Page 38 of Beautiful Trauma (The Irish Rogues #5)

A fter Kellan’s limp body was thrown into the back of an SUV, I was forced to walk to a different one.

I gasped at the sight of the SUV I’d arrived in facing me with Dino slumped over the steering wheel.

My heart sank. I’d hoped he’d driven off to get help.

But he must’ve been ambushed when he came around the back.

We sped off as a fire truck screeched up to Ralph’s. Although I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in tears, I remained stone-faced. I had to keep my wits about me if I was going to help Kellan.

From time to time, Denis would turn in his seat to glance at me. I think he was unnerved by how I was acting. When he did it again, I said, “I came to your wedding.”

“I remember.”

“I made sure a gift from my family arrived when your daughter was born.”

He had the decency to wince. “I am Bratva, Mila. I have to follow orders.”

“Yes, weak men often do as they’re told.”

Denis’s expression darkened. “And sometimes Bratva women forget their honor to their families and become shlyukhas for Irish scum,” he spat.

With venom pumping in my veins, I replied, “I’ll choose to be his whore as you say until my dying breath.”

He slowly shook his head. “Your father is right to want to kill you.”

I turned my head then and looked out the window. To keep from sobbing, I bit down on the inside of my lip until a metallic rush filled my mouth. Closing my eyes, I prayed that the Nerettis would know their men had been killed, and they would alert the Kavanaugh’s.

When we got to Father’s mansion, we didn’t park in the front. Instead, they drove around to the back. When Denis opened the door, I didn’t bother fighting him. One way or the other they would be getting me out of that SUV, and I didn’t want to waste my energy.

At the sight of Kellan, I rushed forward. Two men had him by the arms, dragging him while his legs slid behind him. Just when I reached him, I was jerked back by Denis and Bogdan.

“You aren’t going where he is,” Denis said.

“Where are you taking him?”

“Your father has instructed him to be taken to the chamber.”

My heart shuddered to a stop. The chamber was a soundproof room where men and sometimes women were tortured for their crimes. Most who went in the room never came out.

“No!” I screamed as I fought against them.

As the two dragged me down the opposite hall, I kicked my legs and snapped my teeth at them like a feral animal. I couldn’t let them lock me up. If they did, there would be no one to help Kellan.

“Knock the bitch out,” Bodgan growled.

“While the boss might appreciate that, Dima would have our ass.”

I momentarily stopped kicking at the mention of Dima. “He knows that you’re detaining me?”

Bogdan gave me a cruel smile. “Yes, princess, he does. Your precious Dima is the only reason why you’re not six feet under at the moment.”

I swallowed hard. Dima had fought for me? He’d refused to let Father kill me. Although I should've been grateful, I still couldn’t help reflecting that he’d also allowed me to be imprisoned. At the same time, I reasoned it was a step. A baby step to get Dima to see that Father needed to go.

After they threw me on the narrow cot in the bleak cell, something jabbed into my back. I remembered shoving my phone down my dress when we started to evacuate. Somehow with all the fighting and kicking I’d done, it had shifted over to my back.

Hope surged through me. If I had it, I could try to call Callum.I remained motionless after they locked the cell and started down the hall.

Slowly, I rose off the cot and went over the bars.

Leaning against them, I checked to see if the hallway was empty.

When it appeared that it was, I was alone, I pulled out the phone.

To my surprise, I actually had a few bars of cell reception. I knew that there was no way of trying to search for the Kavanaugh’s numbers online. Those would be buried deep under a cyber wall. The only chance I had at getting one of them was to call Bandia.

After finding the number, I called. It rang and rang before it went to voicemail. “Dammit!” I cried.

At the beep, I said in a hushed voice, “This is Mila Korolova, and what I’m about to say is the absolute fucking truth. Kellan has been kidnapped by my family. You need to get to Philadelphia ASAP–”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” a voice demanded from the hallway.

After giving the address, I hung up. Since I didn’t want them to know who I’d called, I threw my phone against the opposite cell wall. It broke into pieces before falling to the floor.

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.”

My stomach lurched, and before I could turn away, I vomited at their feet. To my surprise, they didn’t chide me. Instead, they stood frozen with the same looks of horror etched on their faces.

After swiping my hand across my mouth, I asked the question I feared to form into words. “So what happens after the torture?”

When no one responded, my lungs clenched in agony. Unable to breathe, I staggered back. My hands came to my chest to try to pound some air into them, but it was useless.

Lev’s hands gripped the bars tightly as he pressed his face between them. “Breathe, Mila!”

I continued wheezing as the cell began spinning around me.

The logical part of my brain argued it wasn’t possible to die of a panic attack.

But the part that was defeated and broken hoped I was wrong.

I welcomed the potential death to come. If Kellan was going to be killed, there was nothing left for me here. Not after all the family betrayals.

As the floor rushed up at me, I slipped under.

