29. Emily
29
EMILY
Danil is dead.
Or as good as dead.
I can’t stop the memories playing of those two men beating Danil over and over in my head. I can still hear the phantom sounds of him grunting ringing in my ears as I screw my eyes shut to try and block out the fact that I’m tied up in a basement.
But maybe that will be my punishment—to relive that moment over and over for the rest of my life, however long that will be. Because there’s no way that Igor had his men drag Danil out of here to do anything other than kill him, and I deserve to be reminded of what I did to Danil for as long as I live. If I even live through this.
After all, this is all my fault.
If Danil dies, his blood will be on my hands.
The thought has me leaning over and emptying the contents of my stomach on the concrete beside me. Vomit runs down my chin, but I can’t wipe it away with my hands tied behind my back.
My shoulders are aching from having my arms bound behind me, and my hands are starting to go numb from the cold as well as from the ropes, which are bound so tightly around my wrists.
I’ve long given up trying to wriggle my hands free. It’s just a waste of energy.
“Please,” I whimper to myself. “Just let me die…”
It’s selfish of me to wish for death, but I’m not sure I will be able to live with the guilt of knowing that Danil is going to pay the price for my mistake.
That is, if he hasn’t already.
“Danil,” I croak.
I’m glad the room is pitch black, so I don’t have to see the evidence of Danil’s pain splattered all over the concrete floor.
“I’m so sorry,” I sob into the darkness.
I lean back against the cold wall and try not to breathe through my nose. The smell of the vomit beside me mixed with the lingering smell of Danil’s blood in the air has my stomach clenching.
I had thought that Igor would torture me in front of Danil in order to get him to talk, but it seems I’ve underestimated the bratva Pahkan once again. The Koslovs tried their best to warn me, but I was too stubborn to listen.
I thought I knew what was best, but my ignorance has likely cost me the love of my life.
My heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest as my mouth opens in a silent scream. I don’t have the energy left in me to fight, and I want nothing more than to sleep. But every time my eyes grow heavy with exhaustion, Danil’s voice sounds in my head.
Are you asking me to be your boyfriend, Emily Mullens?
I never answered him.
Another sob builds in my throat as I realize I might not ever get the chance to tell Danil how much I love him. How I want him to be so much more than just my boyfriend.
He’s my e verything , and he’ll never know.
My spiraling thoughts are getting darker and darker with each minute that passes.
I’m not sure how much time has passed, but it feels like I’ve been locked in this basement for days.
I was so sure that Danil’s brothers would have found us by now, but I’m starting to lose hope.
Besides, I’m not sure I want to be alive when they realize what has happened to Danil.
My body trembles from the cold, and my jaw aches from how badly my teeth are chattering. If only I could have a blanket to put around my bare shoulders to protect me from the bite in the air.
But this is how men like Igor break people like me.
Being left alone with my own thoughts is a different kind of torture. One that I know Igor is likely going to take advantage of.
The skin of my cheeks feels stiff from where my tears have dried, and I wince as I swallow. My throat feels like sandpaper from screaming for Danil, not that my cries made any difference. If anything, they probably only added to the amusement of Igor’s guards. After all, these men find pleasure in the pain of others.
When the sound of heavy footsteps approaches once more, my pulse quickens.
This is it.
I’m going to die.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Emily Mullens.”
My skin breaks out in goosebumps.
I barely have the energy to lift my head to see who has entered the basement room, but I have a feeling I already know who it is. Igor Ivanov.
“Officially, I mean.” He steps further into the room.
He leaves the door to the basement open, as if to taunt me.
He’s exactly how I imagined him to be—like a snake in human form. His dark eyes are empty-looking, and when he smiles, I notice the sharp points of his canines that look like they could easily tear through flesh. Deep scars cover his hands and forearms, and the bump in his nose tells me it’s been broken, probably more than once.
If brutality had a form, it would be Igor Ivanov.
“I wanted to tell you that you impressed me at that party all those months ago.”
“What?” I finally look up at him.
The smirk on his face tells me all I need to know about Igor. He’s enjoying every second of my suffering, and I know this is only the beginning.
“The way you seemed to slot into that lifestyle was admirable. Many of my… colleagues couldn’t stop singing your praises, along with some other things.”
I recoil at his words. I don’t ever want to think of that night again.
“They’ve been pestering me to get you back. They asked me to tell you that you will be very heavily compensated for your time.”
I keep my mouth shut, if only to stop myself from vomiting again as Igor crosses the distance between us.
When he crouches in front of me, his eyes flick to the floor, and he grimaces.
He tuts as he eyes the mess I’ve made beside myself. “Maybe it’s a good thing Danil isn’t here to see you like this, Emily. You’re not exactly looking your best.”
I say nothing.
“Don’t you want to know how Danil is doing?”
I try not to react. I know he’s likely only baiting me, and I’m not going to give him the satisfact?—
His hand strikes me across the face, and my head snaps to the side. I can’t stop myself from crying out, and my cheek instantly burns with the sting from his hand.
