Chapter 3 #3
Ruby leads me to the same room as before, and this time he’s waiting for me, sitting on the edge of the bed with the ski mask already in place.
The cold smile he gives me has my heart racing as I struggle to breathe.
The door shuts behind me, leaving us alone, and when he gets up and walks towards me, my whole body starts to shake.
By the time he’s finished with me, I can barely move.
He’d been even more brutal than the last time, like he was pissed that I was no longer a virgin, even though it’s his goddamn fault that I’m not.
At one point, he’d smacked me across the face so hard that my lip had busted open.
After that, I’d felt my mind drift far away from this place.
When he finally leaves, I stay on the bed, waiting for Ruby to come and get me.
She gives a heavy sigh when she sees my split lip and then eyes the bloody bedding. “If those stains don’t come out, I’m charging you for new sheets.”
I can’t even bring myself to be upset by her callousness.
What’s another hundred dollars on top of the mountain of debt that I’ll never be able to pay?
Instead of arguing, I pull my dress up to cover my breasts and slowly limp behind Ruby.
I brace my hand against the wall, ignoring as much as I can the grunts coming from behind the closed doors, only looking up when I hear heavy footsteps heading our way.
My eyes widen and I freeze when I see a tall man barreling towards us with a pissed-off look on his face.
He towers over the two of us, and his chest is so broad he makes the narrow hallway seem even smaller than usual.
The suit he’s wearing must be handmade just for him because I’ve never seen a suit fit someone so perfectly before.
“I told you to wait downstairs,” Ruby tells him, crossing her arms over her chest and stepping slightly to the side so she’s standing in front of me.
“And I told you I didn’t want to,” he says.
His accent is thick, and my stomach clenches at the thought of this man coming into my room.
My body can’t take any more tonight. A whimper escapes before I can stop it.
I clamp a hand over my mouth when Ruby looks back at me, the threat obvious in her narrowed eyes.
My eyes dart to the man when he growls, “What the hell kind of place are you running here?”
I expect to see disgust or lust or just a pure, hard anger, all the things that the other men show on their faces when they look at me, but he’s not looking at me like that. His blue eyes run over me, and I nearly weep at the sympathy and concern I see in them.
“This is none of your fucking business,” Ruby growls at him.
He ignores her and when I take a step forward and lose my balance, he pushes Ruby aside and reaches out for me, catching me before I hit the floor. Instinctively, I wrap my arms around his neck, and using all the courage I have, I whisper, “Please help me,” in his ear.
Still ignoring Ruby, who’s now yelling for Bruce, the man makes sure I’m steady on my feet before pulling back and standing up to his full height, putting him at least a foot taller than me.
His eyes are a vivid blue, and the tattoos on his neck and hands should intimidate me, but the kindness and worry in his eyes is what I hold onto.
“Are you here by choice?” he asks me.
I dart my eyes past him, tensing when I see Bruce headed our way with an angry look on his face and his hands clenched into fists.
“No,” I whisper, meeting his eyes again.
“Do you want to leave?” he asks, and then he adds, “You may not like how I have to do it.”
I look at Bruce again and then focus on the pain racing through every part of my body, and I know I don’t give a flying fuck what he has to do to get me out of here as long as he gets me out. I quickly nod my head. “Yes, I’ll do anything, just please don’t leave me here.”
He looks at me and sighs, and I can tell he’s not entirely thrilled about what’s about to happen but that he’s committed to it. Grabbing my hand, he pulls me closer to him and turns to face a very angry-looking Bruce.
“She’s coming with me,” he says, not seeming even remotely concerned about the wall of fat covered muscle in front of him.
“You’re out of your goddamn mind,” Ruby spits out. “She belongs to me. We have an arrangement.”
“That arrangement is over. She’s under my protection now.”
I don’t know who in the hell this guy is, but I’m so fucking glad he’s my new best friend.
