My fists connected with their faces and abdomens, but they gained on me, kneeing me in the stomach, and forcing me towards a table. I was already severely wounded, and weak, so they managed to get me in a hold.
With a switchblade, they tore my dress and exposed me to the draft in the grey room.
The one with the chain attached to my collar yanked at it violently, trying to force me on the table.
It was a long battle, but they strapped me down on the cold surface of the table, and I was writhing, tugging at the binds.
“My goodness,” Maxim's disgusting voice echoed into the room. He was standing by the door. “It was like trying to give a bath to a wild cat. I mean, darling Katya, look at what you did to my men.”
I didn't bother with a retort. Instead, I calmed down, stayed still, and tried to gather my strength.
There was this feeling that I would need it for whatever Maxim had planned for me.
The men propped the table up, so I wasn't lying down anymore and was instead forced to get a better view of the ugly room and Maxim.
“No smart words for me Katya? You'll wound my delicate heart. I've always thought you were… fierier…disappointing.”
Before I could even process anything, a needle was buried into my neck.
Then, they set up cameras and tools, arranging different torture weapons on a smaller stand close to where I was propped while the room swam.
“I promised Alessandro a much better episode in this series, as a man of my word, I intend to fulfill it.”
Then he rained punches on me. My jaw, my chest, my stomach. Everywhere. It was as if whatever they had injected me with heightened the pain, or maybe it was because he was mercilessly assaulting old wounds too.
I was out of breath when he took a break, my head hanging as I tried to bring air back into my lungs.
“You know,” as he spoke, I heard the distinct ringing of steel clinking against each other—the tools on the stand. “I think I really wanted to be a doctor when I was a child. That was, of course, before I found my true calling, and maybe also before I realized I didn't have enough of a brain to be a doctor.”
He came to stand in front of me again, stroking my hair. “Wow, even in a piss cell, your hair still manages its glamour, eh?” Then he dug his fingers in and held my head up. He had a scalpel in his other hand. “How about we play doctor? To help me relive an old dream.”
Then, there was a shattering explosion.
Chapter 29 - Alessandro
Dom was a force of nature, something to be reckoned with. With a talent for causing chaos, he had been the natural fit for his position in the family.
The go-to guy for anything related to knives, guns, bombs, or just plainly killing.
How he’d gotten Maxim’s mansion rigged so quickly was impressive. He knew exactly where to place his premade explosions for maximum effect.
The explosion created the perfect environment for us to invade, raining bullets on everybody on the property.
The explosion told Maxim his life was ticking down to its final seconds.
The mansion was the perfect environment for revenge. People shouting, to retreat, for mercy, shots firing simultaneously. I walked through it all, heading for rooms with closed doors, looking for Katya.
Carmina Farci, our for-hire assassin, appeared beside me as if by magic. Smiling with her mischievous bright hazel eyes.
“The universe has literally delivered this guy right into your hands, no?” I jogged up the stair to the second floor, and she followed me, gesturing at the violence everywhere. Bullets flying, bodies dropping, weapons clashing. Somewhere close by, we heard Dom laugh maniacally, followed by a loudly shouted prayer. “See? Dom’s always having a good time, and even he is having the best time of his life right now.”
My gun, the same one I’d used in Paulina’s apartment, was silent, loaded, and in my grip. I raised and fired at anybody who tried to interfere with my search as I walked briskly through the mansion, searching for Katya.
A spectacularly foolish man jumped out from a corner with a knife. I caught the hand holding knife without even paying attention and shot a bullet into his forehead, letting him slump to the ground after letting him go.
“I’m trying to find my wife, Carmina, preferably before I lose my damn mind.”
Carmina laughed, skillfully stepping to the side just as somebody using an opened door for cover started to shoot. He only managed to shoot once before he fell, bleeding from the wounds to his heart and head. She had her double guns out.