Rick #3
“But we don’t intend to run this crumbling empire,” Katarina corrects him.
“We’re going to ruin it. We’ll harvest every scrap of information you have so we can hunt down all those sick bastards responsible for exploiting, abusing and killing countless men, women and children.
” She doesn’t mention how that includes tracking down the man who bought Yana in an auction.
She doesn’t want Grigor to know her sestra’s fate has haunted her for years.
It’s enough that Grigor knows we’ll be dismantling his evil network.
“We’ll raid the Bratva’s bank accounts to compensate your victims, and we’ll have fun along the way. ”
“With Sasha?” Grigor asks, sliding his gaze to his wife before turning to me.
“Do you seriously think you could ever trust her? I trained Sasha to be a chameleon. Too well it would seem. She’ll be whatever you want her to be while it suits her, but she’ll betray you one day just like she’s betrayed me. ”
I don’t like the shudder that runs down my spine, knowing it’s a reaction Grigor wanted. He’s using me to plant the seeds of doubt because I don’t have a shared past with Sasha. But we do have history. Sasha helped bring Katarina back to me.
“You’d be wrong there,” I reply with a confidence I know pisses him off. “You see, these women aren’t just products of your training. They’re forged from something far stronger. Friendship. Loyalty. Love.”
“You’re a fool if–”
“Ah, we’ll be having none of that,” I interrupt. “And to be honest with you, Grigor, I’m getting fucking tired of listening to your voice.” I step closer. “Ladies, would you mind holding him down for me?”
Katarina and Sasha don’t ask what I have planned. The mutual trust we share is on display when they grab Grigor’s arms so I can kneel on his chest.
“Any last words?” I ask, taking out my Glock.
Grigor’s mouth twists into a sneer. “Do you want to know what I did to your–”
I grab his chin and shove the barrel of my gun into his mouth hard enough to chip teeth. “I’ll take that as a no.”
Using the gun I jammed into his mouth as leverage, I pull out his tongue and slice through it with my knife. Grigor’s screams turn into a gurgling grunt.
“Nice work, Killian,” Sasha says, taking the tongue and admiring the precision of my cut before slipping it into her pocket as a souvenir.
I wink at her before returning my attention to Grigor. “And there is one other wee thing I need to take care of before I hand you over to the women you abused.”
I reposition myself so I’m kneeling on Grigor’s calves, and he writhes frantically as I unzip his pants. He’s choking on his own blood, but whatever insults he’s hurling at me are unintelligible.
“I know many women will have dreamed of separating your dick from your body, but I don’t like the idea of my wife handling this…
” My nose wrinkles as I pull out his limp dick.
“This is one small matter I’d prefer to take care of on her behalf.
” Grigor bucks his hips, trying desperately to resist my hold.
“Could you not keep still for a minute? I wouldn’t want to snip off my little finger by mistake. ”
My knife cuts through his shaft cleaner than I’d like, and Grigor’s muffled screams are music to my ears. Done with the bastard, I get to my feet and fling it across the room before Sasha gets any ideas about keeping another trophy.
“We should bind his hands,” she says, leaving her husband to thrash on floor.
Katarina pulls cable ties from her pocket. “Good idea. We don’t want him getting too cocky.”
I reel back in shock. “Katarina Barkov, did you just crack a joke?”
“Absolutely not,” she replies. “But Mrs. Freeman, wife of Rick, seems to have been infected by her husband’s awful sense of humor.”
I slide my hand around the back of her head and crush my mouth against hers. I steal her gasp and her smile with a deep swipe of my tongue. “I could fuck you for that.”
Sasha coughs loudly. “Please, there are people in the room.”
“So there are,” Katarina says, casting a wicked look in my direction.
I shake my head, but I’m not about to deny my wife anything and I let her continue.
“Sestra, once we’re done trussing up this turkey, don’t you have work to do elsewhere?
We can play with your husband later. I’d like to play with mine first.”
“Good grief, are you two always like this?”
“Yes,” we say in unison.
“Fine,” Sasha huffs. “It could take me a while to locate all the secret files Vasili and Grigor shared.”
Spiders crawl along my spine at the thought of what Sasha might uncover.
She has her work cut out unravelling the Barkov empire, but there’s one thread I’m in no hurry for her to pull.
I could probably live without knowing who betrayed me.
I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s my brother. Kill him maybe.
I’m quiet as the women bind Grigor and prop him against a wall. He cries like a baby and jabbers like one too.
Katarina cups my face. “Are you back in the room?”
The spark in my wife’s heated gaze sends the shadows skittering back to the corners of my mind. “I’m back,” I confirm. “Ready to put on a show for our guest?”