48. Revenge
Adrik stepped into the room that”s become a torture chamber for a few high-rated victims. It used to be a gym. There was glass on the walls and cold marble flooring. But it was too far from the main house, being at least a hundred feet by tunnel, so they moved the gym to the other side of the property. Now, it was the ”torture chamber,” as Gil liked to call it. There was a single working light in the center of the room, and it shined down like a spotlight. It kept Adrik in darkness as he circled Zinof like a predator in the night. He watched as his soldiers took turns punching Zinof, slapping him, poking him with an electric taser. They laughed as Zinof screamed.
”Bring Katia,” he ordered to the open air, and someone quickly left to do his bidding.
Zinof turned his head, searching the shadows. He was bleeding from every spot. His ears, his nose, his eyes, his lips. There were whip marks on his back. He sat in only underwear. Someone had cleaned up Zinof”s shit recently. The room didn”t smell as bad as it typically did.
”Adrik,” he panted. ”My father is gonna kill you.”
Adrik smiled. Threats were humorous coming from someone trapped in his house. A soldier came to him, holding up a baggie of cocaine. Adrik pinched the white powder, placing it on the back of his hand before he sniffed it. The burn was instant, and he rubbed at his nose till it passed. It took only moments for the drug to work into his system, and he closed his eyes, enjoying it. He hadn”t had a hit since Jolie came into his life. He had been trying to be something he wasn”t. And look where that got him.
But there was no escaping the Mafia.
It wasn”t long till Katia was shoved into the room. She fought the soldier at first, but then she froze upon seeing Zinof. Pain flashed over her face, and she found Adrik in the dark. ”What are you doing?”
”Giving you justice.”
She shook her head, trying to back up, but the soldier remained behind her, blocking her path. ”Please.”
”He tried to kill Helina,” Adrik reasoned. ”Do you want mercy?”
She shivered, and her gaze returned to her brother. ”Zinof, why did you attack my daughter?”
Zinof curled his lip. ”All of them deserve to fucking die.”
A soldier shocked him with a small jolt of electricity. And though Adrik enjoyed it, he watched Katia”s expression. She tried to hide her face, covering her mouth to suppress any screams.
”I want you to tell your father something,” Adrik said to Katia. ”I can keep him alive for years. Or, if he would rather, I could send the body to him tomorrow. It is his choice.”
”What do you want?”
A divorce,Adrik nearly said. It would have been the perfect opportunity to get it. He could withdraw from the contract, and their families could go their separate ways peacefully. The war would be over before it even began. No one would die, and Agent Mally could have her peace.
But without Jolie, what was the point of it? There were other things he could bargain for, things that would make him more powerful. Things that could bring him millions. And maybe by doing so, he could save his daughter from the violent future of mafia life.
”The harbor.”
Katia”s brows knitted. ”You think Zinof is worth the harbor?” She scoffed. ”I love my brother, but I”m not an idiot.”
Adrik shrugged. She was right, of course. But it didn”t matter. He wanted Zinof dead, and if they didn”t comply with his demands, then he had every right to kill him.
Adrik nudged his head to one of his soldiers, and they continued their torture. A punch to the gut, a slap to the side of the head, a quick electric jolt that made his body shudder.
”Stop!” screamed Katia, turning her head away. The soldier behind her gripped her arms, forcing her hands down and making her watch. Katia”s tears dripped down her face as more blood spilled on the floor.
A knife shined in the spotlight, and too soon, they pressed down on one of his toes, and blood splattered as it pulsed out of his foot.
Katia gritted her teeth. ”It was supposed to be you!”
Adrik held up a hand and stalled the movements of his people. He approached her, the tap of his shoes echoing underneath the whimpers of his victim. ”What did you say?”
With twisted lips, Katia lifted her head and bit, ”It was supposed to be you.”
Adrik gripped her arms now, forcing her up. ”You planned it?”
”Katia,” Zinof huffed, twisting in pain, ”don”t.” A soldier was quick to gag him.
”I want him to know,” she barked. ”I planned it. We were at the wedding for your cousin. You promised Helina to get candy. But you were too busy fucking a bridesmaid in her car when you should have been with Helina.”
Adrik”s brows knitted. ”You would risk our daughter?”
Tears dripped down her face. ”I would risk hell to get rid of you.”
Adrik smacked her hard, and she fell to the floor. A hand covered his mouth, devastated by her. He never allowed himself to doubt Katia because of the simple fact that she was a mother. He trusted in that simple fact, and it fucked him.
Katia held her cheek. ”She was supposed to be Niko”s,” she whimpered.
Adrik stood before her. The name was a trigger that brought red. All the years they were together, five years of building a life, of struggling with infertility, of learning how to love each other, he was stuck back in the same pain she caused him all those years ago.
Adrik had been merciful before.
But there was no mercy left.
Adrik unbuckled his belt and ordered his soldiers. ”Take off her clothes.”
Panic ensued, and Katia struggled and screamed, but it did nothing to him. He was dead. The mother of his child tried to kill him and their daughter. She was nothing now. She wasn”t family. She was a corpse, already buried. But if she wanted death, he”d do everything in his power to keep her alive.
They ripped the clothes from her back, and once naked, they laid her on her belly, pinning her to the floor. Zinof was bucking in his chair, cursing and spewing threats through the towel in his mouth.
Adrik pulled his belt from his waist. ”You owe me a son.”
With her face pressed against the floor, she tried to find him, her gaze to the far right. ”Does Jolie know you”re a rapist?”
She used that name to plague him, and he despised how it worked. The blind rage was doused in ice water, and his fingers froze. There was a part of him that knew the relationship with Jolie was over, but if he forced Katia, there could never be a revival. And despite how he believed they were done, hope still existed deep down inside him.
Adrik turned suddenly and attacked Zinof, his belt sliding down his face, his chest, and thighs. Welts ignited from every lash, and he screamed and cried. Blood rained on Adrik, covering every inch of him. It took several minutes, but Zinof”s screams died away when his face was unrecognizable.
The belt fell from his hand. Adrik panted and could taste blood on his lips. He spit it out and turned away from Zinof”s dead body. Katia remained pinned to the floor. He nudged his head, and his soldiers lifted off her. She curled into herself, crying and bitter, glaring at him from her knees. A soldier dropped a towel over her, and she clung to it.
”You aren”t to leave this house,” Adrik said. ”No phone calls. And you will not see Helina again.”
Katia sneered. ”My father is going to tear you apart.”
Adrik leaned down to get even with her. He wanted her to see up close the blood of her brother dripping down his face. ”Let him try.”