Set free

Chapter 6 Niko's POV

" Amelia" Nick purred as he walked closer to her. His stride was slow and relaxed like he had all the time in the world. She watched him but didn't speak as he kept walking closer and closer to her, until he practically stood on her. She didn't drop her head, but she also didn't raise it to look up at him. She just stared at his mid-section, her hands were now clasped in her lap. She wasn't ringing them with fear or nervousness, she just had them clasped in her lap.

He reached over her and picked up the paper on the desk to look at it. I found myself zooming the camera in too, so I could see. " Mountains ? " Nick spoke, and I saw on the paper was a mountain backdrop with clear sky above them. The artwork was detailed and beautiful. She was talented. Still, she didn't speak. He dropped that piece and moved some other paper around on the desk. I saw her head turn slightly, watching him. Then, as his hand landed on one and paused, she tensed even more, her shoulders were nearly touching her ears now.

He lifted it up, and again I zoomed and froze when I saw the paper. On it were a set of eyes. No nose, no face or lips or hair, just eyes. Even without the rest of the face she nailed the eye's expression, hardened, angry, evil and hatred. The eyes glared at you from the paper and the eyes that started at me now through the camera's lense were my own. I didn't need the rest of my face to be on there. She aced the color of the thick black eyelashes and the shape of my eyebrows.

" Who do these belong to ? " Nick asked, but the way he angled the paper the way he asked, I knew he already knew. The girl was talented at capturing them so easily and to every detail that there was no denying they were mine.

She didn't answer him. Zooming out, I watched as Nick put the paper back down and looked at her. She was now back looking at his stomach.

" I asked you a question ? " He snapped. She flinched slightly, and finally looked up at him.

" You already know " she finally croaked out.

He tilted his head and studied her, then he took a step back, not to move away but so he could bend down and place his face close to hers.

" Yeah ? And how would I know ? " He asked quietly and evenly, no emotion in his voice.

She looked hesitant. She looked down towards his feet to remove herself from his intense stare and I saw the slight bounce of her feet on the floor. He was starting to nerve her. Either that or she knew she had just f*cked up somehow by answering him with what she had answered him with. Was she looking for a lie ? A way to back out of what she had said. Sitting forward, I placed the bowl down, no longer feeling hunger as all my attention zoned in to what she would do next.

" You stood with him at the party. I recognized you when you first came here. I have a photographic memory: your size, your hair and your eyes even with your mask on. I noticed every detail that night as he stood and glared at me. The way your mouth moved as you spoke with him is the same as the way it moves now. Why hasn't he shown himself to me yet ? " She asked as he stood up, a look of shock on his face. He looked toward the camera in the room, the one I was watching through.

Then he looked down at her and moved so that he sat on the edge of the bed looking at her. Finally, she looked this way, as Nick's back was now to me her face was facing this direction.

"Were you born with it or taught ? "He asked.

She frowned slightly. " Taught ? " She asked.

" Taught to be aware of your surroundings, take note of things for later use that could be valuable. Are you your father's prized puppet mare or his greatest weapon ? "he asked, his voice lower and now deadly.

She shook her head , for once her face showing something other than robotic fakeness. She looked a little scared, and so she should be. Nick would not be kind if he thought her a threat. His tone made the atmosphere in the room threatening. I have no doubt it had a deadly feel to it. Once, she definitely picked up on it. She looked down at her hands, which looked clenched together in pain. Now she was gripping them that tightly.

" Taught but not as his assassin if that is what you are thinking. Years of boarding schools, each one more brutal than the last. I come from money that is outlay criminal. Among all the girls whose money was clean and decades old, well not exactly clean but just more hidden than my father's activities. I was the trash they thought they could wipe their shoes on. My father could have any of theirs killed, yet they didn't fear me because in their world my father was nothing, not really. Their kind of money could have had my father gone easily. I had to learn to look out for myself. The mafia has nothing on those places. Also born with it like I said I have a photograph memory. It helped me see signs of attack when the other girls were planning to come for me " she whispered down to her hands. I felt rage bubble up inside of me.

Nick looked over his shoulder at the camera. I flicked it on and off a few times. Morse code for "get out ". He would have seen the red light blinking. I watched as he left, then I stood up and stormed out of the control room to meet him.

" You think she is being truthful ? " He asks when he sees me. I shake my head. I didn't think she was being fully truthful no. But some of that was the truth or all of it was, but it could have also been told as the truth to cover up other things.

" The story was truthful , but not the whole truth. Why was she all of a sudden so chatty ? You say she hasn't spoken since being here ? " I asked again and he shook his head. " We haven't spoken much to her either " he stated.

" Look into all of her schooling, the schools she went to, reports, registers, everything I want to know if there were any gaps in her schooling , anything odd about the schools. Get me everything on her you can find " I order him.

He agrees, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looks at me not saying anything until I snarl at him.

" Now she knows I was with you. Are you going to reveal yourself ? " He asked.

" Not yet " I hissed between clenched teeth as I stormed off. I needed a drink !