Chapter 33 – The following day – Discovered
Tickling Sonia was way more fun than I remembered. She’d always been ticklish, but it had been years since I’d tickled her. It hadn’t been appropriate as we got older. Now that we were intimate, it was something I could indulge in again, and I thoroughly enjoyed the way she squirmed and giggled in my lap.
Chuckling hard as she begged for mercy, the sudden pounding on the door didn’t resonate at first. The moment it did, we both froze in shock.
Fuck, we’d been discovered! I should have known the best night of my fucking life would end this way.
“Romi, open the fuck up now!” Miki shouted.
Sonia looked sick as I set her on her feet. Stopping, I quickly retrieved my T-shirt and handed it to her. As she hurriedly put it back on, I did up the fly of my jeans.
I grimaced at what was about to happen and wished Sonia didn’t have to see this.
Giving her one last look, I headed for the door, knowing the timing couldn’t have been much worse. Seeing Sonia dressed only in my T-shirt wasn’t the best way for her brothers to find out about us, that was for sure, but there was nothing I could do about it now. It was better than them seeing her naked, I guessed.
Squeezing her tightly, I gave her a quick peck on the lips before heading to the door, a look of defiance on my face.
It was time to deal with the shit that was about to rain down on us. I just hoped I survived the beating I was about to take long enough for the guys to calm down and for me to figure out how to sort this mess out since running with Sonia now wasn’t going to be quite as easy as I’d hoped.
As soon as I opened the door, Miki punched me in the jaw. Fuck! That hurt! He and Ash rushed inside, looking mad as hell.
As I’d expected, seeing Sonia dressed in just my T-shirt made them even more enraged. They turned to face me with looks that would have killed a lesser man on the spot. Considering I’d gone against all of our codes, I couldn’t blame them for their anger. If it had been anyone else in this position, I would have felt the same way.
Here we go! I thought grimly.
Sighing, I fortified myself. Things were about to get rough. Taking a deep breath, I stood there, waiting to see what they would do next.
I retreated a few steps as they came at me, fists flying.
“Fucking bastard!” they shouted, punching me in the jaw and the stomach, making my legs buckle.
I held my hands up in a defensive pose but didn’t retaliate. I’d broken the rules, so I deserved this, and up to a point, I would put up with it. I’d let them beat me and get their anger out, but in the end, Sonia would be mine. As long as I lived through the next few days, I reminded myself as I fell to the floor.
“Stop it!” Sonia screamed, trying to pull them off me. Marko grabbed her around the waist and hauled her away from us. She fought like a banshee until he grabbed her arms and subdued her.
“Our sister?” Ash cried.
“We fucking trusted you!” he screamed at me as he threw a left hook at my face.
My arms came up to protect my head as the blows kept coming. I refused to fight back as that would escalate the matter and make them worse.
“Fight back!” Sonia shouted, but she didn’t understand that in order for them to eventually accept us, they needed to work through their anger at me first. Or at least that was my hope.
She looked distraught, and I really wished she didn’t have to see this. I knew how much this would hurt her.
“Yeah, fight back, you bastard,” Miki shouted, and I winced at the hint of hurt betrayal in his voice.
Curled up on the floor, I kept my head covered as much as possible as they punched and kicked my ribs. After another couple of blows, they moved away as if to stop, then returned, and each aimed another blow. It fucking hurt, but I realised that despite everything, they were holding back.
Sonia was crying hysterically now as they continued to hit me. I hated hearing her sobs. I wanted to go to her and soothe her, but that wasn’t an option. This was just something she’d have to endure like I would.
“Enough!” Marko shouted as he turned Sonia in his arms and buried her head in his chest.
She’d stopped fighting him and was clutching his jacket, sobbing and murmuring, “Please, stop them. Please, stop them,” to him.
“Ooof!” I clutched my stomach as another hard kick from Miki winded me. He stepped away, clutching his head in his hands.
They all knew that I was no coward and that I could match each of them, if not best them, in a fight any day. So, I knew they’d understand that I was allowing this.
“Fuck!” Ash cried, stepping in with a final kick to my thigh.
Miki pulled him away, and they took a few steps back, panting hard and staring at me with a mixture of rage and disappointment, and it was that which hit me harder than any of their blows.
They remained still, breathing harshly but no longer attacking me. It appeared that they were finally calming down. Thank goodness because I couldn’t take much more without passing out.
When no more attacks came, I slowly pushed myself up to my knees. Swaying slightly, I somehow managed to stand up, clutching onto the wall for support.
My vision swam as a wave of nausea washed over me like a tsunami, and I gulped down the bile that threatened to bring my omelette back up.
Geez, I didn’t remember ever feeling such pain. Both physical and psychological. Everywhere hurt. I wiped my hand across my face, and it came back smeared in blood. My lip was cut, and my jaw throbbed. Breathing was difficult. My ribs screamed in agony, and my thighs ached, but at least I was alive.
Strangely enough, despite how sore I was, I didn’t actually think anything was broken except my left pinkie finger, which was sitting at an unusual angle. I guessed I should definitely be thankful for small mercies.
“Bastards!” Sonia shouted, pulling out of Marko’s hold and running to me.
I pulled her to me and held her close, uncaring of my pain. Having her in my arms soothed all the hurt.
Miki and Ash stared at us, and slowly, I saw realisation dawning on Ash’s face. He could see how much Sonia cared for me.
