Chapter 48
NIKOLAI
Dripping water?
And the stench of rot and dampness.
It hurts when I open my eyes, even if the room is dim. A thin line of light comes in around the cracks in a heavily bolted door.
This isn’t good.
The last thing I remember is Dmitri’s men.
And seeing him hit Mila.
Where is she?
Craning my neck, I finally see a shape in the shadows.
She’s slumped, tied to a chair, with blood trickling down her nose.
My stomach twists. She would have never been hurt if I hadn’t fought her for the diamonds.
I should have listened to Mikhail and let her go.
But, I would have never known the truth. That she was forced into this.
Manipulated by the ruiner of lives, my father.
I’m going to kill him. I wanted to years ago, but Mikhail held me back.
He’s not here this time.
When I try to move toward her, I can’t. My wrists and ankles are bound with thick leather straps to a steel chair.
“Mila,” I whisper.
She doesn’t move.
Holding my breath, I strain my ears to pick up the faint sound of her exhale.
She’s alive.
“Mila.” I add more urgency to the sound, but not enough to draw attention. I hope.
Nothing.
Fuck.
A scraping sound comes through the thick concrete walls, faint, but distinct.
Footsteps follow and grow louder.
“Melissa!” I hiss, quietly begging her to hear me.
If we’re to die today, I at least want to talk to her one last time.
Tell her how I feel.
How badly I want her, and how I forgive her for what she did. I just need her to know, before we’re gone, that I’ll find her again.
I promised her forever… even in death.
A heavy thump and the grinding of metal screeches through the moist air.
Blinding white light erupts from overhead. Blinking, my eyes focus on a face I never wanted to see again.
Ivan with a broad smile on his graying, bearded face.
His dog Dmitri stands grinning by his side.
“Welcome home, son.” Ivan moves closer and pats me on the top of the head.
Then crosses his arm across his body before backhanding me.
Pain explodes from my mouth, but I don’t make a sound. He’s taught me well through the years to take what he dishes out.
“It appears that I hired the right bitch to find you.” He wipes his knuckles on his expensive pants and smooths his white hair. “I told her to use any means necessary. She’s quite good at her job, isn’t she?” He nods to Dmitri.
The pale man steps over to Mila, and it makes anger grow in my chest watching him. “You stay the fuck away from her,” I growl.
He gives me a side glance, then with a smirk reaches out and waves something under her nose.
The overwhelming scent of ammonia soaks the room.
But, her head turns, and with a moan she pulls away from his hand.
It’s only when her eyes open and fix on me that I feel a tiny bit of relief.
I’m glad she stays quiet as she takes in the room. My father’s rage has no bounds when there’s protest. I learned that very young, as well.
“I wanted to thank you for bringing what I asked you to.” Ivan’s hands open as if he were a benevolent man. I know better.
Mila glances at me, then back to him. “You wanted the diamonds.”
“Yes. And, I have them. You luring Nikolai to me is the icing on the cake.”
Her eyes narrow. “I didn’t.”
I think she’s saying it more for me than for him.
His laugh makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “I love how you stay in character, even after your contract is completed.” He claps exaggeratedly in her direction.
“We didn’t have them.” I saw that worm Tyler run off with them and jump on his bike. “Did he give them to you?”
Ivan points at Dmitri, who leans into a solid punch to my stomach, doubling me over in the chair and knocking the wind out of me.
For a thin, pale man, he packs a hell of a hit.
“I ask the questions.” Ivan lets out a whistle.
Shit. He likes to call his men to him like they’re animals. It’s why he nicknamed them the Hounds of Hell.
A heavy-set, bald guard comes through the door carrying a black mirrored motorcycle helmet and the distinct velvet pouch of the diamonds.
Mila gives me a panicked look before smoothing her features.
Dmitri takes them both, and with a scowl herds the squat man out.
“You see, this is where the lines blur.” Ivan points at it. “Does it really count, if I had to retrieve them myself?” He flicks his wrist, and Dmitri raises the reflective visor.
Tyler’s glassy eyes stare out.
Mila gasps and turns away, the color drains from her cheeks.
Whatever their attitudes were toward each other, I know he was still her family.
Dmitri sets the head on a wooden table against the wall next to an array of tools and surgical instruments.
My father’s torture equipment.
I don’t care what he does to me. “If you have everything from her you wanted, you should let her and her brother go. You have me.”
Ivan sighs. “You were always the slow one.” Reaching down, he picks up a spike and hammer, then saunters to me.
“You.” He puts the sharp end of the pin against my thigh.
Of course it’s the opposite one that Mila ran a knife through yesterday. “Don’t.” He taps the blunt end with the mallet. “Get.” Another hit and it pierces the muscle. “To.” Gritting my teeth, he lands another blow, sinking the rod deeper. “Dictate.” One final strike, and the long nail is buried into my leg far enough only the flat top sticks out.
A slow seep of blood oozes into the denim of my jeans.
The burning pain dulls to an ache that I try to force down.
I should be used to being stabbed. The woman I love has done it a handful of times to me already.
It still fucking hurts.
I can hear her breathing rapidly through her nose.
But, she doesn’t say anything. If we survive this, I’ll need to reward her for that. She’s being a very good girl.
Holding on to the memory of her and my Hellcat makes the pain more bearable. And gives me something to look forward to.
“Now.” Ivan pulls a stool over to sit in front of me. “Before I make you a pincushion, I’m going to ask you a very important question.” He snaps his fingers and gestures to Dmitri.
His lap dog brings him another long spike.
“Where is Zoya?” His pupils swell as he stares at me.
The name sounds vaguely familiar.
I don’t want to ask who she is.
“I don’t know.” It’s the truth. She’s a stranger.
His eyes narrow and his jaw ticks. “I know she’s alive. Where is she?” He holds another pin over my other leg menacingly.
“Who the fuck is she?” I grunt out. It’s another question that I’m sure I’ll be punished for.
But, he pauses.
“She’s the love of my life,” he says quietly. “She was confused and ran that night.”
Wait.
That night?
The memories flood back. Mikhail’s voice in agony.
Going to see the ruins.
Charred bodies. And the smell of burnt flesh as we pulled the remains from the ashes.
“If she was there, it was you that killed her,” I hiss.
I expected the backhand, but didn’t anticipate that the hammer would accompany it.
Spitting blood, and I think a tooth, at his feet doesn’t seem to faze him.
“Please! Stop!” Mila screams. “It was the diamonds you wanted, not her. I’m good at finding people, I can get her for you. Just…please don’t hurt him.”
Shit.
Ivan’s cold eyes raise and a glimmer of a smile lifts the corner of his mouth.
“Dmitri said you cared for her. It seems the feeling is mutual.” He leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “What is keeping me from killing two women you love? Well, son?” His elbows land on his knees as his finger points under my nose. “I think you know more than you’re letting on.”
“What were the diamonds for, then? A ruse?” Mila amps up her questioning. “If it was some girl, wouldn’t it have been easier to just send me for her?”
Ivan runs his bloody fingers through his white beard, leaving streaks of dull red behind. “She doesn’t pay attention, does she?”
Rolling his stool over to her, he hovers the spike over her thigh.
I have to bite the inside of my cheek hard to keep myself from yelling out.
“Zoya is not ‘some girl’. She is the light of my life, and was pregnant with my child the last time I saw her.” Ivan raises the hammer and drops it over the long nail.
I can hear her grunt, but she doesn’t cry out as it’s driven into her leg.