Chapter Sixteen #2
I sigh. He’s not going down without a fight and I know I won’t be able to hold him off forever. “Fine.” I bring him down into the basement where Sofiya is.
Ivan rushes right to the cage. “Why do you have her in there? Sofiya? Honey? Are you ok? What the fuck are you doing to her, Dimitri? She looks like a shell of herself.”
“She’s fine. She’s becoming my perfect wife.”
Sofiya barely responds to her dad. Only gives him a blank look before curling back into a ball.
“Something is wrong,” Ivan says. “She is not ok. How long have you been keeping her down here in this fucking thing?”
“Just for the past four days.”
“The past four… what the fuck, Dimitri? You’re torturing my daughter! I made a deal with you. I told my daughter to endure being with you because I thought you were just cold. Maybe distant. But I didn’t think you were like… this.” He waves his hand at the cage.
“You knew who I was when you made that deal with me. You willingly signed your daughter over to me. This is no one’s fault but your own, Ivan.”
“I didn’t truly know what I was agreeing to.”
I shrug. “Then that’s on you. You knew the rumors about me. Heard the stories. Don’t be na?ve. Besides, Sofiya is desperate for me. Dependent on me. She doesn’t need anyone else in this world except me. She is not in pain. You can check her for wounds. But Sofiya is fine.”
“She may not have any wounds but she clearly isn’t fine. Open this fucking cage.”
Slowly, I do as he says and Ivan rushes to Sofiya’s side, murmuring to her and pushing her hair out of her face. That seems to bring life back into her.
“Dad?” she says in a groggy tone, lifting her head up.
“I’m here, Sofiya. I’m here. And I’m going to get you out of here.”
“No, you’re not,” I say. “Sofiya is staying right here, with me.”
“Then get her out of this fucking cage and I won’t bring her home with me.”
“I have plans for her, Ivan. She is staying right here.”
“The hell she is,” he scoffs as he scoops Sofiya into his arms. “I’m bringing her home with me.” He stands up and tries to leave the cage but I stand in his way. “Move, Dimitri.”
“You’re not taking my wife from me.”
“You’re abusing her. She’s a shell of her former self.”
“She is becoming my perfect wife. Nothing you need to fear.”
“Fuck you!” Ivan screams, holding Sofiya close to him.
She rests her head on her dad’s chest, looking content.
Happy. A simmering anger flits through me.
Will Sofiya ever look that happy being around me?
I know I’ve seen it before but is it all real?
Or is it because I’ve broken her down into feeling that way?
“Let my wife go,” I warn.
“I am taking her back to my house. She needs to rest. She needs to regain her strength. Not be kept locked away in some fucking cage.” Ivan tries walking past me but I grab his arms, stopping him. “You’re going to have to kill me, Dimitri, to get me to stop.”
“Then that can be arranged.” I slip my gun from my jacket pocket and aim it at his head.
That wakes Sofiya right up. “Don’t!” She scrambles out of her dad’s arms and stands on her two feet in front of him. “Don’t, Dimitri. Don’t kill my dad.”
“He’s trying to take you from me. I can’t allow that to happen.”
“Please,” she sobs, clasping her hands together. “Please, don’t kill him.” Sofiya has begged me many times now but they were always in the throes of pleasure. She’s never begged me for anything like this: sobbing and shaking and looking utterly dejected.
“Ivan cannot take you back home, Sofiya. If he tries, I have to end his life.”
“And I’ll never forgive you,” she hisses. “You know that. You want me to be yours. So don’t kill him. Don’t. I’ll be yours. Truly and completely.”
“You’re already mine. Even if I kill your father, I know you’ll still be mine. You forgave me for what happened in Greece.”
She ducks her chin to her chest, knowing I’m right. No matter what I do, Sofiya will always forgive me. That’s how much I’ve broken her down.
I meet Ivan’s eyes. He’s holding perfectly still, trying not to make me more angry and get a bullet to his fucking head. But he does stare back at me, almost daring me to do it. Knowing that there’s a chance I might lose Sofiya if I do kill him.
I hesitate. I fucking hate hesitating. But I do it, for Sofiya’s sake. Killing Ivan will make a mess of things and that’s not what I want. So, I lower my gun to my side.
“Go,” I tell him. “Get out of here. But you’re not taking Sofiya with you.”
He gives me a tight nod. “Fine. I’ll go. But you better treat my daughter better. No more locking her in cages. Her mother is going to call her today. If Sofiya doesn’t answer, I’m coming right back.”
“Fine,” I grit out. “Now go.”
Ivan turns to Sofiya and cups her face. “I know I told you to endure. But if you ever need to come home, you can.”
“Dad,” she whispers as tears run down her face.
“I wish I could help you, sweetheart. But you do belong to your husband now. And I can’t risk my life. And I don’t want to risk your life. Who will be there for your mother then? I love you.”
