Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Daniil
This time, they were sloppy. They didn’t cover their tracks well enough, so it didn’t take me long to find out where they had taken them.
An auction.
They were about to auction my son and my pregnant fiancée to the highest bidder, and if that happened, I knew in my heart that I would never see either of them alive again. We got in through the back door, silently taking out the guards that stood watch. Sloppy.
If the twins had thought about this properly, they would have made sure they were better protected, but they were too worried about making a quick buck. Hugging the shadows at the back of the auditorium, I watched as a dog cage was carried out. Inside of it, my son clung to my woman.
He clung to my woman, and she kept her body between him and the door, even when they yanked them out and tried to separate them. She fought back. And even from my place hidden in the shadows, I could see she was fighting back with everything she had, even though she was hurt.
She didn’t even let go of Timothy when one of the twins repeatedly punched her on the temple. Over and over again, his fists slammed down into her. She wobbled, desperately trying to keep her feet, but everyone knew it was a losing battle.
Timothy was ripped from her hands, screaming, and a savage kick was aimed at her. She fell face down, her body curling up on itself as blow after blow came.
Bile rose up in my throat. He was going to kick her to death right in front of me.
“Lily,” Timothy screamed, and I ripped my eyes away from Lily to find him being bundled into the arms of a waiting man hovering by the stage curtains. I knew his reputation. I knew what was going to happen if I let him alone with my son for even a second. The choice was an impossible one.
They both needed me. But I could only go and save one right now. And really, it was no choice. My son had to be saved first. I had to just pray that Lily could hold her own for a few more minutes.
Bending low, I ran. No one paid me any attention because they were too busy enjoying the show up on stage, where Lily was being forced to strip for their amusement.
And the things Piotre was saying to her, disgusting things that made me feel sick.
I was going to cut his tongue out of his vile mouth just for thinking them.
Once I had Timothy in safe hands, I would make them regret ever having looked at Lily Ridgeway.
Heading quickly, I came up before the podgy man silently. And this time, I didn’t shoot him. I wanted him to suffer in his last moments. I wanted him to know exactly who killed him.
I slit his throat, opening a wide gash from ear to ear. He gargled, clutching his throat, and dropped Timothy. I caught him instinctively.
“Daddy.” There were splashes of blood on his face, but I couldn’t think of that now.
“Close your eyes.”
“You came. Lily said you’d come,” he said and quickly closed his eyes, screwing his little face up. I brushed my lips against his hair. “Always.” Handing him to the man behind me, I narrowed my eyes. “Is it done?”
“Every exit is locked and covered. No one is getting in.” His eyes gleamed. “Or out.” He added.
I nodded. “Good.”
Now that I knew my son was safe, I turned back to the stage. My woman, the love of my life and my second chance at happiness, was under the unforgiving spotlight. She stood there nude, her arms trying to cover herself as disgusting men bid on her.
Twenty million dollars to hurt, torture, and murder an innocent woman so that they could hurt me. I moved around the back, coming to stand right behind her and Piotre. My arm looped around her waist, and I dragged her back into the safety of my chest.
Lily thrashed, fighting like a crazy woman. Her head snapped back and landed on the bridge of my nose, which exploded in a shower of pain.
“Lily.” The pain barely registered. She was a fighter. My brave and beautiful Lily. “It’s me, it’s—“
She sagged in my arms just as Poitre turned. Keeping her tucked into the side of me, I sliced into his stomach with so much force that his guts tumbled out and he fell to his knees. From the wings, his brother, the sadistic Dominik, wailed and rushed forward.
A shot rang out from behind me. Someone took his knee cap out, and he fell to the floor. Good. I wanted them alive long enough to see the suffering in their eyes. Every single person here was going to die screaming.
“Daniil?” Lily swayed where she stood, almost like she couldn’t believe her eyes. She reached for my face.
“I’m here. Let’s get you home.” Without hesitation, I swung her up into my arms and carried her like a baby.
“Timothy?” she croaked.
“Right here. It’s over, Lily. It’s finally over.” Or at least it would be soon. I just had to get them home and to safety, and then I was going to finish this once and for all.
They were safe. That’s what I kept telling myself, but it frightened me to even close my eyes for more than a second, even though I knew no one was going to snatch them from their beds in my own home.
All the people who had hurt them were dead. Well, all but one, and I had a solid lead on the man who had started all of this. He would be dead in the ground before long as well. Or maybe I would bury him alive. I hadn’t decided yet.
“Daniil?” In the darkness of the predawn night, Lily’s voice was a small whisper. My head jerked around, and I found her staring at me from her place in the middle of the bed, her eyes wide and staring in the dim light.
