by Tillie Cole
“Alik,” I hushed out. “What is this place?”
I felt Alik’s warm body at my back, and he gathered my hair and pushed it over my left shoulder. His mouth moved to my ear. “My sanctuary. Where I can be the man I am. Not the one I’m forced to be out there.”
“And… and what man is that?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
He pressed kiss after kiss along the side of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. Every part of me was tense. I didn’t understand why he wasn’t screaming at me. This quieter Alik was too unnerving.
“Free,” he replied, making me jump.
My eyes drifted to the unmade bed, and I felt sick. “You fuck women here?”
Alik’s lips froze and in seconds I was spun round by his hard grip on my biceps and slammed against the nearest wall. His harsh stare bore into mine, cold and unfeeling.
“They’re not you, Myshka. They were whores. You’re my woman, my whole fucking life.” Darkness clouded Alik’s crazed red eyes and he leaned so far forward that the back of my head ground against the hard wall. “At least you were. Until you fucking betrayed me. Opened your fucking whoring legs.”
Alik’s voice was quiet, too quiet, the softness deceiving. His head twitched and his jaw ticked as he lifted the Beretta and ran it down my cheek. He suddenly looked broken, completely devastated.
“How could you, Myshka? How could you fuck that cunt, baby? How could you let him into what’s mine?”
“Alik—” I tried to speak, but Alik moved the gun over my lips, shaking his head as his other hand wrenched up my dress and cupped roughly against my pussy.
“Shh, Myshka,” he whispered. “You betrayed me. You opened your legs to that fucker Raze. You made me angry. At you, Myshka. You hurt me. The only one who can keep me calm, the only one who gets me.”
I shook my head, my breath coming too fast. “No! Alik!” I protested and tentatively lifted my shaking hand to rest on his cheek. As soon as my palm met his skin, his eyes closed and he took a deep breath, his head nuzzling into my flesh.
“Baby,” I whispered, needing to keep him calm while my heart thundered to the point I thought it would fail to function from over-exhaustion. “I know… I know what you did… to Rodion… to Luka…”
Alik’s head stilled in my palm and his gaze darted to mine, the whites of his eyes unusually bright. Then, eyes narrowed, he said, “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Tears blurred my vision and my bottom lip quivered. “I know… I know it was you who killed Rodion… I know your papa ordered you to kill him so you could be the heir to the Pakhan.”
Alik’s nostrils flared and his lips set into a tight line. “Really? You found this out?” he asked, his thoughts unreadable through his indifferent tone.
Swallowing, I said, “And you framed Luka, stabbed yourself in the stomach… and your papa faked Luka’s death.” I saw the flinch in Alik’s eyes, and my heart skipped a beat.
He didn’t know Luka wasn’t in that accident… My God! He believed he was dead. That meant…
He didn’t know Raze was Luka.
He didn’t know I’d been sleeping with Raze because he was Luka.
Alik quickly schooled his features. “Luka died, Kisa.”
“But you killed Rodion? Put the blame on Luka?” I sniffed and wiped at the tears on my cheek. “You stabbed yourself to ensure everyone believed Luka had flipped and killed Rodion.” I met his gaze and said, “All because you wanted me to yourself?”
Alik’s stern expression melted and he looked at me again with that disturbingly possessive adoration, his gun-free hand lifting from my pussy to push back my hair.
“You’re mine, baby. You know that. And Luka was getting in my way. He was always there, touching you… touching what I knew was mine.”
I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt Alik’s warm breath splay across my skin, and the barrel of his gun ran down my neck to lie over my breasts.
“Rodion needed to die, Kisa. He would never have been a Pakhan. He wasn’t strong enough. I am. And I knew I’d have you by my side. It has made the Bratva feared more than any other mob on the East Coast.”
I dropped my arm to my side, removing my hand from his face. My brother, Luka… Alik had zero remorse. He was proud of what he’d done.
“You are insane,” I whispered, my throat feeling too tight to breathe in much-needed air. “I just never let myself see it before.”
