Sinful Promise (Koslov Bratva #6)

28. Danil

28

DANIL

Growing up, I used to have night terrors. They were terrifying.

The last episode I remember must have been when I was about eight or nine years old.

My mother used to come to my room and assure me that they were very common and nothing to worry about, which was easier said than done.

My older brothers also happened to introduce me to The Shining at around the same time, so I started to convince myself that I was going to turn into Jack during one of these episodes and murder my entire family in their sleep with an axe, which Mikhail thought was hilarious.

Unfortunately for me, I was unable to see the funny and became so scared of going to sleep that I started refusing to go to bed. My mother tried everything she could to calm me down, but nothing worked.

Eventually, things got so bad, and I was so sleep deprived, that Alexei decided to set up an air mattress for me on the floor of his room, assuring me that if I were to suddenly wake up and go on some kind of mass killing spree, that he would step in.

That went on for six months until eventually, I must have grown out of them.

Until my parents died.

I wasn't a witness to my parents' murders, and Alexei never told me any specific details of what he saw, but knowing Igor Ivanov, I had a pretty good idea of what happened. Often I would see a haunted expression pass over my brother’s face, like he was seeing ghosts, and in those times, I was glad that he never told me the details.

We might have had our differences growing up, and even now, but one thing that has never changed is his undying need to protect me.

Growing up with a Pahkan as a father, I was no stranger to violence. I had been accompanying my father on business since the age of twelve, and that was only because of my mother. If my father had his way, I would have been going from the age of eight.

My world was both one of love and devastating violence—two things that I never thought could co-exist until Alexei got married to Bianca.

I never understood how Alexei could walk through life with the memory of finding our mother and father slaughtered. And yet somehow, despite it all, he still managed to find light in the darkness.

I think my brothers and I saw Alexei and Bianca’s relationship as permission to move forward with our own lives.

After our parents died, it was like we were frozen by grief. But one by one, I’ve watched them all fall in love and start families of their own, all the while wondering when it was going to be my turn.

And then Emily came into my life, and I just knew that she was the girl who would be by my side for the rest of my life.

Until now.

I should have known better than to walk Emily through Central Park at night, but I got cocky. I thought I would be enough to protect her if something were to happen, and I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The scent of blood in the air is proof of that.

Please don’t be dead.

I try to lift my head despite the shooting pain in my temple as I come around. I’m no longer lying on the concrete floor, but instead I’m sitting up in a chair.

I attempt to move, but my limbs feel like they each weigh a ton.

The coppery smell of the blood lingers on my skin and clothes. The fact it seems to have clotted is a good sign, but that doesn’t mean I’m out of the woods. I’m all too aware of the sort of lasting damage Igor can do.

I just have to hope and pray that I don’t end up suffering with blackouts like Lev.

One of my eyes is swollen shut, and the throbbing pain in my head is so bad that dark spots are starting to creep at the corners of the other.

Any minute now, I’m going to pass out again. But I need to come up with some sort of plan.

The fact that they’ve separated me from Emily could mean two things.

They could view her as disposable and have already killed her. Or, and this is the more likely option, they’re going to torture her in order to get information out of me.

As much as I don’t want it to be the latter, at least it would mean she was still alive.

For now.

“Emily…”

“She’s not here.”

My blood turns to ice in my veins when I realize that I’m not alone.

I don’t need to see to know whose voice that is. I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“Igor,” I croak, as I look up to see him standing by the door.

His arms are folded across his chest, and he’s looking down at me with a feral smile on his lips.

“Nice of you to finally join me, Danil. I will say what a pleasure it is to be in the presence of a Koslov.”

I’m fighting to stay conscious. Any minute now, my body is going to lose the fight, and it will be game over, not just for me but for Emily too.

I need to stay awake.

“And having Emily with us was a little unexpected addition, but welcome nonetheless.”

“Go to hell,” I spit.

“Now, now. Where are your manners, Danil? If your father were here, he would be very disappointed in you.”

“Fucking bastard.” I pull against my restraints.

The rope burns my skin, and I grunt as the skin tears.

Igor chuckles. “I’d try to conserve your energy if I were you, Danil. You’re going to need it.”

“You touch Emily, and you’re dead,” I growl.

“Oh, and you’re going to stop me, are you?” He takes a step toward me.

There are no weapons in his hands, but that brings me little comfort. It would take nothing for him to wrap his hands around my neck and squeeze until all the air left my lungs.

I need to play this carefully, and I need to play this right if I have any chance of saving Emily.

I try to ignore the painful pounding in my head. “What do you want?”

“There’re many things I want, Danil.” Igor drags a nearby chair over to me and sits down.

He’s so close that his knees are almost touching mine and even with my limited vision, I can make out every scar on his face that serves as a permanent reminder of just how dangerous this man is.