Bright light enveloped me. Was I dead? Was this heaven? “Kellan?” I choked out.

“He’s still in the torture cell.”

I jerked my eyes open. At the realization I wasn’t in heaven but in the medical bay with my siblings, a sob tore from my lips.

“Why…didn’t….you…let…me…die?” I wailed.

“Because you can’t die from a panic attack,” Kira reasoned.

“Like we would let you give your life for a man you barely know,” Aleks argued.

“Fuck you,” I snarled as I swiped the tears from my cheeks.

His jaw clenched as he tore a hand through his hair. “I’m out of here. There’s no reasoning with her!”

After he stormed out, Lev and Kira remained hovering at my bedside. “Leave me,” I moaned, as I turned away from them.

“But you need us,” Lev protested.

“You betrayed me!”

His dark eyes popped wide. “I swear to God that I only told Kira.”

“And I didn’t tell anyone,” she replied. “I swear on Mama’s memory.”

“So do I.”

“Then how did Father know?”

Lev threw his hands up. “He probably had cameras in your apartment and the gallery. Maybe he had eyes on the flight logs coming into Philly and knew Kellan was in town. This is Father we’re talking about. He has infinite abilities when it comes to finding information.”

I shuddered at the thought of being watched by him and his men. “Are you cold?” Kira asked.

Before I could I could say no, she gave me a pointed look. “A little,” I lied.

With a nod, she pulled off the bulky sweater she had on. “It’s always so cold down here to me that I threw this on before I came to see you.”

Since I was still stiff from banging the bars, she helped me put it on. Glancing up at her, I murmured, “Thank you.”

When she smiled, it didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s my favorite because of the pockets.”

Sensing she was telling me something, I slowly brought my hands into the pockets. When I felt the steel of a gun in one of them, I momentarily froze. But quickly I recovered to play along. “Mm, these feel so good.”

I cleared my throat and then winced in pain. “I’d kill for a smoothie right now. My throat’s like razor blades.”

Kira turned to Lev. “Could you go upstairs and have Vera make some smoothies for Mila?”

“Why can’t you?” he huffed.

She swept her hands to her hips. “Because Mila needs a shower and I didn’t think you’d want to help her with that.”

Lev grimaced. “I’ll get the fucking smoothies.” He nodded at me. “Need anything else?”

After exchanging a look with Kira, I said, “I’m hungry, but I need something soft. Maybe Vera could make some soup?”

“Okay, I’ll bring some back.”

I gave him a genuine smile. “Thanks, Lev. You’re the best.”

Once he was out of earshot, I cocked my brows at Kira. “What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Saving your life…and Kellan’s,” she whispered back.

My heartbeat accelerated wildly in my chest. “Why?”

As she pretended to fluff my pillow, she said, “Although Dima made Father promise to spare you, Father won’t allow what he perceives as your traitor behavior. Especially if it makes him look weak in front of his men”

“Even though he wants to see me punished, Dima won’t forgive him if he actually killed me.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I heard him talking in his study when he didn’t know I was listening in. You’re going to ‘kill yourself’ when you learn of Kellan’s death.”

As I gasped, a hand flew to my mouth. “Oh God.”

“I don’t want to lose you, Mila. At least if you’re banished, I know you’re still alive.”

“You could come with me.”

She shook her head. “I can’t leave the others. Dima won’t survive losing the both of us.”

Pain ricocheted through my chest. “I hate that I have to hurt him. That I have to hurt you.”

She gave me a humorless smile. “You can’t help who you fall in love with. Maybe you and Kellan were destined to be together all along.”

I hiccuped a cry. “That’s the truly tragic part of all this. If Father wasn’t an absolute bastard, he could realize that if Kellan and I got together he would still get the alliance he originally wanted. ”

“His pride will eventually be his downfall,” Kira replied.

“It can’t come fucking soon enough.”

She nodded. “That’s why you have to get out here. You know where the chamber is, right?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“The ones who have been taking part in his torture are having dinner. It’s the best time to do this since there should only be one guard on watch.”

“And I shoot him?”

She rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Mila, where is your head? You can’t pop off a round and not have anyone come running.”

“Excuse me for not being at my best at the moment.”

“Go to the medicine closet. Get a sedative for the guard. You’ll need morphine for Kellan and probably adrenaline.”

I stared wide-eyed at her. “You’ve thought of everything.”

“I learned from the best.”

A sob tore from my throat as I pulled her against me. “I love you so much. I’m so very proud of you. Don’t let Father marry you off to anyone undeserving.” I pulled away to stare into her dark eyes. “Boston is there whenever you need it.”

She kissed my cheek. “I love you, too. And I’ll remember that.” With a pained expression, she said, “I’m going to leave first. I’ll try to keep anyone I see away from the chamber or the downstairs exits.”

“Thank you.”

“Be safe, Mila.”

“You too.”

And with those words, I watched my baby sister walk out of the room and out of my life.