He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 303

Chapter 303

Taisy’s POV)

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I had imagined this moment more than once over the last several hours, in the vague, unfocused way you imagine things you’re actively trying not to think

about.

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None of those imaginings had prepared me for actually standing in front of him.

Roman Volkov didn’t look like a man. He looked like the idea of one, distilled down into something colder and more permanent. Tall, broad through the shoulders in a way that suggested strength kept in careful reserve rather than displayed.

His hair had gone silver at the temples, and yet nothing about him read as old- if anything, age seemed to have simply declined to touch him, the way certain things in nature are too dangerous to bother decaying. His suit fit like it had been built around him rather than for him. His face gave away nothing

at all.

That absence of expression frightened me more than any amount of visible cruelty could have. Cruel faces, at least, tell you something. His told me nothing except that he’d stopped needing to perform anger a very long time ago, because the results arrived either way.

This was a man who had killed more people than he’d bothered speaking to. I understood that the second I looked at him, some old, animal part of my brain recognizing the shape of it instantly, the way you’d recognize a cliff edge in the dark before your foot even found empty air.

A sound cut through the moment- a sharp grunt, a body hitting the ground.

My head snapped toward it.

One of the men surrounding Volkov had just driven his boot into someone kneeling off to the side. “Stay down,” the guard barked.

Fritzo.

I focused my attention and dread on him once again. But now it was worse due to my realization…

If Fritzo was here, kneeling, beaten, then whatever plan DeLuca had built for tonight hadn’t gone the way it was supposed to. Which meant we weren’t just

We were caught in the middle of something already falling apart.

“Move closer to the master,” one of the guards said, shoving my shoulder forward. Another echoed it toward Archer, sharper, less patient.

“Now! Don’t make us say it twice.”

We moved. Had to

Archer adjusted his grip on my mother as we were herded forward, positioning us directly in Volkov’s line of sight instead of at an angle, like even the geometry of this moment had rules that weren’t allowed to bend.

My heart hammered so hard I could feel it in my teeth.

I needed a plan.

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104 Fri, Sep 4 AM

Chapter 303

I needed something, anything, some version of clever that might buy us even a few extra seconds.

So naturally, my mouth opened before my brain had produced one.

“Hello, everyone!” My voice came out far too bright for the room- or surroundings. I smiled. “Before I say anything else, I’d like to appreciate how beautifu this day is. And how much more beautiful it could get if everyone just put on a smile. Let go of some of these glares.”

Nothing happened.

No one smiled.

No one’s expression shifted even slightly. Volkov himself remained utterly, unnervingly still, watching me the way you’d watch something you hadn’t yet decided was worth the effort of killing.

Okay, I continued, because apparently stopping wasn’t an option my mouth had been given. “You don’t have to smile. But I want you to know we didn’t mean to barge in and ruin whatever you had going on here. You all seemed really busy. Our being here has clearly disoriented things, so.. we can just be on

our way.

I laughed, a small, desperate attempt at charm, and nobody joined me.

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