To say that Alexi was pissed off with both of us was an understatement. Pissed off didn’t even cover the level of mad that he was. Poor Creed, who had tried to save Kylian and I from Alexi’s morning rage, even got to shoulder some of the anger too. Amid all the screaming, Alexi had revealed that Uncle Andrei had my daughter all night long, and into this morning. Alexi’s last words to me. Though I knew they were in a rage, they made me more than sick to my stomach.

“Keep it up Nikki, and I will see that my niece is removed from your care, and you will only see her when I say it’s ok. When you’re responsible enough to realize that she is depending on you, and you’re out on the town being a whore.”

After screaming at him, I would fight him every step of the way. I went to get my daughter. The longer that Andrei took getting my daughter ready, the worse my anxiety got.

“Nikki? Are you alright you---” Lukas set his hand on my shoulder, and I snapped at him.

“Don’t touch me. I just want my damn daughter!”

The noise was enough to make Andrei come check on us, my daughter in tow. As if Andrei could see the fear in my eyes, he handed my daughter to me carefully and held onto her arm so I could just turn and leave right away.

“I’ll call you later,” he said.

“Yeah, sure.” I muttered and left the moment he let go of her arm.

Her little arms wrapped around my neck when I bolted down the hall with her. “It’s ok daddy.” She said, and I came to a complete stop in the hallway, my heart beating loudly in my chest.

“Yes, it’s ok now. Daddy is better now that I get to hold you.” I said, my voice soft and hiding far more panic than I wanted this sweet little girl to know. Finishing my walk to our door, I set her down inside and told her to go find all her favourite snacks, and we could have a movie day. The moment she was out of sight, I locked the door. Both the automatic tech lock and the deadbolt.

Running back to my side, she had a blanket, a pillow, and a bag of chips in hand. Her enormous smile made my heart ache. I was glad that she did not know the things Alexi was threatening me with. Going to the couch with her, I sat her down and picked the movie she wanted me to.

“Daddy must have a shower and get changed into comfier clothing, ok? Stay here and watch your movie.” I said, and she nodded, her focus on the movie on the screen. Making sure she wouldn’t move; I watched her for a few minutes before heading to the bathroom. Stripping down, I looked over my body in the mirror and frowned. Bite marks, nail marks and love bites littered my skin, and it was hard to push Alexi’s calling me a whore out of my mind.

Digging my nails into the bite mark on my shoulder, I dug at it until the scratches warped the appearance of the mark. Reaching into the shower, I turned it on as hot as I could stand and stepped under the spray once it warmed up.

The combination of scrubbing at my skin and the boiling hot water made my skin pink and sore to touch. But I still didn’t feel clean enough. Turning off the water, and stepping out, looked in the mirror at myself again and resisted the urge to rub my skin more. Taking the towel off the hook, I dried off before heading to my room.

Finding the gentlest fabric with most coverage was in the form of a black sweater with something in Korean embroidered on it with a heart, and navy-blue sweatpants. Grabbing a pillow off the bed, I took it to the living room with me, and sat down beside my daughter, who looked away from the TV to sigh at me.

“You’re wet still.” She said, her fingers reaching out and touching my dripping hair.

“I missed you too much to bother drying off.” I said, reaching out and pulling her against me tightly. I would fiercely defend this little girl. My treasured daughter.

“Daddy, is Uncle mad at you?” She asked, her little eyes looking up at me, seeking answers.

“Uncle Alexi?” I said, and she nodded.

“You could tell? Is that why you were with Uncle Andrei and Uncle Lukas?” I asked.

“Uncle Creed told me Uncle Andrei wanted me for the night. Uncle Alexi went to his room and didn’t come out.” She said, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I’m sorry, princess. Uncle Alexi is mad at me. You shouldn’t have to worry about that, though. You shouldn’t even have to know that Uncle Alexi is mad at Daddy.” I sighed and wanted to kick myself repeatedly. These were not problems that she needed to know about.

“It’s not your fault, daddy.” She said, like she knew it in her tiny, but giant, heart. Hearing those words killed me.