Alik smiled but backed away, aiming his gun in front of him, shifting its target from my head to my heart and back again.
“Insane, baby?” Alik said coldly and stepped forward, my body filling with dread. “You haven’t seen anything. Because, Myshka, until now, you’ve always been my little mouse. My fucking light, the beat to my heart. The only thing I could love as much as killing.”
Alik stepped closer still and ran his hand up my arm, then brutally gripped my bicep, squeezing until I screamed out in pain. Alik’s face was right before mine, his expression blank.
“That was until you fucking betrayed me and fucked that asshole.”
My eyes widened and he nodded. “You thought people weren’t going to realize you were missing? The Byki reported your empty room last night, so I followed you tonight, Myshka. Followed you right to that fuck Raze… and then to Brighton Beach of all places.” His jaw clenched. “I fucking hate that place.”
Alik’s hold tightened still and tears ran down my cheeks. His face then showed every single nuance of pain and rage he felt and his mouth moved right to my ear.
“I watched you fuck him. I watched you kiss him. I watched you fucking hold him, watched you stroke his hair!”
“Alik—” I cried, but just as I did, Alik stepped back and the back of his hand smacked across my face.
Losing my footing under the force and shock, I slumped to the floor, Alik pacing in front of me, hitting at his head with the heels of his hands. “Why? WHY?” he screamed and whipped to face me, his head tilted to the side.
“Kisa, baby, my Myshka, why did you make me do this?” Alik’s voice was gentle, apologetic, completely opposite to a moment ago. I rolled my head to face him, my cheek throbbing from the hit.
Alik bent down and stroked across my forehead with the same firm hand he hit me with. “I watched you fucking him, Kisa. You fucked another guy, and now I gotta make you pay. That pussy of yours belongs to me.”
I shook my head, tears spilling down my face. “No, Alik, please… You don’t understand.”
Sighing, Alik looked away, and when he turned back, I began to speak, but Alik gripped my hair and dragged me to my feet.
“Alik!” I cried, but he didn’t stop, just yanked me forward until I stood at the bottom of the large bed.
“Alik, please,” I begged. “I love him! I … I love him.”
Alik froze and pulled me forward by my hair. “Say what? You want to tell me that again?”
“I… I…” Alik fisted my hair tighter, to the point I thought it was going to rip from my head.
“Tell me again!” he ordered, and I sobbed.
But then a wash of numbness filled me and, looking Alik straight in the eyes, I declared, “I love him. He’s my soul mate. I want him… I want him…”
Alik paled and reared back as if I’d physically hurt him. I could actually see the pain in his face. “Alik—”
Another strike knocked me onto the bed. I didn’t scream this time, just landed on the mattress and felt the blood from my bust lip trickle down my chin.
“Your soul mate? You’ve only just fucking met him!” Alik roared and, beyond seething, ran his hands through his short hair, then sent a punch straight into my stomach.
I coughed and spluttered as the blow robbed me of my breath, and Alik roared again. Bending down, he had tears in his eyes. “Kisa,” he said quietly, running his finger down my cheek. “I don’t want to hurt you, but a good Bratva wife doesn’t fuck around. You’re making me do this to you. You need to be t
aught a lesson, Myshka. You’ve betrayed me, but…”
Alik sighed and pressed kisses all over my face. My body was curled inward, trying to find the ability to breathe.
“But I need you. But…” His body tensed again. “I can’t stand the fucking thought of you with him, baby. Can’t get the thought of you riding his dick from my head.”
Alik tipped back his head and growled in frustration. Facing forward once more, he pushed me back onto the mattress and crawled on the bed. “I need to fuck you,” he said firmly. “I need to show you who you fucking belong to.”
My heart sank as he spoke those words. “No… please, Alik… Please…”
But he didn’t listen, didn’t care. Alik snapped open the fly of his jeans and pulled off his shirt. Once he was undressed, he reached for my dress. I freed my arms from around my stomach to push his hands away, but Alik took my wrists in one hand and struck me across the cheek with the other. In the aftermath, he acted as though nothing had happened.
