Chapter 13 #2
A tear catches on my girl’s lashes, glistening in the shitty lighting before I watch it fall, and somehow I know it’s not because of the position she’s in.
She doesn’t like it, and I can tell she’s scared, but there’s a strange calm over Liv, too.
Like her fear is a narrow scope and beyond that she’s trying to stay centered.
That’s why I know that tear isn’t for her or anything else.
She’s crying because they’re going to hurt me.
“Now then,” Mr. Clean says as he starts pacing in front of us. “Let’s start with the money. Where did you stash it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The smoldering hot of a cigar is pressed against my hip, burning through the cotton of my boxers and twisting until it sticks to my skin then tears when he pulls it away.
I don’t react this time, or at least I try not to.
I might tense up but I’m not going to give them the joy of seeing anything other than a natural physical reaction to pain.
I have to keep it together for Liv, and I’m not going to give them what they want.
“The guns?” he asks.
“I don’t have a fucking clue. I don’t know anything about guns or money, and I don’t know where Dimitri is to ask him.
You have the wrong person and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can move on to finding them.
” Not that I want them going after Dimitri but the asshole might deserve it, and I don’t want Liv caught up his shit.
I want her as far away from this as possible.
Another cigar is pushed into my ribs as the quick crack of a whip hits both of my thighs just below my dick. My fingers flex and muscles spasm but I bite my tongue.
No fear. No pain.
I learned that a long time ago, from Dimitri funny enough, and he was right. It doesn’t matter what they do, you don’t show fear or pain to your enemies.
“So,” Mr. Clean starts walking closer to Liv and my hackles rise. “Since you aren’t the man we’re after, I take it you have no idea where the little girl is, either?”
“No.” But I guarantee that’s my sister.
Our sister if they think D had anything to do with it. He and I don’t share blood, we don’t have any DNA in common but we are linked. Through our bond, and through the accidental child his father had with my mother almost four years ago.
Tatiana is always going to connect us and if she’s missing, I’ll kick his ass myself for letting it happen.
“Such a shame.” The ringleader of this goddamn circus grabs Liv’s face in his hand, squeezing her cheeks as he nods to the bastards around her before he lets go.
“We were hoping to make this last a little longer but I’m not a very patient man.
You don’t have to talk now, but it’ll be up to her how long you hold out. ”
The man behind her grins at me as he unzips his fly, dropping his jeans low enough to take his dick out and when he does, I see fucking red.
“You’re dead!” I yell as he slams into my girl. “Fucking dead, you hear me?!”
I pull on my restraints again as that motherfucker starts pounding into her without a moment’s hesitation, without any preparation, and without one single shred of remorse as he takes the cigarette from between his lips and starts pressing it against her lower back.
My right hand almost tears free on a guttural roar, my eyes fixed on Liv’s face, her tears silently streaming down her cheeks.
I swear it’s like she’s telling me to stop.
The expression she’s wearing, the way she’s flexing her fingers, how she almost imperceptibly shakes her head.
Liv is telling me to stop, she’s trying to keep me at bay as if she has things under control or some shit. It’s almost like she’s saying she can handle this because it’s familiar to her and I swear to Christ that’s what has me tugging harder at the ropes binding me.
This shouldn’t be happening at all let alone again for someone as perfect as my omega, and that’s why I have to put a fucking end to it.
Even if Liv truly does want me to stop.
I won’t, though.
I’m not going to until we’re walking over their corpses and out that goddamn door together.
She grimaces in pain as the guys on either side of the platform start whipping her, the crack of their belts matching the pace the dead man has set as he continues to assault her.
A sizzle and smoke from the cigarette, the whip slicing through the air, the sickening smack of his disgusting skin against hers. The sounds repeat in that order, continuing for what feels like an eternity but all I can do is look into Liv’s grassy eyes and disobey the order I see in them.
Growling as my own tears start to fall, I yank my left hand free and immediately reach for the other but something nails me in the head before my back is slammed against the wood again.
Blood flows down my forehead and over my eyes, my vision blacking out momentarily as my body sags then suddenly drops from the cross and I land on my knees.
The room is spinning but I start to crawl, moving straight toward Liv despite the violent urge to throw up and the spots dancing in my vision.
