Page 86 of Deadly Knight

She grimaces. “Unfortunately. The Bratva had decades of business in the skin trade. In women and motherfuckingkids. Simply being aware always disgusted me, but I couldn’t do anything about it until I became Pakhan. Suddenly,Ihad the power to make those changes, so that’s exactly what happened. Anyone in captivity went free, back to where they came from, and we opened brothels to replace the lost income. Everyone in there”—her tone turns sharp, defensive—“is a paid employee with benefits and free health care.”

“That’s admirable.”

“It was the biggest change I put into place, because Irefusedto run an organization that profited off people like that.” She pauses, her eyes flicking to mine with a hesitation, an openness, not present earlier. “I know what it’s like to be profited off of. What it’s like to be tied to a bed and forced into something I didn’t want.”

I freeze, deconstructing the meaning behind her words.

“My papa,” she explains. “He sold my virginity for financial and political gain. I had it nice, all things considered.” She snorts. “No abuse or anything like that, but I can’t say the same for the people my father and his disciples had locked up in the numerous warehouses. No one deserves to have their choices taken away.” A sad smile creeps on her face. “It was only oneversus your four, but I do relate on one level, Katya. Know you’re not alone. We all have scars—you, me, Anastasia, the people now freed. It’s how we display or hide those scars that matter.”

With her mention of scars, my fingers graze the faded ones on my forearm, the realization that since coming here, nothing has stressed me out to the point I’ve scratched myself.

Her eyes track my movements, and I twist my arm to hide them. With a small cough, she continues, “It was Anastasia’s idea for the brothels, so she’s in charge of the day-to-day operations, but I enjoy coming down once in a while and speaking to the staff. Reminding them I’m not some figurehead and that their services are appreciated. It also gives them the opportunity to bring concerns they might not want to tell Ana straight to me.”

She’s downplaying everything I witnessed today, because that wasn’t a boss visiting her employees. That was a sign of being someone with a heart in a world packed with darkness.

“Vanessa, you don’t onlytalkto them. You asked about their kids, families, recent birthdays, weekend events, pets… You remember details about their lives.”

Red trickles over her cheeks. “It’s nothing. I don’t want them to think it’s like the old days, you know?”

“From the limited bit I’ve seen over my week here, none of this is like the old days.” Dimitri used to hide me from the mansion and the monsters residing in it. This time, he left me there, knowing it’d be the safest place. That alone indicates the differences between Vanessa and her father, how things are run now versus under him.

She stares at her lap, her nail dragging over a rip in her black jeans. “Thank you. I spent years turning the Bratva into something I’m proud to lead and not being the kind of Pakhan my father was. The kind of person Ivan is, or my father’s Elite were.”

“I think you’re downplaying what you’ve done. What you continue to do.”

“Exactly like you’re downplaying how much you miss Moscow.” She lifts her head to catch my gaze, winking. “Well, if you’re actually enjoying this, we have two more brothels to visit.”

Forty-eight hours is agonizingly longwhen locked inside a prison, but I refuse to go home until making Ivan bleed.

Guards drag him from his cell to the same room I used the other day. He’s since been stripped of his usual suit and now dons the standard, prison-issued grey sweats and grey shirt. Shackled hands hang limp in front of him, his steps sluggish already. His hair has lost its gleam, the result of a lack of self-grooming.

It’s an appealing sight, but not one good enough yet. Not nearly good enough.

“Syn,”he greets without looking my way, his throat dry and dehydrated.

“You should give up on the title, Ivan. If you haven’t realized, me tossing you in here breaks anything familial once between us.”

“Ahh”—he drags out the word—“too bad it doesn’t work like that.” He treads to the far wall, his feet scraping against the stone floor. “Why this meeting?”

“This isn’t a meeting.” Lifting my boot, I snatch the knife tucked inside, twirling it in my hand until the blade catches the light from the hanging bulb. “This is vengeance. Simple and bloody. Don’t worry, you won’t be dying yet. You haveyearsahead to go.”

I bear down on him.

Once he’s dragged away,his face a broken mess, I instruct the medics to inject him with pain meds to keep him going a bit longer.

For now, the monster demanding blood and vengeance is temporarily satisfied. We’re far from being full, but I couldn’t keep going and risk accidentally killing him.

From the first punch, Katya’s face is all I saw in my mind.

Her tears when she was tied to that disgusting mattress.

Her cries when she begged me to save her.

Her soul when it was wrecked before my very eyes.

All like it only happened yesterday.

Icouldn’tshow mercy, but fuck, I managed to, only so I can do it all again.