Chapter 7
Chapter seven
Dmitri
I was still pissed off about the little stunt Alisa pulled when I was sparring with her. But no one was allowed to hurt my kitten except me.
I stepped forward and registered the shock on both of their faces. It kept Alisa from trying to escape from the hand holding her arm captive. She should know better than that. Always take advantage of distractions.
After all, she couldn’t count on my deranged attention forever.
The shock on my kitten’s face turned to confusion as I quickly cut across the space between us.
“W-what are y-you,” she said.
“Cat got your tongue?” I teased, but my muscles tensed when I noticed a bruise forming around her throat.
“Back the fuck off,” the man said, finally finding his voice. The bravado in his voice contrasted with the hint of fear swirling in his eyes.
I took another step forward, and he jerked Alisa's arm back. Something twisted in my stomach when Alisa stifled a whimper of pain.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
I grabbed the hand clenching Alisa’s arm and smiled when I heard his bones snap.
His screech of agony filled the air. He stumbled to the ground, and I tugged Alisa into my chest.
Alisa’s body sagged against mine, and she let out a sigh of pure relief.
When her head tilted up to look at me, I felt the muscles in her upper body constrict. She staggered back a step with a look of horror on her face when she realized what she’d done.
I nearly started laughing, but the man was already standing back up with a knife in his other hand.
As he raised the knife towards Alisa's back, a slice of panic I so rarely felt anymore tugged at my chest. I yanked her behind me, keeping my hand firmly on her wrist.
“Don’t move,” I warned her. And for once in her life Alisa actually listened to me.
I kicked the man's shaking hand, and the knife went flying back into the alley. His face crumpled with pain, and I smiled as I remembered my promise from earlier.
After daring to lay his hands on her, this would be the least of the pain he’d be experiencing tonight.
Before he could recover, I punched him hard in the throat. The exact same place he’d bruised Alisa.
He crumpled to the dirty ground. While he lay there clutching his neck, I tugged Alisa towards me.
“Who is he?”
Her front teeth dug into her lower lip as she considered the writhing man on the ground. She remained silent, and I wondered if her answer would’ve changed anything.
Not really, I decided. He’d touched something that was mine.
My prey. My kitten. My obsession.
For the sin of hurting her, this man wouldn’t live much longer.
Despite his purple face, the man went to sit up. I pressed my foot against his throat, and he thrashed under me. I frowned as I took in a bruise forming on Alisa’s wrist, and let up a little on the pressure.
He’d pay for that before he fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.
“You should be more careful with your marks,” I said after glancing at her disguised form. If someone else broke her while I wasn’t looking…
“He’s not a mark,” she muttered.
I narrowed my gaze on her.
Alisa snatched her arm out of my grasp. “How did you even know I was here, Dmitri?”
Because ever since she’d defied me that night at The Parlor, I’d started stalking her from the shadows. Which reminded me of what might’ve happened if I hadn’t been here. If I hadn’t followed her tonight and he’d killed her…
“Why the fuck would you walk into a dark alley with some stranger? That was fucking stupid, kotenok.”
Most people would’ve nodded along obediently or looked away submissively when they heard the anger in my tone, but not Alisa.
She was so fucking adorable. And frustrating.
“I’m not your fucking kitten!”
“Not yet.” I smiled when her face heated.
“You’re delusional,” she said, and tried to kick my foot off the guy’s neck so she could interrogate him herself.
When I didn’t acquiesce, Alisa crouched down and stared at the choking man. “How did you know my name?” she muttered to herself.
That admission had me examining the man in a new light. Alisa had been wearing a disguise tonight, so the only way he’d recognize her was if he’d been tracking her like I had.
I doubted her teary blue eyes had also haunted his dreams. That they’d been imprinted so thoroughly in his brain that he could recognize her through any disguise. No, I had a feeling this was a burden that was singularly mine.
All the evidence suggested this was far more complicated than a random man going after a pretty girl.
I immediately pushed up the man’s sleeves, revealing his tattoos.
Fuck.
If the Pakhan found out about this…. Shit, I should walk away from this and let Alisa deal with it on her own.
But that was the issue wasn’t it? I couldn’t just fucking leave her alone.
Ever since I’d stumbled across the girl who was willing to sacrifice herself for her brother, I hadn’t been able to get her quite out of my mind.
Very little seemed to hold my attention except death and power, but this little kitten seemed to claw for my attention even when she was just sitting across the room from me.
I’d tried to ignore her for two years. But when she’d defied me that night at The Parlor, I’d started stalking her.
I thought it would alleviate the feeling. Yet each night I kept coming back for more while never seeming to quite scratch the itch.
The man gurgled underneath my foot. Oops, too much pressure.
It was far easier to kill people than keep them alive.
I released the man’s neck just enough so he could speak. Hopefully, he’d just spill everything, so I could be done with this quicker.
When he stopped coughing, he said, “I’ll kill you.”
How original. Never heard that one before.
I thought I’d have to tie Alisa up and toss her into the car. But she’d been surprisingly obliging when I warned her I wouldn’t give her any information if she didn’t come along.
It appeared her self preservation outweighed her hatred for me.
Shockingly, she’d quietly thanked me for saving and helping her. I’d really enjoyed watching the vein pulsing on her neck when she’d said it.
“I don’t usually take women here,” I said with a grin as I opened the heavy metal door to the warehouse.
Granted, I usually took them straight to my bed. She’d been the exception to that rule.
Alisa scowled at me and walked into the dark space. I nodded to one of my waiting men, Ilya, and he took the mobster’s unconscious body out of the trunk.
When I flicked on the lights in the warehouse Alisa’s eyes widened to comical levels. Maybe I should take more girls here.
I certainly had enough chains to entertain myself.