Chapter 5
Gavriil
Another day goes by in complete silence.
Not only is there no update on the patrols in our territory, but Alina still refuses to speak a word to me or take a single bite of food.
I didn’t plan to escalate things this quickly, but the girl has proven that patience won’t work on her.
She remains determined to punish herself for her worthless brother’s death.
His blood is on Dominik’s hands, not hers. She should put all the blame on him rather than continue to make herself suffer.
Maybe I should’ve kept Archer alive until my month with her was over.
Too late now.
My prison guards, Daniil and Roman, follow me into the bedroom, the sound of their heavy footsteps filling the too quiet space.
Alina remains seated at the head of her cot, her knees against her chest and her eyes cast downward. I hardly ever see her in any other position. She hasn’t laid down since she was put in here. I’d bet on it.
“Stay here,” I tell the men by the door in Russian before walking up to the cage and unlocking the door.
Alina’s tired green eyes watch me closely as I step into her cage and shut the door behind me.
Not that she would get past my guards if she tried to run, but I don’t think she has the strength or the energy to outmaneuver me anyway.
Dark crescents hang under her half-lidded eyes. Her lips are so dry that they’re cracked. Her brown hair doesn’t have its usual shine.
She looks like a shell of herself, and it’s her own doing. If she’d just eat, hydrate, shower, and sleep with all the things that I’ve provided her with, she’d be perfectly fine. Perfectly healthy.
“It’s time to get up, Alina,” I tell her as I step past the glass of water and plate of food that hasn’t been touched in hours. “You’re not going to waste away in here for the next month.”
Alina grips her knees tighter, her gaze trailing me as I walk over to the showerhead.
I switch on the cold water before turning toward her. “Come. Now.”
She doesn’t move a centimeter. All she does is stare me down, the most defiance she ever shows me. It’s not nearly enough.
I gesture with my hand to the guards. “This is Daniil and Roman, prison guards.”
Realization faintly sparks in her eyes.
“Yes, they guard Dominik and his men, and they do whatever I order them to do,” I tell her. “As for what I’ll order tonight, that depends on whether or not you cooperate,” I tell her evenly. “Refuse and wonder what that could be…or get up and wash yourself right now.”
Alina clenches her jaw at the implied threat, and her eyes darken a degree.
“Well?” I ask her. “What’s it going to be, wildcat? I’ve come up with a variety of plans within our agreement that won’t technically ‘hurt’ them. Did you know that my brother is so terrified of spiders, or that our father made him eat one as a teenager? I happen to keep a few big ones as pets…”
Finally, she moves, scooting herself to the edge of the cot at a snail’s pace. I don’t even think she’s trying to provoke me by moving so slowly. She physically can’t move any faster, which bothers me more.
I watch her stand, her balance wavering for a second. Does her face look paler now?
Alina breathes in deeply through her nose before walking toward me, but it’s more like a stiff shuffle. She stops in front of me a foot away, not meeting my eyes. Instead, she looks at the guards like she’s waiting for them to leave.
“They’ll leave the room if you continue to cooperate,” I tell her.
Alina’s eyes dart back to mine, full of dismay. Still, she won’t speak.
“Well?”
She gives a single nod in agreement.
“Get out,” I order the men.
Once they’re gone, Alina’s frown deepens as she lowers her gaze. She reaches for the button and zipper of her jeans first and undoes them before pushing the material down her legs. She lifts one foot to pull it out, but she loses her balance almost immediately.
Before she can hit the ground, I grab her arm, steadying her so that her foot can slide out of her pants’ leg.
Guilt hits me like a clap of thunder, harsh and unexpected. She wouldn’t be like this if I hadn’t ordered Dominik to kill her brother.
The grief is swallowing her whole. Why else would she let herself reach this pathetic state?
Alina manages to get her other foot out of her pants without falling, and I release her arm so that she can pull off her shirt.
Fuck.
Her body matches the image I’ve carried in my head for weeks, except now, after only a few days of refusing nourishment, the hollows stand out. She’s fucking starving.
She trembles as she unhooks her bra and lets it drop to the ground with the rest of her clothing.
Grimacing when finished, one of her arms covers her breasts and the other hand rests on her sunken stomach where I’m sure it’s aching with hunger.
A brief wave of concern washes over me. A sliver of me wants to tell her to put her clothes back on and get back in bed. But what will that help?
