Nikita

"Please, don't let me meet the doctor, please," Samantha pleaded, her voice stopping Qiao from leaving the room. Qiao looked at her, almost like he was no longer interested in what she had to say.

They had been in that tent for over thirty minutes, and she hadn't said anything, so why would he believe her when she pleaded she didn't want to meet the doctor? Qiao looked at her before moving to get out, but a bang on the table stopped him.

This woman really was either going nuts or was too scared of Nikita to make it known to anyone else. What the fuċk had Nikita done to her anyway?

As far as he could recall, she was just another one of the one-night stands Nikita had in the past few days. That, however, did not make her any special. Then again, she was Natalya's daughter.

Nikita had told his best friend of the situation with Natalya and her daughter, and seeing this woman here made Qiao remind himself not to trust anyone. If the woman who had served the Pavlenko household for over twenty years could turn out to be a traitor, then there was no hope for younglings like him in this life.

Betrayal seemed to come as second nature to humans, though he knew Nikita wouldn't ever betray him just like he wouldn't betray his brother.

The idea of Natalya sending her daughter here to do her dirty work made Qiao make a mental note to look into Natalya. However, he was sure that Nikita had already done his homework on the woman somehow.

It was all just a matter of time before they all got their piece of the pie and went along with it but for how long would this go on? Nikita had already lost his family in the crash, so what were these people really after?

Anyone could tell by Nikita's state and actions in the past few months that he was the least bit interested in the wealth that his family had. All he wanted was to make the nightmares stop. He didn't care that his family's fortune could end up in the wrong hands.

What good was all that fortune when he didn't have the people he loved the most? What food was it all when he couldn't even manage to find his closure for all these?

"Why are you so scared of a pure-hearted doctor? Nikita is as harmless as a kid, and yet somehow you are so scared of what he will do to you than what I, a military man, will do to you," Qiao mused, pretending like he didn't know shit about the good doctor.

Maybe that would allow him to know what really scared the woman. He walked back into the room and sat on the seat opposite Samantha, not caring about the woman's valuables that were scattered on the table before them.

He had made it clear to her that she was a free woman and was being restrained anymore, and yet she didn't want to leave.

"You wouldn't understand," Samantha said with conviction, and Qiao Xi held back the urge to laugh at this woman.

Did she miss the part where he ah called Nikita his best friend and brother, or did she think that Nikita didn't tell him shit about his daily life and the ups and fuċkɨnġ downs in his life? Maybe that's what Samantha thought, and Qiao wasn't going to correct her.

He would let her live in her horrors all the while he would just stay there and amuse himself.

"Then enlighten me, or are you in love with my brother…well, this is interesting," Qiao said, his tone lightening at the end. It was quite a ridiculous thing to say, considering Nikita never really committed to any relationships.

Nikita was the kind of man who didn't give a shit about love or what it had. Maybe if his family had not perished, he would have slowly learned, or even Raisa could've tricked him into sticking with one woman, but they weren't here.

All his family was lost, and Nikita Pavlenko had never been in love. Hell, he didn't know what to do if he ever fell in love.

He was stupid about love, which was probably the only good thing about the whole situation.

But then maybe if Nikita had been in love, he would have someone he could confide in more than he confessed in Qiao and Carrie, and maybe together they would have found a way to fix the doctor, but that was a lot of hope for one person, really.

"You just wouldn't understand, please. You can even take me to Carrie and let her do whatever she wants with me; just don't leave me to Nikita Pavlenko. Please," Samantha insisted.

Oh well, Qiao could see that Natalya had informed her daughter of Nikita's close circles, and she preferred Carrie to Nikita? Damn.

Carrie was an unstable human bomb that could go off anytime on anyone who threatened the peace of the people she loved. Of course, Qiao had already reached out to her, and they would be together in a week to fix their friend, but still, it made the whole scene a little funny. 

Samantha was right to be scared of the good doctor, maybe because he was way too bright and had a legion of hackers.

Then again, she could only be that scared of a man whose army was hackers if she had some critical information that could ruin her. Still, from the look of things, the woman did know shit about having a digital profile, let alone even care about her own realities.

"I'm afraid that's not my choice unless you give me something I can work with," Qiao insisted. The cards were on his side, and he would play them very well.

He would ensure that no one ever messed with his family and just walked out the door freely like they were ordering burritos. He would make sure Samantha served as an example or gave him all he needed.

"I will give you anything, I swear, anything I will do whatever you want me to," Samantha said, and Qiao was almost glad.

Almost because he knew this woman could change her statements if she realized that the doctor was sedated since he had a mental breakdown earlier. But would that make Nikita any less lethal a man?

Would that make the influence he had any less? 

"Tell me about the virus."

"Promise me you won't leave me to Nikita," Samanh insisted; she was beginning to sound like a broken record, but what could Qiao Xi say anyway?

"I can't make a promise, but I can try to talk to him. Tell me about the virus."

"Okay. That is better. I will tell you about the virus," the woman said after sighing deeply. She looked like she was about to disclose the location of a nuclear weapon, damn.

"Get on with it then."