Page 120 of Beautiful Trauma

The door to my cell flung open. I cowered back on my cot as a guard I’d never seen before stomped over to where my phone was. “How the hell did you get this in here?”

“T-They forgot to t-take it,” I stammered.

“Idiots,” he muttered under his breath. Once he realized the phone was useless, he grabbed up the biggest pieces and stalked out of the cell.

At the sound of a voice at the top of the hallway, I scrambled off the cot. With the door open, I sprinted around the guard and started running down the hall.

Two guards stood on either side of Dima’s wheelchair. When they raised their guns, he snarled, “Put those away.”

When I reached him, I sank to my knees. “Please help me, Dima.”

“I know you can’t understand it, but this is necessary. You have to accept punishment for what you’ve done.”

I shook my head at him. “I love him. I want to be with him.”

“And that is betrayal.”

Tears flooded my eyes. “Where is the Dima I loved?”

“That man is gone.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth.” Turning to the guards at his side, Dima said, “Take her back to the cell.”

Icy fear crashed over me. “Please don’t do this! I love you, Dima. You’ve always been my hero. Don’t do this!”

“Take her!” he commanded.

As the guards grabbed me by the arms, I screamed, “You’re spitting and trampling over Mama’s memory, you bastard! You know she wouldn’t want this for me! Or for you!”

Dima’s jaw ticked as he refused to look at me. After escorting me back to the cell, I could still hear him talking at the top of the hallway.

I banged my hands and arms against the bars. “LET ME OUT!”

Over and over, I screamed until I became hoarse. When I couldn’t use my voice, I continued beating them until my battered skin cracked, and blood began to wet the metal.

Defeated, I slid down onto the floor. Silent cries erupted from my throat as I rolled into a fetal position. I don’t know how long I remained like that.

I finally pulled myself to my feet and dragged myself over to the bed. Once I collapsed onto the hard mattress, I fell into a haunted sleep.

I don’t know how long I slept. When I woke up, silence echoed around me. I lay there staring up at the bleak ceiling. Kellan’s face flickered in my mind, sending tears streaming down my cheeks. And when Dima’s face followed Kellan’s, I sobbed harder.

At the sound of someone coming down the hall, I rose up on my cot. When Aleks and Lev came into my view, I leapt off the mattress and ran over to them. They both recoiled at the sight of me.

Aleks motioned to my bloody hands and arms. “Did Father’s men do that?”

“No. I did.”

“Christ, Mila,” Lev muttered while Aleks shook his head.

“Where is he?”

“You don’t even care about what’s happening to you?”

I manically shook my head. “Where is Kellan?”

Aleks grunted while Lev gave me a forlorn look. “The torture cell.”