I’m hit again, the force causing me to fall flat on the floor before I feel fingers digging in my hair and gripping the strands tight enough to tear a few loose.
My head is jerked up and my hands are pulled behind my back, wrenched high enough to make me go upright before I’m forced on all fours.
I’m so dazed I have no idea what’s happening, I can barely see what’s going on right in front of me.
I’ve been hit in the head way too many times and I’m holding onto the tiny shred of hope that I don’t black out again.
Liv needs me. I need her. I have to stay conscious.
I can’t pass out, not until I know she’s safe.
“Maybe she’ll talk,” Mr. Clean says right next to my ear. “She smells like you, smells like you’ve been fucking like bunnies. Not bonded yet but close, right? I bet she’ll say anything to save you.”
Without warning, I feel someone grab my hips and tear my boxers off in one hard pull followed immediately by something kind of hard and very dry ramming into me.
A sloppy tactic from some asshole deciding to go the extra mile.
Probably some sadistic dumbass looking to use me as more than a way to get Liv to talk.
But he’s not going to be able to brag to his buddies about assaulting the alpha son of a Bratva king and as soon as he realizes it, I’m sure he’ll kill me.
I gag and heave as his semi-hard dick drags back out of me, burning my flesh slowly before plowing into me again. It steals my breath as I feel myself stretch until it’s as if something rips, my involuntary tears sliding down my cheeks and mingling with my blood on my face.
I’m going to pass out.
I’ve never had this happen to me before, never been assaulted like this and rendered completely helpless. It doesn’t do anything but piss me off, but even that’s not enough to stop it.
I can’t help Liv because I’m too out of it, I’m too weak. I’m useless to her. Worthless because I can’t protect my soul mate. I can’t save her because I’m going into fucking shock.
“Niko.”
My eyes flutter as I brace myself against the floor, pushing up on my hands the best I can in order to follow the sound of Liv’s voice.
“That’s it, honey,” she says as she gasps. “Look at me, look at my face.”
I lurch forward with each disgusting pump of the bastard’s hips behind me and I vomit, wretching over and over but I force myself to do as she says. I grit my teeth and force down the bile, squinting and blinking against the pain, against the blood in my eyes, and look at my girl’s face.
The asshole that was behind her is gone.
That’s a relief even though he’s probably the one behind me now.
I don’t care. I’d rather take his punishment than watch it happen to my girl.
She’s still in the stockade, and they’re still whipping her, but the sexual assault has stopped and at least that’s something I can do for her despite the way they keep beating her.
Over and over those leather belts crack against her flawless skin, tearing strips of her flesh, blood splattering toward the ceiling each time it’s lifted in the air. It’s like I’m watching in slow motion, my vision fading in and out as it latches on to those tiny flecks of red.
“Niko, honey, I need you to focus on me.”
I drag my stare from her body to her face, my eyes connecting with Liv’s the best they can. “I’m… sorry.”
She gasps again but I can see her shake her head. “Not on you. Love you. Eyes on me.”
Her head bobs as her teeth clench but neither of us look away.
“It’s not fucking working.” Someone close by growls as I’m pushed down ad land on my face, my cheek smacking against the concrete hard enough to make my teeth rattle. “Let’s just kill them and get the money. Who cares about the extra.”
Something long and hot presses against my back, burning a large portion of my skin but I’m beyond reacting. I’m almost beyond feeling it. I can barely see Liv anymore and all I can think about is how I failed her.
I didn’t protect her, I can’t save her.
I’ve failed my girl, and I don’t deserve anything other than what I’m getting, and maybe the imminent death that could possibly follow.
LIV
“Niko.” I push his name out of my mouth, forcing it through my lips as I watch him go limp. My sweet mate stops moving and his eyes slide closed, and my heart starts racing over what that could mean. “Niko, honey, wake up.”
A belt comes down across the small of my back as another hits my thighs and just when I open my mouth to call out to my omega again, the back of someone’s hand blasts across my jaw instead.
“We will kill him,” the big bald guy says as the taste of blood fills my mouth. “We will kill him while you watch and then we’ll kill you if we don’t get our answers.”