“I’m here.” Reaching out, I touched her cheek, and surprisingly, she didn’t flinch back, and that shocked me.
“How are you feeling?” I asked softly. My eye darting from her to my son sleeping next to her. I had wanted to move him to his own room, but they had clung together, and I hadn’t had the heart to pull them apart. If it helped both of them sleep peacefully for a few hours, they could stay together.
Hell, they could stay together for as long as they needed each other, which by the look of it was going to be a long, long time.
“Like I’ve been beaten,” she admitted with a pained sigh that broke my heart all over again. “How is Timothy?”
“Just a few bruises. He’s fine. Just exhausted.”
Really, Timothy had come out of this the lucky one. He would be scared for a long time, and I would need to get doctors in to make sure he was fine mentally, but he would be ok.
I met Lily’s eyes. They would both be ok.
“And—” her hand moved to her stomach.
I reached out and covered it with mine. “The baby is fine. Don’t you remember the doctor?”
She shook her head. “Kind of, but it’s a bit of a blur.”
“The baby is fine. And so are you.” I added, although she didn’t look fine. Beautiful, yes, but her face and body were covered in bruises.
“You have a few severely bruised ribs. The doctor thinks it was from the seatbelt. But nothing is broken. Your arm is fine as well. All in all, you were lucky.” Her face darkened.
“I was lucky,” she said sarcastically, and I realized I had said the wrong thing.
Before I could say anything else, she carried on.
“We were lucky you came for us.” Turning her hand over, she entwined her fingers with mine. Lifting her hand to my lips, I kissed it, over and over again.
“Did you doubt I would?” I asked, kissing each of her fingers in turn. “Do you still doubt my feelings for you, Lily?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she gave a small tug on my arm and pulled me towards the bed. I went willingly.
“No, I don’t have any doubts. Not anymore. I think I know now—”
“You think?” Reaching down, I cupped her face in my big hands. “I don’t want you to think, Lily. I want you to know. I am completely in.”
“What happened to your nose?”
Chuckling, I forced her hand down before she could reach for it. “I’m fine,” I told her gently.
“You’re hurt. Who did this to you?”
“You have a very hard head, Lily. And you fight like a wild thing.”
“Oh.” Guilt rippled across her face. “I did this?”
“Yes. You broke my nose. But it’s nothing. The pain is nothing compared to the pain of almost losing the three of you.”
“And those—,” she struggled to finish. It was like the word man got stuck in her throat.
“Gone,” I said softly. “They won’t ever lay hands on you again, Lily.”
Reaching down, I smoothed my fingers down her cheek, and she leaned in to me. Her eyes closed. “For real this time?”
“For real.” Bending over her, I brushed my lips over hers as softly and as gently as I could. “You don’t need to be afraid of them anymore.”
I had made sure of that. They would never hurt her or the other women and children they had tried to auction off that night. I had made sure of it. My men had made sure no one could get in. Or out. And no one but those I wanted had gotten out.
“I don’t think I’ll ever feel truly safe.”
My heart shattered at her words. And I didn’t have a clue about how I was going to put her back together. I wouldn’t give up, though.
“Are they dead?”
Her question took me by surprise, and I answered without thinking. “Yes.”
I expected her to show some kind of remorse, but she just nodded. “Good.”
I blinked at her in shock. “Is that all you have to say?”
“They deserved death. They almost hurt Timothy. Men like those,” she trailed off. “They don’t deserve to live.”
“I agree.”
“I wish I were the one to do it.”
“No, you don’t.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, I found her lips with mine again. Because if she was going to let me kiss her, I was going to do it over and over again until she told me to stop.
“You’re not that person, Lilly. Leave the violence to me and be you, my sweet, loving Lily.”
Her eyes went wild. “I’d have hurt him if I had to.”
“I know. But now you don’t have to because I’ve taken care of it.”
“Ok.” She suddenly sounded tired again. One last kiss on her lips, and I stood. “Try and get some sleep. I’m going now.”
She shot up in bed like I had electrocuted her, her hair wild and her eyes darting around. “You’re leaving?”
“I’m just going to be downstairs.”
She heaved, her breath coming in short, sharp pants.
“Please don’t. Please don’t leave.” Panic made her voice high-pitched and breathless.
She was having a panic attack. Falling to my knees, I took her face in my hands and drew our faces together .
“I’ll stay,” I promised in a whisper. “I’ll stay right here next to you. I won’t leave. I won’t even close my eyes for a second. You can sleep, and I’ll keep watch.”
“You promise?”
“I promise, Lily.” I settled myself back into the chair. Her hand still in mine, I watched as she closed her eyes and gave in to the exhaustion.
If this was what it took for them to feel safe, I would spend the rest of my life at their bedside watching them sleep.