her fingers trembled as she pushed the board back into place.
Another knock.
Louder this time.
Her eyes darted around the apartment.
The window.
It was the only other exit.
Lia rushed toward it, pushing it open. Cold rain splashed onto the windowsill immediately.
She leaned out.
Three floors down.
The wet pavement glistened under the streetlights.
Her stomach dropped.
Too high.
Even if she survived the fall, those men would catch her before she could run two steps.
Behind her, the doorknob rattled again.
“Last warning,” the voice said.
Lia slammed the window shut and spun around.
Her breathing was shallow now.
Think.
Think.
She grabbed her phone from the bed and stuffed it into her pocket.
Another loud bang shook the door.
The cheap wood splintered slightly near the lock.
“They’re going to break it,” she whispered to herself.
Her gaze flicked toward the kitchen.
A knife sat beside the sink.
Not much of a weapon, but it was something.
She grabbed it quickly, her grip tight enough to make her knuckles turn white.
Another crash against the door.
The wood cracked further.
Her pulse pounded violently in her ears.
“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “Okay… you can do this.”
She positioned herself beside the door, knife raised.
If they came in—
The door burst open.
The lock snapped with a loud c***k, the door swinging inward so hard it slammed against the wall.
Lia lunged.
The knife barely left her hand before a large hand caught her wrist mid-air.
The man moved so quickly she barely saw him.
Pain shot up her arm as he twisted her wrist slightly.
The knife clattered to the floor.
“Easy,” he said calmly.
Lia gasped, trying to pull away.
The man holding her was massive—broad shoulders, dark coat, expression completely unreadable.
Two other men stepped inside behind him, their eyes scanning the apartment with quiet efficiency.
“Let me go!” Lia snapped, struggling against his grip.
The man didn’t tighten his hold, but he didn’t release her either.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” he said.
His voice was the same one she had heard through the door.
Lia glared at him.
“You broke into my apartment!”
“Yes.”
He said it so simply that for a moment she had no response.
Her anger flared.
“You can’t just do that!”
The man studied her calmly, as if her reaction was mildly interesting.
“You accessed a restricted network belonging to my employer,” he said. “Breaking a door is the least illegal thing that has happened tonight.”
Lia’s stomach twisted.
“My employer,” he had said.
Which meant—
“Nikolai Volkov?” she asked quietly.
For the first time, something flickered in the man’s expression.
Recognition.
“Yes.”
The single word felt like a cold weight dropping into the room.
Lia’s chest tightened.
“So you admit it,” she said. “You’re criminals.”
The man raised an eyebrow.
“And you’re not?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
One of the other men had already moved to her laptop on the bed.
“Sir,” he said. “The device she used is gone.”
Lia’s heart jumped.
The first man glanced back at him.
“Hidden?” he asked.
“Most likely.”
His gaze returned to Lia.
“Where is it?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said quickly.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
For a moment, the room felt painfully quiet.
Then he released her wrist.
Lia staggered back slightly, surprised.
The man bent down and picked up the knife from the floor, examining it briefly before placing it on the kitchen counter.
“Search the apartment,” he said calmly to the others.
Lia’s stomach dropped.
“No!” she snapped, stepping forward. “You can’t just—”
One of the men gently but firmly guided her back.
“Stay still.”
Within seconds, the tiny apartment was being examined piece by piece.
The couch cushions were lifted.
The cabinets opened.
The closet door pulled aside.
Lia’s pulse raced faster with every passing second.
Please don’t check the floor.
Please don’t check the floor.
The first man watched her carefully.
Not the room.
Her.
Studying every flicker of fear that crossed her face.
His gaze slowly drifted toward the bed.
Then down to the floorboards beside it.
Lia’s stomach sank.
He walked over and crouched beside the bed.
“No,” she said quickly.
He ignored her.
His fingers tapped lightly against the wood.
Once.
Twice.
Then he slid the loose board aside.
The laptop appeared.
Silence filled the room.
He lifted it out slowly, brushing a bit of dust off the lid.
“Well,” he said quietly.
“That answers that.”
Lia felt sick.
He stood and turned back toward her.
“You’re coming with us.”
Her heart skipped.
“No.”
The word came out before she could stop it.
“No,” she repeated more firmly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The man studied her calmly.
“That wasn’t a request.”
Lia shook her head.
“You can’t just kidnap people.”
One of the other men gave a small laugh.
“You hacked one of the most protected networks in the world,” he said. “You’re lucky k********g is all that’s happening.”
Fear crawled through Lia’s chest.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
The first man closed the laptop and tucked it under his arm.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Lia’s heart pounded harder.
“And if I refuse?”
For the first time, the man’s expression hardened slightly.
“You already tried that.”
He stepped toward the door and nodded to the others.
“Bring her.”
One of the men moved behind Lia.
She turned quickly.
“Wait,” she said.
Her voice shook slightly despite her attempt to stay calm.
“My mother,” she said.
“If I disappear she’ll—”
The first man paused at the doorway.
“For your sake,” he said quietly, “I suggest you cooperate.”
Lia hesitated.
Her mind raced.
Fight?
Run?
Neither option would work.
Three of them.
One of her.
Her shoulders slowly slumped.
“Fine,” she muttered.
One of the men guided her toward the door.
The hallway outside felt colder than before.
As they walked toward the stairs, Lia couldn’t stop the thought spinning in her head.
Nikolai Volkov.
The name echoed like a warning.
She had broken into his system.
Now she was about to meet the man himself.
And somehow…
She had the terrible feeling that hacking his network might have been the least dangerous mistake she had made tonight.
- Writer
