11
VIKTOR
Igrit my teeth as the men stride forwards, only their eyes visible under the balaclavas and tactical gear they’re wearing. They grab all of us roughly, and everything in me screams to fight back. I can see Levin’s face go hard, his muscles tensing as he looks at me with an expression that says clearly,what do you want me to do, boss?
I want him to fight back.Iwant to fight back. I don’t want these sons of bitches touching me or any man or woman in my house. I want to rip Alexei to shreds, peel his skin from his bones while he watches for daring to step foot in my home or allow his men to touch my wife and children. But fighting will mean injury or death for the women and children I’m responsible for. And that thought hits me like a ton of bricks, Caterina’s voice echoing through my head.
You were responsible for them the moment you brought them here. It’s your fault—
My fault. My fault. A high-pitched scream whips my head around, and I see another of Alexei’s men manhandling Sasha down the stairs.
“I’m sorry!” she gasps out as she sees me, her face paling as she catches sight of the man holding Yelena. “I tried to stop him, I’m so sorry, he took her, and I couldn’t—”
I’m not entirely sure why it’s that, of everything, that makes it click for me at last—everything that Caterina has said to me. But the sight of Sasha, beaten for trying to save my daughter, slides some final piece into place. I feel a wave of cold, sick guilt that I’ve only ever felt hints of before as if some barrier in my mind and in my soul has been broken down at last.
This girl that I had abducted, held in a warehouse to be sold, this girl who had her virginity stolen by one of my own men, this girl who was then given a place in my home or being turned out on her own as options, risked herself to save my daughter. And all it brought her was more pain.
In Alexei’s hands, she won’t fare any better, either.
I look at Caterina, and I can see the same thoughts on her face. Her eyes meet mine, and there’s a sad resignation there. She’s not fighting any longer, just standing there, the man’s arm wrapped around her throat as she watches Sasha being dragged down the stairs.
I’m sorry,I want to say.I understand.But it’s too late.
“Sasha—” Max calls out, his face pale as he twists in the hands of the man holding him, but all it gets him is a fist to the jaw, his head snapping around and a deep groan coming from his lips as he sags forwards. Alexei’s men are hustling us towards the living room, the women and children behind us. There’s more of his men in there already, Olga and the other staff in a huddle surrounded by soldiers.
“Get them over there.” Alexei motions to one side of the room. “All the women and the kids. I want their men to see this. Get the men lined up.” He jerks his head, and his soldiers start to manhandle us into place, putting us in a line in front of one of the couches. Levin next to me, Luca, Liam, and Max, who is wobbling slightly, his mouth bleeding.
Caterina starts to fight again as one of the men drops Ana like a sack of potatoes to the floor, leaving her there in a heap as she groans. “The fuck is wrong with that one?” Alexei asks, narrowing his eyes.
“She’s injured, you piece of shit!” Sofia snaps, lunging forwards. “Her feet—”
One of the men holding her slaps her in the face, hard. “Shut your mouth and speak with respect, bitch,” he snarls. Luca nearly comes undone, twisting so viciously against the grip of the men holding him that he gets one arm free, swinging at the nearest one.
It takes two men to restrain him, one delivering a punch to the gut that makes him double over before Luca stops struggling. He glares at me, spitting mad as he curses in Italian at the man who punched him.
“Are you just going to stand there and take this?” Luca is breathing heavily, turning his head to look at Sofia, who has gone pale as death. When she starts to step forward, and one of the men twists her arm, Luca makes a noise that’s almost animalistic.
“She’s pregnant, you piece ofmerda!” he snaps, and I groan, shaking my head as Alexei looks at him with interest.
“For fuck’s sake, Luca, shut up,” I hiss. “You’re going to make it worse.”
“At least I’ll fucking fight!” Luca is looking at Alexei with the kind of hatred I’ve rarely seen in a man’s face.
“They have my children,” I growl under my breath. “Fighting won’t get us out of this. Keep your cool, Luca.”
“He’s right,” Liam says tightly, his gaze fixed on Ana. “I hate it as much as you do, lad, but he’s fucking right.” He turns his gaze to Alexei, calm despite the flashing in his green eyes. “What do you want, ya wee shite? You’ve already taken half of Viktor’s business. And I know, I know, you’ve got designs on all of the Northeast, but think with your head, man. Not one man can hold all that. Even my father knew enough to try to make alliances.”
Alexei smirks. “Your father was as stupid as you are, then. One man can rule anything if he’s feared enough.”
“Fear will only get you so far.” My voice stays steady, despite the anger shuddering through me. Yelena has fallen to the floor, curled into a ball, the man watching her looming over her. As I look squarely at Alexei, I see the man drop Anika none too gently next to her sister. It’s all I can do not to fly into the same rage that Luca did, seeing Anika jerk with pain and her sister gasp, reaching out for her. Caterina twists in the grasp of the man holding her again, trying desperately to get to the girls, but he’s holding her too tightly.
“Fear will get me far enough.” Alexei’s mouth curls upwards in that cruel smile again. “You see, Viktor, your problem was that pesky moral code of yours. You traffic in sex, sell women, profit off modern slavery. Still, you think you’re above others because you kill discriminately, refuse to rape, rarely torture. You think that you rule because you have respect, but in truth, you are nothing but a bear with no claws. An old grizzly whose teeth have fallen out. And I’m here to tell you that fear will get you farther than respect, farther than a moral code. You see, Viktor—” he balances his pistol in one hand, his gaze sliding over the gathered group, and my heart stutters in my chest.
“The difference is that your men knew exactly how far you could be pushed,” Alexei continues. “One of them dared torapea woman in your warehouse, steal her virginity because he believed that you would deal with him mercifully.”
“I killed him, if you recall,” I reply through gritted teeth. “I wouldn’t call that merciful.”
“Indeed.” Alexei considers. “A bullet to the head. A kinder death than I would give a man who stole from me. But you see, my men fear me to the point that it would never happen in the first place. Do you know what I did to the men back home who failed to join my side?”