“Your protection?” Ruby asks with a harsh laugh. “You can’t just come into my establishment and claim that some random woman is under your protection. This area is neutral, Vasily. The mafia doesn’t have a say here.”
His hand squeezes mine gently when he says, “I have a say here if this is my wife.”
Ruby and I both look up at him in shock. Her eyes dart to our hands before she looks up at Bruce.
“Think long and hard about that,” Vasily says in a low voice. “I won’t hesitate to kill him, and then you’ll be out of a guard dog.”
“He might win,” Ruby counters.
“Don’t fucking count on it,” Vasily says with a harsh laugh, eyeing Bruce whose face is red with rage, but I can see fear in his eyes, and I know the others can too.
Ruby thinks better of it and puts her focus back on me. “She’s not your wife.”
“Not yet, but she will be before the night is over. You have my word on that.”
I don’t worry about what he’s saying. We can sort all this out later when my ass is on the other side of these walls.
“She owes me money,” Ruby says. “A lot of money.”
“Not my fucking problem,” Vasily says, and then looks down at me. “Where’s your room? Let’s get your stuff.”
My finger shakes as I point to my door, but my other hand clutches his tightly as he leads me to my room.
I’m so afraid that if I let go of him, Bruce will grab me and hide me away someplace where Vasily can’t get to me.
He lets me keep a firm grip on him, not even complaining when it takes me longer to pack because I have to do it one-handed.
I desperately want a shower, but there’s no way in hell I’m risking one now.
When I’ve got everything I want, I look up at him. “I’m done.”
He nods and grabs my bags, being careful to keep my hand in his before gently leading me out the door and down the hallway that I hope I never see again.
“You’re not going to get away with this,” Ruby yells. “I want my fucking money!”
Vasily stops to look back at her. “Be very careful, Ruby. It sounds like there’s a threat behind those words, and I don’t do so well with threats.
We will be married tonight, and any attack on her will be seen as an attack on me.
Think very carefully before you go down that route because I will have no problem killing you. ”
Ruby looks like she’s about two seconds away from going into a rage, but she keeps her mouth shut. Bruce glares at us as we pass by, and the last thing I see before going down the stairs is Ruby’s infuriated face. Once they’re out of sight, I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“Can I bring someone?” I ask, my mind immediately going to Mindy.
Vasily looks down at me. His dark brows are furrowed as he studies me.
“Her name’s Mindy. She prepares the food, but she’s only seventeen, and Ruby’s going to make her start working upstairs when she turns eighteen,” I say in a rush.
“I’m sorry. I can’t help her,” he says, pulling me down the rest of the stairs. “I think I’ve done enough for one fucking night.”
We walk through the small lounge that’s more of a joke than anything else with its handful of empty tables and greasy-haired bartender, who would make anyone think twice before ordering a drink, and out into the night air.
I gasp at the feel of the cool night breeze hitting my face and feel tears come to my eyes.
I’ve been in that hellhole for ten days, and I’d convinced myself that I would never leave.
Ten days without fresh air or the sun or the moon and stars.
Vasily looks down at me. “How long were you there?”
“Ten days, which I guess isn’t that long at all, but it felt like forever.” I keep my eyes on the stars above us, not even caring that I’m barefoot and my hair and dress are a mess. Cars drive by, but I don’t pay them any attention.
“We need to leave,” Vasily says, gently pulling me to a black Porsche that’s parked by the curb.
I nod and reluctantly let go of his hand so I can get in the passenger side while he loads my bags in the back.
Once he’s inside, I tell him, “You can just drop me off anywhere. I’ll figure out what to do next.
I can’t thank you enough, Vasily. I’ve begged so many people for help, but they all ignored me. ”
“What’s your name?”
It seems weird that he doesn’t even know my name after saving me like he did. “I’m Nina,” I tell him. “Nina Carrington.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two.”
He starts the car and sighs. “I’m afraid I can’t just drop you off, Nina. I told you that you might not like what I’d have to do to get you out of there.”