“I love you.” She wraps her arms around her dad and holds on tight. Ivan clings back to her with all his strength. I watch on, feeling… something stirring inside of me. Something like… guilt. Have I made the right decision to keep Sofiya locked away? To keep her from her parents?
I’m starting to doubt it.
Ivan eventually lets her go and walks out of the basement. Sofiya extends her hand as if she can reach out to him but she can’t. I leave her down there and follow Ivan upstairs, making sure he actually fucking leaves the house.
“Treat my daughter with more respect,” he says.
“I don’t take orders from you.”
“Maybe not. But if you know what’s best for her, you will do as I say.” With those words, Ivan leaves. I firmly shut the door behind him.
When I return to the basement, I find Sofiya back in the cage, curled into a ball. She willing went back inside… to make me proud? Have I really broken her down this much?
The dark part of me is happy. Smiling even. But the part of me that has grown to care for her deeply, maybe even love her, isn’t sure if this is what I want.
I sit down beside her and run my hand over her hair. “Sofiya?”
“You didn’t kill him.” It’s not a question.
“No. I didn’t kill him.”
“Why not?”
“Because I did make a deal with Ivan and I don’t like to go back on my word. But I think it’s time to get you out of here. You need to call your mother back. Let her know you’re fine. Let me take care of you now.”
I’ve broken her down. Now it’s time to rebuild her back up into my perfect wife.
I carry Sofiya upstairs to our bedroom. She clings to my shirt like she’s worried I’ll run away if she doesn’t. Clinging to me like a baby does their parent. She needs this as much as I do.
She hasn’t had a bath in days so I set her gently on the bed and get the bath ready.
Sofiya still seems out of it – almost comatose – as I take her flimsy nightgown off and set her into the bathtub of her ensuite.
She sinks into the water but still, she doesn’t look alive.
Doesn’t look like the Sofiya I first met. The Sofiya I knew had to be mine.
I wash her hair for her and she doesn’t put up a fight. I take my time with her scalp, rubbing it, hoping she’ll relax into my touch but she doesn’t. She just seems… lifeless.
Once I finish washing her hair, I move on to her body. I take a small towel and run it over her breasts but she doesn’t have a response. Doesn’t get turned on like she normally does.
When my hand finds its way between her legs, Sofiya still doesn’t have a reaction. I remove my hand from the bathtub and sit there, feeling actual worry for the first time over Sofiya. This is what I wanted. So why does it feel so bad? So lackluster?
Like I did it all wrong?
I help her out of the bathtub and wipe her down before dressing her in a cotton nightgown. Something soft and comfy. Then I place her into the bed and stand there, unsure of what to do next. I’m protecting her. Showing her love and care.
And yet, she’s still acting comatose.
My hands hover over the buttons of my shirt before I take it off me.
Something in my gut is telling me this needs to happen.
I undress down to my underwear and then get in behind her.
After hesitating just a moment, I wrap my arms around Sofiya and pull her into my chest. She feels so fucking good in my arms. I could hold her like this forever.
Sofiya still doesn’t have any reaction. Just a lifeless husk and I’m the one who made her this way.
“Did I make a mistake?” I whisper into her ear. “I didn’t want to make you into this. I just wanted to make you mine. Where’s the woman who likes to fight back? Who gives me her opinions? I want her back.”
“Dimitri,” she whispers, finally speaking to me again.
“Yes?”
“Just hold me. That’s all I need. And sleep. I’m so tired.”
There’s so much I want to say but I decide to listen to my wife for a change instead of telling her what to do. So, I tighten my arms around her and hold her close to me.
We both fall asleep just like that.
Sofiya
When I wake up in the morning, I feel like myself again. Like something has healed inside of me. Dimitri broke me down. I only felt numbness inside that cage.
But now, with Dimitri holding me, even now, hours later, I feel whole again. Like I can make this work with him.
He didn’t kill my father when he easily could have. Dimitri wants to make me happy. He showed some regret last night. That changes everything.
Slowly, I turn around to face him and find him asleep. Dimitri has always been the one to wake up first and not be there when I wake up. So to find him asleep is really endearing. Sweet. It makes him more vulnerable. More human than he’s ever been before.
I touch his face and still, he doesn’t wake up. “I just need you to love me,” I whisper into the quiet, morning air. “That’s all I need. I’m already yours. You don’t need to break me down to make it happen.”
Dimitri’s breathing intensifies and his eyes blink open.
I drop my hand, feeling self-conscious.
“Sofiya?” he murmurs. There’s a lot of weight in his voice. Emotion I’ve never seen from him before. Regret being one of them. But hope being another.
“I’m right here. I’m ok.”
He blows out a breath, sounding relieved. “I’m glad. I thought I had truly broken you down.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“I thought I did. But not like that. I want to have fun with you in the darkness. I don’t want a lifeless husk for a wife.
I want one who’s not afraid to fight back.
One who makes me proud because she chooses to go against what she wants to do what I want.
That’s the wife I want to make you into. Not the one you were yesterday.”
I don’t hesitate to say my next words. “Then help me become that woman.”