“My, my. That looks like a nasty bruise.” He reaches out to touch the delicate skin beneath my eye with his calloused finger.

I can’t help but notice the blood caked beneath his fingernails.

“I doubt Emily will want to go anywhere near you when you look like you’ve been in a bar fight.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“My men were under strict instructions to bring you to me alive. Though from the looks of the wound on the back of your head, I’d say you’re barely hanging on. Maybe Emily won’t be the only one dying today.”

“What do I need to do to make sure you spare her life?”

My shoulders are starting to ache from having my hands tied behind my back, and the slightest of movements is making the raw skin on my wrists start to bleed.

I used to think that using cable ties would be the worst as you could bind someone's hands so tightly that you could cut off the blood circulation until the hands eventually die.

Mikhail has been known to use such a technique, but I’m willing to bet that rope is worse.

It’s negative conditioning. The more you attempt to pull your hands free, the more the rope burns and the skin rips open.

But it’s not enough to stop me from trying.

Igor smiles. “I want to finish what I started all those years ago, Danil. I want to end the Koslov Bratva for good. And you are going to help me do it.”

My blood turns cold.

“Are you asking me to kill my brothers?”

“Not directly.” He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “All I ask is that you bring your brothers to me.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I will torture Emily and make you watch every second of it.”

I almost empty the contents of my stomach all over myself.

“If you need a little more motivation, I’d be happy to explain in detail what I plan on doing to her. But I will say, the green dress she’s wearing is very… enticing .”

“Leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this.”

Igor regards me for a moment, and then he does something completely out of the ordinary.

He laughs.

There is nothing light or pleasant about the sound. In fact, it makes the hair on the back of my neck and arms stand on end as a chill runs down my spine.

“Did you really think I would go to all this trouble to track down a girl if she didn’t mean anything to you?”

I say nothing, but my silence speaks volumes.

“It seems the youngest of the Koslov brothers has finally found love, and just in time. We wouldn’t want you feeling left out.”

I knew he had been keeping an eye on Emily all this time, but I thought I had the situation under control.

I thought I could protect her from him.

This is my fault, and I need to fix this. But how?

I need to keep him talking. I need time to think. “Left out how?”

“Just between you and me, I’ve decided to start my revenge plan by killing each and every one of the women that the Koslov men love.” Igor has a wicked gleam in his eye.

He can’t be serious.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I?”

“Your daughter is one of them. You would kill Nina?”

Igor’s expression turns from one of faint amusement to cold fury. “My daughter has made her bed. Now she has to lie in it.”

He’s even more of a monster than I thought. To talk about killing your own daughter without any remorse is nothing short of evil.

“But that’s just the beginning. Once I’m done with them, I’ll move on to the children.”

“No! You touch them and you're dead!”

“And I even get a little two for one deal with Zara.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You don’t know?” That blood-chilling smile spreads across Igor’s face once again, and I brace myself for the killing blow. “Zara is pregnant.”

What?

Igor tuts. “Dimitri should choose his doctors more carefully next time. Not that there will be a next time, of course… Pity, but that’s just how it has to be.”

Bile burns my throat, and my mouth fills with saliva as I think of Igor getting his hands on Zara.

The only saving grace is that Emily isn’t here to hear this. I just have to hope that my brothers can stop him before he ever has a chance to follow through.

As if Igor can read my thoughts, he gets to his feet and tosses the chair to the side. The sound of it crashing against the floor sends shockwaves of pain through my head, and I groan.

“Right now, my men are setting themselves up in the apartments surrounding yours.”

The pain is getting overwhelming, but I push through it. “My apartment is empty.”

Igor’s eyes flash with anger at my interruption a brief second before his hand collides with my cheek, snapping my head to the side.

Another shooting pain runs up the back of my neck, and the room starts to spin.

“Keep up, will you? You’re going to call Dimitri and tell him you have important news, and that you want them all to meet you at your apartment.”

“I’m not going to lead my brothers to the slaughter.”

The black spots are increasing, and I fight to stay conscious.

“You will if you want me to let Emily go.”

“There’s no way. They’ll…they’ll be suspicious.”

My head hangs, and my eye that isn’t swollen shut starts to close.

But Igor gets close once again. So close that his hot breath burns my skin.

“Then you’re just going to have to be very convincing, now, won’t you? Because it is only once I have your brothers in my possession that I will let the girl go.”

“What about me?” I croak.

“What about you?”

“Will you let me go?”

I already know that there’s no way I’m getting out of this situation alive, but I need to stall to keep him talking.

I just have to hope that my brothers can get here in time to save Emily.

There are no windows in this room, so I have no idea how much time has passed, but they must have worked out something has happened to us by now.

Because the alternative is that Emily and I are both dead.

A feral smile tugs at his lips. “I don’t think so. But don’t worry, Koslov. At least you’ll die knowing that you saved your girlfriend's life.”