I resisted, fought back for as long as I could, picturing my Luka in my mind. I didn’t want Alik to take me and rid me of Luka’s feel. I didn’t want him to touch me.
He killed my brother.
He framed my Luka.
Alik leaned down, teeth bared and squeezed my wrist until I heard a crack. I was sure he had broken it. Spots danced in front of my eyes with the searing pain. He ripped away my dress, running his nose up my neck, almost tenderly, then his hand wrapped around my throat.
Tears filled Alik’s eyes as he stared me down, my sight fading in and out of blackness as his grip on my throat cut off my oxygen.
“Myshka, you’re mine,” he said as he pushed my thighs apart and placed himself at my entrance. “I need you to be mine.”
As he slammed his cock inside me, his hand slipped off my throat, allowing me to gasp in a breath, and his hand took tight hold of my hips. He took me roughly, bruisingly, making sure I knew he was in control… that he, and only he, possessed me.
As he drove into me faster, Alik leaned forward, my eyes unable to focus through the blows to my face, the choking of my throat, the sexual assault.
“I’m gonna kill that fucker tomorrow, Myshka. Take him out. So get him out of your mind. Then no more fucking waiting. We’re marrying the day after and you’ll learn your place once and for all. Do you hear me?”
My head was cast to the side, my eyes trying to focus on anything around the room. Suddenly, Alik’s hand slammed down on my cheeks and he forced me to look at him. Another blow branded my cheek with pain, and he shook my head as his hips slammed into my pussy. “I said do you fucking hear me?”
I tried to speak, but my cheeks were numb, my lips too swollen to move. Instead, a desperate noise slipped through my lips, and Alik smiled down at me, accepting it as my submission.
“Fuck, I love you, baby,” he whispered, closing his eyes and biting his lip, getting a kick out of my helplessness. “Your cunt’s so fucking tight… so fucking mine.”
He stilled, neck straining as he came, and he flopped on top of me. I lay disconnected and disorientated while Alik moved about the room as though nothing had happened, but I felt everything when he crawled over my battered body and slid into me once more.
It felt like the punishment never ended, and when Alik rolled to my side, spent, wrapping me in his arms, I let a tear fall, the salty drop stinging my open wounds, until I couldn’t hold on anymore and I slipped into darkness.
A slap to my face woke me. My head pounded practically blinding me and my body ached so badly that I immediately vomited to the side of the bed. I tried to move onto my back, to open my heavy eyes, but my lids wouldn’t fully function, only tiny slits of the room coming into view. I tried to move my legs but they wouldn’t work. I was trying to focus, struggling to remember what had happened, when suddenly, I was flipped over onto my front, my body screaming out at the action.
Alik hovered above me. “Wake up, baby.”
My eyes rolled trying to obey his command and my breathing wheezed through my heavily bruised throat.
“Good, Myshka, you’re learning,” he praised, his voice proud. I felt Alik push into me from behind and screamed a voiceless scream at the burning pain between my legs, the force of my cry like razor blades slicing at my throat.
Pain. All I felt was pain as I was taken again, glimpses of daylight breaking through the windows.
Daylight?
How long had I been here? Like this?
Alik pushed forward like a man possessed, his lesson for me to submit and never defy him again, not yet over. The more he thrust into me, the more I lost my vision, and as Alik bellowed my name, coming within me, he exhaled in relief and turned my head to lay a hard kiss on my lips.
I whimpered as his lips pushed against my swollen ones, and he flashed me another sweet smile before he got off the bed. I watched through aching eyes as Alik got dressed as though I wasn’t lying here in agony, unable to move… all by his hand.
Minutes later, Alik turned to me and strode forward, kneeling at my head lying askew on the mattress. He sighed and shook his head, running his fingers through my matted hair.
“You brought this on yourself, Myshka. But now you know what’ll happen if you try to fuck around on me again.” Alik’s eyes narrowed and he leaned closer and whispered in my ear, “Then again, if you do this again, I won’t ever be able to trust you, baby. So I’d just have to fucking kill you… and I’d kill myself too. Then we’d be together… always.”