She still won’t eat. She still won’t drink.
She needs this push to get back to being her usual defiant self. The same woman who I know will fight and stand her ground, even against me.
“Keep going,” I tell her, my voice firm.
Alina exhales long and slow before she lowers her hands to push her black panties off her hips. They fall down her legs on their own, and she steps out of them, foot by foot.
I can’t even properly drink in the sight of her naked because she shrinks into herself, cold and self-conscious.
Alina walks toward the spray of cold water, keeping her head down. She immediately tenses up the second she’s under the freezing downpour, sharply inhaling as her hair becomes soaked.
“Wash,” I tell her as I take a step back so that I won’t get wet.
Alina reaches out and grabs the shampoo off the edge of the sink with a trembling hand. She keeps her back to me, and I allow her to hide herself.
She tilts her head back, letting the water run over her hair to rinse out the shampoo. Her body remains as tense as a statue.
She’s gorgeous, and I do plan to have her one day, but it won’t be today. Not while she’s in this state.
Goddammit.
I shouldn’t even care. I shouldn’t care that she’s so sad that she won’t get out of bed to do anything. I shouldn’t care that she looks so broken and weak.
I’ve given her everything that she needs to be comfortable, so if she won’t use them, I’ll just take them away.
My eyes narrow for a second, then I grab up her clothes, her mattress, and her blanket and drag them out of the cage. I’ll take them out to Daniil and Roman.
Alina’s forehead creases in confusion as she watches me, but when she sees my hardened face, she understands my expression. She knows that I’m not pleased with her.
“You’ll get these back after you eat and drink something tonight,” I explain to her.
If discomfort didn’t provoke her, maybe deprivation will. She’ll likely cave within an hour.
“Now keep going,” I say, speaking through my clenched teeth.
Alina swallows hard before squeezing a large dollop of white body wash onto her palm. She rubs her hands together, creating suds to spread over her arms and shoulders. She doesn’t look at me as she washes, her motions slower than a sloth’s.
I don’t like seeing her act like a kicked puppy instead of the firecracker that I know she can be.
That’s who I want. That’s who I fucking need to see because I’ve wanted her in my cage since I first laid eyes on her.
Hell, I would rather she throw the bottles of shampoo and conditioner at my head. Anything other than…this version of her.
Alina finishes up and steps back under the cold spray, gritting her teeth as the water washes away all the suds and leaves her glistening and clean. She crosses her arms over herself, her wet hair slicked back from her forehead.
She’s waiting on me to give her my next commands.
If things were different, I’d warm her up. Quickly. It would be simple to wrap her around my finger, especially after how I’ve already seen her look at me.
But she wants to be complicated. So, I will be too if that’s what it takes to snap her out of this spiral.
I don’t know what the fuck else I can do at this point, which is not somewhere I’ve ever been before with a woman.
Without a word to her, I leave the cage and lock the door behind me, not even casting a look over my shoulder as I walk out of the bedroom with her things.
No good is going to come from me being in there any longer anyway.
I’ll just get angrier with myself, and I have enough on my plate to deal with.
Alina has become far more of an issue than I ever expected.
I’ll return with a tray of food but then I’m done being distracted by her tonight.
“I don’t care if it ends up being twenty-four/seven surveillance. Up the patrols in that area and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
I internally fume as I head out of the late-night meeting, leaving my men to fix the latest mess. One of my cover businesses was ransacked while I was teaching a stubborn woman a lesson. Inventory and equipment weren’t stolen, but they were certainly damaged beyond repair.
It was a message. A threat to warn me that they’re not going to stop until my territory is theirs. Whoever they are.
I flex my fingers, wishing Alina will by now have learned her lesson and that I could get my hands on the people who did this. I can’t believe that we still haven’t figured out who it was. The security cameras were damaged before we could get a glimpse at anyone.
Dominik is good at tracking down people, of finding the missing pieces.
A frustrated sigh threatens to break from me at that thought. He could be working with me on this right now.
But then this probably wouldn’t be happening if it wasn’t for him and his idiotic actions. He deserves to rot in that cell until he comes to his damn senses.
I can’t go back on my decision to imprison him. If I do, and Dominik doesn’t try to kill me as soon as he’s free then my men will think that I’ve grown soft. That I’ve become weak and spineless.
I already look like a fool.