Sinner
When I exited the hospital, a car was waiting for me. I’d done what Matvey had instructed. As soon as Anastasia was awake and the staff had verified she would be fine, I texted Mikhail. It was prearranged that Mikhail would notify his cousin, and someone would pick me up.
Matvey was careful giving out directions. And he preferred most of the time that his men were the ones to do the driving. If I had doubts about the Pakhan’s trust or friendship, they were allayed when I wasn’t blindfolded.
“How is your woman?” Vasily asked. He was one of Matvey’s soldiers.
“The doctor said she should make a full recovery, but she’s to take things easy for the next six weeks. She was lucky. The bullet didn’t hit anything major. Thank you for asking.”
He dipped his head. “Good. It is a shame when innocents are harmed.”
“It is. How is that bastard?”
Vasily chuckled darkly.
“He is in a world of pain. His bullet was much worse. Rurik is pissed that his kill shot was messed up.”
I laughed. “I don’t blame him. Is Sam capable of enduring more pain, or is he on the brink of death?”
“The Pakhan ensured he was cared for to prevent death. You will get your revenge,” he replied.
We didn’t talk much after that, just random things here and there. Vasily took us out of town along the I-40 W. We ended up on the southern side of the interstate from Boone Trace into the country.
There was plenty of open country, few houses, and numerous trees and dirt roads. It was one of those dirt roads without a sign that he turned down. It was still daylight, but no one was around. We rode back a couple of miles, winding through the trees and losing sight of the main road.
We stopped outside two metal shipping containers.
You know, the kind that you saw on cargo ships bringing in items from overseas and stuff.
There was one vehicle there I didn’t recognize, and one I did.
The last one was Mikhail’s. Standing outside the container were two men who nodded to Vasily and me as we approached, and one opened the container door next to him.
Upon entering, I discovered that the sides meeting in the middle of the two cargo containers had been removed and stabilized, creating one large building. Inside, I saw Mikhail, Hoss, Emil, Rurik, and another one of Matvey’s men, Isaac. However, they weren’t the only ones there.
Seated in a chair, slumped as far as the cuffs around his wrists would permit, sat Sam.
He looked worse for wear. He no longer wore the hoodie or mask.
On his wrinkled, dirty T-shirt was a huge patch of dried blood on his left side with a bullet hole torn in the center of it.
His jeans had splattered blood on them and were dirty, too. His feet were bare.
Sam’s head lifted when he heard the door squeak and our footsteps.
His face was gray, and exhaustion or maybe defeat was written all over it.
His eyes were bloodshot. When he saw it was me, he tried to sit up.
His grimace told me it hurt. Good. I scanned him for evidence of any other injuries. I didn’t see any.
I went to speak to Hoss and Mikhail. I shook their hands and greeted the Bratva men.
“Good to see you. And to hear that Stasia is awake. We hate to tear you away from her, but the sooner this bastard is dealt with, the better,” Mikhail said as he gave me a back-slapping hug, then let go so Hoss could do the same. I pounded back on theirs.
“She’s with her mom. Iker and Poe are with them in case the rest of the Shahs try to show if they somehow find out she’s there. And I agree, this motherfucker has polluted our lives long enough. His entitlement to what isn’t his has to be cured.” I snarled.
“Well, we’re here for moral support unless you decide you need us to take over.
And the same for Matvey’s guys. Rurik has been eyeballing him like he’s hungry.
Sam fucked up Rurik’s perfect shot record,” Mikhail said loudly, causing the Bratva soldier to curl his top lip and glare harder at Sam. I chuckled.
“I might let you help me, Rurik,” I called over. His glare changed to satisfaction.
“I see you have a bag with you. I assume those are the tools you plan to use. If you need any more, there’s plenty here.
As you can tell, it’s been used for this purpose before,” Mikhail said, gesturing first at the cabinets and a workbench along the walls and then to the dark stains on the concrete floor.
“I have everything I need here. And those central beams that someone was nice enough to place in here will be perfect,” I replied.
“Then we’ll stand back and watch the show,” Hoss said.
I inspected the beams and shook the vertical ones attached to see how stable they were—nothing budged. Fantastic. Then I went to stand before Sam. He’d let his head drop, so I grabbed the hair at the top of his head and lifted it.
“You can’t get away with this,” he croaked.
“Oh, but I can. See, no one saw you clearly, and the police have no idea who shot Anastasia. It’s being considered a robbery gone wrong. But even if someone connects our recent court trouble with the shooting, they’ll find that you’ve disappeared. How does that have anything to do with me?”
“There are cameras,” he said.
“Oh, but those show nothing or were on the fritz. It’s great to be friends with people who can take care of stuff like that. You ran from the scene. That’s the last anyone saw you,” I added.
I saw the fear enter his expression.
“So, kill me and get this over with,” he hissed.
“I would’ve left you alone if you had done the same. But you thought you’d take her away from me by killing me. You shot my fucking woman! The one you claim to want. That sealed your cocksucking fate,” I snapped.
“I never meant to hurt her. She jumped in front of you,” he protested, like that made a difference.
“She did. That’s what one does when you love someone.
You wouldn’t understand it because you’ve never loved anyone or had someone love you.
You coveted what wasn’t yours. You and her fucked up family plotted to trap her in a marriage that would’ve made her life a living hell.
And when you failed at every turn, you decided killing me would do the trick.
News flash, even if you had killed me, Anastasia would’ve never accepted you. ”
He stayed quiet. I saw more despair enter his face.
“I’ll go far away. You won’t ever see me again. I’ll leave you two alone. If you let me go, I’ll never say a word to anyone.”
“Do I look stupid enough to believe you? You’re lying to save your hide. Shut up because it won’t work. If you have any last words you want to say to your maker, do it now, but say them to yourself,” I ordered, dropping his head.
Then, I turned my back on him and returned to where I had left my bag on the floor next to my friends.
“What’re you gonna do to him?” Mikail asked. The other guys came closer to hear.
“I’m a rope master in the art of shibari.
Before it was a part of kink, shibari was known by other terms, and the ancient samurai developed many of them.
My master taught me the ancient history behind rope bondage.
I plan to use my knowledge of ropes and implement tsurushi, which means suspension or hanging.
It’s a brutal way to torture someone. It was used in feudal times to coerce confessions and information, as well as to kill.
I hope everyone will enjoy the lesson,” I said darkly as I turned to stare at a sick-looking Sam.
I let myself begin to sink into the headspace I’d need to do this.