“I asked you a question, Emily.”
Any amusement in his tone has vanished, and I know I’m walking a fine line between life and death. Igor Ivanov looks like the type of man who could kill someone with his bare hands without even breaking a sweat.
As much as I don’t want to give in to Igor’s demands, if there’s any chance that Danil is still alive, I need to do whatever I can to make sure it stays that way. At least until Alexei and the others can get here.
“H-how…” My throat is painfully dry and with each word I speak, it feels like I’m rubbing sandpaper along the inside of my esophagus. “Is…Danil?”
Igor’s face breaks out into a smile, if I can even call it that. It’s more of a sneer that shows off his teeth.
“Oh, Danil is just fine. A little battered and bruised, but he’ll make a full recovery. That is, if I let him.”
A sob escapes my lips, but that only makes Igor laugh.
“It’s not all bad, Emily.” He reaches out to wipe his thumb across my cheek.
I turn my head away from his touch, but I instantly regret it.
Igor fists my hair and yanks it hard so that I cry out.
He sneers. “Don’t ever look away from me when I’m talking to you.”
His face is so close to mine that his hot breath scorches my cheek.
I’m completely at his mercy. It would take nothing for him to take my head in his hands and snap my neck like a twig.
“If you promise to behave, I’ll make sure that you won’t suffer.” He loosens his grip on my hair just enough for the pain to stop. “It’s the least I can do really, considering what Danil is willing to do for you.”
My stomach turns to lead.
“W-what do you mean?”
“He’s willing to give up information on his family in order to protect you.”
Oh, Danil… What have you done?
“I knew Danil was going to be the weak link in the family. After all, he’s willing to do almost anything to prove to his brothers that he’s worthy of being a Koslov. It’s a little cliché if you ask me, but I suppose it’s all working out in my favor.”
To try and stop myself from screaming for Danil, I bite down on my lower lip so hard that blood fills my mouth.
“But there was a piece of the puzzle missing. I needed something, or rather someone , to use a little motivation to get Danil talking. So, I took a gamble on you, Emily Mullens. I had a gut feeling that your relationship was more than just platonic, but the evidence was consistently suggesting otherwise.”
Evidence?
Had Igor been spying on Danil and me all this time?
“That was, until one of my men spotted the two of you on the sidewalk one night, looking quite cozy together, and that solidified my plan.”
The night where Danil almost kissed me for the second time…
“So, my gamble paid off because Danil is willing to do whatever it takes to save your life. You picked a good one there, Emily.”
“Let him go.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Kill…me,” I grit out as I fight against the nausea. “Kill me instead.”
Igor muses as he releases his hold on my hair.
My head falls forward, and I wince at the stinging pain in my scalp.
“It’s a tempting offer. But what you’re offering isn’t enough.”
“What do you want?”
The corners of his mouth tilt up in a smile. “Many things, Emily. Many things.”
I wait for him to continue.
I figure the longer I keep his attention, the longer Danil stays alive.
“Ultimately, I want all the Koslovs dead.”
I try not to react to his words, though he must see something flash in my eyes as his smile only widens.
He reaches out to brush a stray strand of hair out of my face. “I know what you’re thinking. And yes, that means every single member of the Koslov family.”
He pauses to let the reality of his plans sink in.
Igor doesn’t just intend on murdering Danil and his brothers. He intends on murdering their wives and children too.
This time, I can’t stop myself from vomiting all over the floor.
My stomach aches from contracting so much, and my mouth tastes sour, but that is the least of my worries.
My sister and her family are going to die because of me.
“Please…”
“So, as much as I would like to keep you alive, Emily, you are ultimately a part of the Koslov Bratva too, which means you have to die. But, perhaps, I’ll save your sister and the twins for last.”
“You monster. They’re babies. What have they ever done to you?”
“It’s not what they’ve done, but what they will do, Emily. You see, I’ve been paying the price for not murdering Alexei and his brothers for the past fifteen years. The moment they learned the truth of who killed their parents, they’ve been doing their best to take me down. It’s like I’ve had a permanent thorn in my backside for the past decade, and I’m ready to be rid of it.”
“W-what if I promise you that they won’t?”
Igor looks at me for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing.
I catch sight of a few gold teeth in the back of his mouth that I wish I could rip out just to make him choke on them.
“You and I both know that would be a waste of time. Because that would involve me letting you go, and that’s simply not an option.”
I pull against the ropes around my wrists, but they feel as if they’ve gotten tighter.
He’s going to murder everyone I care about unless I can get out of here and try to get a message to Alexei.
It can’t end like this. There has to be a way to fix this.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I barely register the fact that Igor has left and locked the door to the basement, no doubt on his way to go and murder the love of my life.
Danil loves me so much that he’s willing to betray his family just to try and save my life.
But he should have known that the devil would never honor a promise.