“Enough about Daddy and Uncle Alexi’s problems. You’re too young to need to worry about them. Daddy will deal with it.” I said, and she looked at me again, before she looked back at the tv. Looking at the tv, whatever movie she had me pick played, and she moved along with the characters as they danced and sang. I searched for my phone while she was preoccupied, returning after a few moments. She was still deeply engrossed in the tv.

I pulled up my texting app and quickly sent a message to Alessio, asking for him to stop by when he has a few minutes. I need some medical advice, or perhaps something more than advice, like a medical intervention. Somewhere along the movie, I laid out on the couch, and fell asleep, my daughter tucked against me.

I woke up to hearing my daughter whispering to someone. Looking up over the back of the couch, Kylian sat at my kitchen table with my daughter while she was colouring. Not really that concerned with it, I laid back down. Then I remembered I had dead bolted that door. He shouldn’t have been able to get inside.

Sitting back up, I got off the couch and wobbled to the kitchen. Kylian caught me as I bumped into the side of the table.

“How did you…”

“Your daughter.”

“My daughter can unlock the dead bolt…”

“Seems like it. She let me inside after all.” Kylian said and smiled softly.

“You need to show Daddy how you opened the door. Now, please.”

She stopped colouring and looked at Kylian like in that moment she was expecting him to save her. She looked back at me and continued to colour. Kylian smiled slightly to himself as he stood up and walked over to the door to show me exactly where he found my daughter after she unlocked the door. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how she unlocked the door. She clearly climbed onto the dresser in the doorway used to house random stuff. How she figured out she could get up there, I had no clue.

“Pushing that aside for a moment Nikki, are you ok after what happened with your brother?” Kylian said, and I looked at him for a few seconds before sighing.

“I don’t really want to talk about it. I’d rather not think about him calling me a whore and threating to talk away my daughter.”

“Nikki, I was asking out of concern for you. Not for any other reason.” Kylian said, observing his tone and the words he was using.

“Sorry.” I muttered and tried to walk away, but he grabbed me by the hoodie. I felt cold air run down my neck.

“Nikki, What the fuck is that?” He hissed, keeping his voice low, and I knew he meant the spot on my neck that I was hiding because I had torn at my skin.

“I had an itch.” I muttered, and Kylian clearly called me on my bullshit, and pulled the sweater around some more, looking for more spots. The more he pulled and looked, the more he found what he was looking for.

“Nikki, what the hell? Why the hell would you do this to yourself,” he said, and I could tell he was growing annoyed with each spot he found.

“Look, it’s nothing to be concerned with, ok?” I groaned.

“Nothing to be concerned about. You dug at all the spots that were left on your skin last night from having sex. But there’s nothing to be concerned about, right?” he said, this time all the understanding had left his tone, and was just flat out annoyed with me.

“I don’t think you have any right to be annoyed with me, Kylian. It’s my body and I can do what I like with-----”

Kylian shoved against the door, and his lips brushed mine as he spoke low, the tone of his voice sending chills down my very spine.

“I granted you the opportunity to be with another man in my presence, and you erased the marks that I had left on you.” Kylian said, and as his words registered, I grew pissed.

“You granted me the opportunity!” I yelled, and it was enough for my daughter to get out of the chair.

“Daddy?”

“Daddy is having a conversation with Kylian. Go back to the table, please.” I said, my voice shaking with anger because of Kylian.

Hearing her footsteps retreat, I took a deep breath and looked at the problem in front of me. “Let’s get something clear right now. You did not ‘grant me an opportunity’ I would have slept with that man with or without you.”

Kylian had this smug look on his face, like he wanted me to argue with him more, and tell him I didn’t belong to him. But I didn’t want to fight with my daughter in hearing range. But I would not give this up right here and admit defeat against this man. I refused.

Pushing him back slightly, I kept my voice hushed. “Follow me. We are not done here. But my daughter need not hear the nasty words I’m going to say to you. I recon you’ve more than earned them now.”