𝑭𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑺 - 𝑹.𝑵𝑰𝑲𝑶𝑳𝑨𝑰

chapter 33

"Wait! Nikolai! I thought I was special! Are you really kicking me out!? What about us?! I thought our relatio—"

*Thud.* The sound of the door slamming cut off Claire's protests mid-sentence, leaving her on the other side to fume and probably curse under her breath.

You couldn't help it. A giggle bubbled up from your chest at the absurdity of it all. Claire, forever the dramatic one, was always so over-the-top with her emotions. And Nikolai? Well, he enjoyed every second of it, making sure to leave her with absolutely no room to argue.

"Your brutal," you muttered, shaking your head as you moved away from the door.

The sound of Claire's muffled voice continued from behind the door, still whining and complaining. *Poor Claire,* you thought. But also... *not really*.

Nikolai was standing in the middle of the room, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed and a wide grin on his face. "Ah, but it's fun to watch her squirm, isn't it?" he said, his voice dripping with amusement.

You gave him a playful shove. "I can't believe you actually shut her out. You know she won't let this go, right?"

He waved his hand dismissively, clearly unconcerned. "Let her whine. She'll forget it all by tomorrow, and then she'll probably be knocking on my door again, begging for my attention."

You leaned against the bed, shaking your head at how chaotic everything always seemed around him. "You're impossible, you know that?"

He chuckled, his eyes gleaming mischievously. "Impossible is my middle name, Dovie. You knew what you were getting into."

A sigh escaped your lips, but you couldn't deny the rush of adrenaline that came from being around Nikolai. His chaotic energy was infectious, even if it drove you mad sometimes. "Yeah, I guess I did," you muttered, a small smile tugging at the corner of your lips despite yourself.

Nikolai pushed himself off the wall and walked toward you, his grin softening into something more mischievous yet affectionate. "Besides," he added in a low voice, "you know you're special to me, don't you?"

You rolled your eyes, but there was warmth in your chest that you couldn't quite ignore. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get all sentimental on me, Kolya. It's not like you to be serious."

"I'm not serious." His voice was playful again as he winked at you. "But I am kind of fond of you, Dovie."

You couldn't suppress the small laugh that slipped out, even as your cheeks warmed slightly. "You're impossible."

"And that's why you love me," he teased, reaching out to ruffle your hair. "Now, how about we go make some more chaos?"

You couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of it all. "Fine, but I swear, if Claire comes back with more drama, I'm locking myself in the bathroom."

Nikolai laughed, pulling you toward the door. "Deal. But first, let's make sure we get *her* drama out of the way."

You shared a look, the laughter still hanging in the air between you. Despite everything, maybe chaos wasn't so bad when you had Nikolai by your side.

The heavy, lingering tension from the previous encounter between you, Nikolai, and Claire still seemed to hang in the air, but you were slowly starting to regain some normalcy—well, as normal as things ever got around Nikolai.

You and Nikolai walked into the main room, where Sigma was casually sitting at the table, his eyes glancing up as the two of you entered. His calm demeanor was a stark contrast to the chaotic whirlwind that had just unfolded in the last hour.