“Shit!” he cursed, turning away, seeming unable to look at us.
“Fuck!” Miki shouted, pacing about the room, his hands clenching and unclenching. He stopped facing away from us, breathing deeply. After a minute, he pulled himself together enough to speak.
“Everyone in the kitchen now!” he said, and we all hurried to obey.
“Sit!” he pointed to the stools at the breakfast bar.
Sonia and I sat, but I kept a hold of her hand.
Ash remained outside in the hall, cursing.
Miki shook his head at me in disgust. He was still so fucking angry with me that I could almost taste it.
“What the fuck, Romi? You not only broke the Bro code, but you are our fucking cousin!” he growled.
“He’s not our real cousin!” Sonia shouted.
She seemed like she was about to say something else, but he silenced her with a look.
“Also, you have gone against me as Pakhan and jeopardised our alliance with Glowacki. Damn it! I can’t let that go,” Miki shouted.
Marko stood beside Miki, watching me. He hadn’t hit me, but he hadn’t said anything either. I wasn’t sure exactly how he was taking all of this.
“I’m not marrying Dariusz,” Sonia screamed at him, “I love Romi!”
Miki ignored her, his eyes burrowing into me, searching mine as Ash entered the kitchen.
“We trusted you to take care of her, and you bloody seduced her instead!” he cried.
“I love her!” I shouted at them, my eyes going from one to the other.
“We love each other,” Sonia stated again, clutching tightly onto my hand.
Ash murmured, “Shit,” under his breath.
He stared at us both, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache coming on.
I knew the bloody feeling.
Sonia sniffed hard. Her face was blotchy, and her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying. I hated seeing her like that. I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb soothingly, wishing I could do more to comfort her. Pulling her into my arms was likely to inflame the situation, and since things were starting to cool off, I didn’t want to risk it.
Miki nodded to Marko, who left the room.
“I can’t let what this go unpunished. You will remain here until I decide what’s to be done,” Miki said, turning away from us to pace the floor.
He ran his hand through his hair and muttered under his breath.
“You need to call off the marriage and let me be with Romi. That’s what needs to be done!” Sonia seethed.
I’d never heard her voice laced with such anger. As I watched Miki, I squeezed her hand in silent reassurance.
“We will talk about the marriage later. In the meantime, I will decide how to deal with this betrayal,” Miki said in a firm voice before he strode out of the room with Ash following close behind.
“Whatever happens, I will come for you, Sonia,” I whispered to her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before Miki returned, this time with Luca and Marko.
Luca glared at me.
“Not cool, Bro!” he said, sounding exasperated but not quite as angry as the others, thankfully.
Marko still hadn’t said a word. He just stared at me with an unreadable expression. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
“Time to go,” Miki declares as he and Luca make a grab for me.
“Where are you taking him? Don’t you dare hurt him again, or I will never forgive you,” Sonia cried as they hauled me out of the chair.
“Don’t kill him! Are you going to kill him? Please don’t kill him,” Sonia said in a rush, tears running down her beautiful face again as she put her arms around me in an attempt to protect me.
“It’s okay, baby. Everything will be fine. Remember what I said,” I reassured her.
“He won’t be hurt any more. I promise,” Luca replied, looking at her with sympathy.
Miki sighed heavily.
“But he will be punished,” he said.
“Come on, Sonia,” Marko said as he pulled her away from me again.
Miki and Luca held my arms as they walked me out to an SUV and forced me inside. Vlad was in the driver’s seat and started the engine as soon as I sat down. Sonia tried to follow, but Vlad drove off. I craned my neck to look out the back window and watched as Marko and Ash pushed a protesting Sonia into a separate vehicle.
Anger coursed through my veins at the sight of her being forcibly separated from me. I started to protest and struggled, but Luca told me to sit still, or he’d taser me if necessary. He opened his jacket to show me the weapon, so I forced myself to calm down. There was no choice for now. I didn’t want any further injuries if I could avoid them. I needed to regain my strength so I could figure out another plan.
Huffing out a breath that made me wince in pain, I glared at Luca and Miki in turn. They might have separated us, but I wasn’t going to let that remain the case for long.
A short while later, we pulled up at a familiar building.
They’d brought me to one of our safe houses, and I assumed they’d taken Sonia back to the Estate. I wondered how long they planned on keeping me here.
Doctor Rawlins came by and checked me out. Thankfully, I was correct in my assumption that the only thing broken was my pinkie. He strapped it up to my ring finger for support and gave me some painkillers and ice packs for my face.
He patted my shoulder in sympathy as he left, and I sunk back against the pillows on the bed of the room that was currently my prison. It wasn’t too bad as far as accommodation went. It could be worse; at least I wasn’t at the C, and at least I was alive.
Closing my eyes, I mulled over my options. Nothing had really changed despite us being caught, I suddenly realised. Either the marriage would be called off and an alternative arrangement found, or Sonia and I would run. I told her whatever happened, I would come for her, and I meant it.
Plan A was still an option. Miki would need to face the situation and discuss it with Glowacki now, whether he liked it or not. If Plan A was going to be the solution, I assumed I would know in a couple of days at most. By then, all of my plans would be ready, and I could resort to Plan B if I needed to. All I would need to do was figure out a way to get out of here and snatch Sonia.
In the meantime, all I could do was wait and rest. Taking a few deep, steady breaths, I allowed the pain medication to do its stuff, and after a while, I drifted off into a drug-induced sleep.