My heart throbbed, and I came undone as he kissed my forehead and stood. Lifting a training bag over his shoulder, Alik looked back at me and said, “I’m gonna kill this fucker… slowly… make this bastard regret he ever fucked my woman.” He laughed, clearly amused. “He had no idea who he was fucking with, did he? They call me the butcher for a reason.”
I wanted to cry, to beg and to stop him from leaving, but I couldn’t move… could barely even cry.
“When I come back after the fight, with fresh blood on my hands, we’re gonna go to Vegas and get married, Myshka, once and for all. I’m tired of waiting.”
With that, Alik left, locking me inside this shack.
All I could do was cry and lie still until I lost the fight and submitted to the heavy pull of sleep.
Chapter Twenty
RAZE
“You’ve got this, Raze,” Viktor said as I pushed up from the ground, warming up my muscles, the fight only minutes away from being called. I’d trained all day. Blocked everything out of my mind but one thing… to kill Durov.
I could hear the roar of the crowd; it sounded bigger than on previous nights. It was the final, the ultimate fight unto the death, The Dungeon Championship.
Raze versus The Butcher.
“He has strength and experience, but so do you. He has speed and skill, but you’re more advanced. He’s unrivaled with a dagger, but you’re second-to-none with your spiked knuckledusters. He’s insane, but Raze,” Viktor stopped before me as I jumped to my feet and began sparring against the punch bag. Viktor reached out and held the bag, forcing me to look up. “But you’re here for revenge. Nothing even comes close to that as a drive.”
I grunted my agreement, my muscles firing up at his words. The only thing that would’ve made this better was Kisa. She’d said she was going to come and see me before the fight, but so far she hadn’t showed up.
“Kisa?” I asked Viktor as I pummeled the leather of the bag with my taped up fists.
Viktor shrugged and shook his head. “Not here yet. She isn’t even with Durov.”
That made me pause. Kisa was always at the gym when we trained. She was always with Durov before a fight. Where the hell could she be?
A slap to my cheek pulled me out of it and I snarled as Viktor pulled back his hand. “Focus, Raze. This is it, this is your chance. It’s life or death out there, get Kisa from your head.”
“I know,” I growled, his slap thrusting me back into a whole world of rage.
“Good,” Viktor said, “Because there’s more than just you who wants Durov gone.”
I glanced up at Viktor, his milky eyes boring into mine. “He’s made a lot of enemies, Raze. That crowd out there are like hungry wolves. You’re the first real contender Alik’s ever had. The rest he’s just played with like a fucking tiger plays with food, but with you, we all know you could be the one to kill him.” Viktor stepped forward and laid a hand on my shoulder. “You could kill the Bratva heir. There’s more than just gamblers here tonight, son. The Chinese, The Italian Mafia and Chechens want to see if the Bratva will be left vulnerable by your win.”
Confusion clouded my mind. I knew that even with Durov dead there’d still be an heir, but I couldn’t picture who?
A hammer on the door told me that it was time. It was time to take Durov down.
Rolling my neck from side to side, I loosened my shoulders and walked to the bench to pick up my knuckledusters. I slid them in place, the cold metal feeling like an extended part of me.
The roaring of the crowd grew louder, my feet rocked from side to side. I closed my eyes and visualized winning. Visualized Durov beneath me, bearing the brunt of my fatal blows. Visualized the moment that his eyes lost life and his black heart stopped.
“You ready, Raze?”
I blinked my focus back to the here and now. Viktor stood in front of me.
I nodded my head.
I was more than fucking ready to end Durov’s life. I was twelve years ready. This was twelve years overdue.
The steel door opened and I followed Viktor out into the dank, musty hallway. I could hear that the volume of the crowd had increased from previous matches, telling me how excited they were for this championship final. I could tell by the dust falling from the stoned walls of the hallway that more spectators were here than ever before, the stamping of their feet vibrating along the long hallway.
