Page 59 of Deadly Knight (The Bratva’s Elite #2)

I don’t need to watch the tape. The day churns on repeat in my mind as though it was only yesterday.

“Let’s play, boys.”

I’ll kill them all for that comment alone. Rip their eyes out for even looking at her. Slice off their hands for thinking about touching her. Burn them alive for their roles in tonight’s events.

I try to catch Katya’s attention, but she’s slipping away as surely as she needs to. I want her to look at me, but I also want her to protect herself.

She has to be saved from this horror. If not by me, then who?

When the bald fucker undoes his pants, Katya’s stare meets mine across the room. That’s smart. Protect yourself. Don’t stay present.

She has to save herself because I failed. I’ve broken the vows made to keep her safe, and deserve to watch this, to witness my own peace shattering. The moment I lose her when it goes down.

She doesn’t deserve any of this, though.

My arms tighten, hauling on the rope for the millionth useless time. Take me, take me, take me. I’ll get down on my hands and knees for them if it saves her innocence. If it saves her from his horror. They can chop me up for all I care…so long as it’s not her. Never her.

The bald asshole kneels between her legs, about to take what only I’ve had, and I fucking lose it when he readjusts her leg before sliding near the parts of her that should never be touched by anyone she doesn’t give consent to.

“Get the fuck away from her!”

Katya’s eyes clench shut.

“I will murder you!”

He thrusts inside her.

I die inside.

She screams, the sound ripping the basest parts of my soul apart.

“You’re fucking dead. Your breaths are numbered. Enjoy this moment because tonight will be the final time you breathe easy.”

I failed her. She’s hurt. I fucked up. She’ll never look at me the same.

Katya whimpers as he finishes inside her and I’ve never been more thrilled for her birth control pill that she takes religiously.

“I will gut you. Make you eat your own heart while hanging from rafters with your intestines tied around your neck. Your buddies will choke on your cock right before they meet the same fate.”

No one’s listening. I don’t even know if Katya is present. God, I hope not.

Another replaces the first and he thrusts inside, Katya’s expression twisting in pain.

I want to look away, but I don’t. I don’t deserve the peace found behind my eyelids.

Katya’s getting violated physically; it’s only right I let myself be violated visually.

It’ll never be the same, never be equal to her pain, but it’s something. I’d take it all if I could.

“Name whatever price you want. Whoever the fuck hired you, I’ll triple it. Houses, cars, boats. You name it, you have it. Get off her.”

I’m begging. Pleading. Bargaining. Papa always said never bargain with criminals because we are the authority. We’re the kings of sin and crime, but right now, I’ll be the poorest peasant and wear a crown of rusted metal on a throne of garbage if it’ll save her.

They don’t listen. One grins over at me, winks, and rubs his crotch, practically salivating as his friend violates my girl.

My girl. Katya. She needs me.

She needs so much more than me . She needs to get the fuck away from all of this, but peace of mind is the only thing I can provide.

“Katya.”

She opens her eyes.

“Eyes on me.”

I’m sorry, I tell her, because I have nothing else. What do I say to a woman getting violated in the worst way possible? What words will help? Fuck, will any?

She shuts her eyes, but I know her. She’s hiding, to save me as though I matter at all. I don’t.

“Eyes on me,” I manage in a more demanding tone.

When she reluctantly opens them, I ask, “Do you remember last summer when we were at the beach? You found a rock that was so smooth, it almost seemed fake? But what made it that smooth was its time in the ocean. The water washed away all its rough edges and imperfections.”

The man between her legs comes inside her and my brave girl does her damndest to not react, but she can’t hide how her face tightens uncomfortably.

The sight of her discomfort quells the red creeping over my vision—only so I can be the person she needs for this moment, and not a monster lost to his rage.

The third enters her, and she makes a noise to me, not him. A sound of annoyance, displeasure, of her begging me not to talk.

“Positive memories that get tarnished can be wiped off. Like the rock, we’ll make them smooth again.

And if we can’t, then we’ll create new ones.

Better ones.” My voice cracks. “But this isn’t a moment I want you to remember, so please think about that beach.

If good memories need to be sacrificed for that to happen, then I’ll easily toss them away, moya dusha . ”

My soul.

It’s the most suitable name for her. She’s my heart outside of my body. My breath outside of my lungs. My soul in corporeal form.

The third asshole finishes inside her and moves away as the fourth and final replace him. A knife catches in the dim lighting. My knife they took from me earlier.

“I want to see your pretty eyes when you take me. Look at me.”

“Svoloch'.” Bastard. More curses spew out, words I barely register speaking.

“The choice is simple. You either look at me as I fuck you, or you fuck the knife.”

Katya stiffens.

My heart stops. If that knife goes anywhere near her like that, I won’t threaten. I won’t fight.

I’ll fucking destroy. This chair, first. And then them.

After an apologetic look my way, Katya obeys, turning to face him.

He traces the knife around her face before slamming deep inside her.

“It was a pretty story your boyfriend was telling us all,” he coos. “But we can’t have you forgetting this, now can we? Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon.”

Soon isn’t fast enough.

“Fuck…fuck. Your cunt feels so damn good. So used, young one. Filled up with all our cum. How do you think your boy will like you now?”

I’ll love her still, I’ll love her always, and nothing will ever change that. Certainly nothing they do to her. She’ll always be mine. Always be perfect. Tonight hasn’t changed shit.

As long as she doesn’t believe his words.

He gets to his feet and joins his comrades. All except the one who first fucked Katya walk away, leering as they pass me. I snarl in the most animalistic way I can but say nothing, imprinting all their faces to memory. No matter where they run, there will be nowhere they can hide. Not forever.

The one I’ve taken to be the leader bends between Katya’s legs, reaching with his hand. “You look deliciously used. I’d say we did a job well done, no?”

He shoves his finger inside her and her body lurches, but doesn’t fight him. Her limbs are dead on the mattress and the side of her face tells me what I’ve known since the beginning.

She’s not present. She’s gone. Lost within her own mind.

All because of them.

He slides his fingers from her legs and traces cum across her stomach, lashing the final act onto her skin as though everything else wasn’t enough.

Then he walks away, chuckling. As he passes, he sticks the finger he had inside her into his mouth, his eyes alighting in sick pleasure. I say nothing, letting myself memorize him too. When I have him strung up and dead, then I’ll be able to tell him everything I felt in this moment.

Alone. Alone and broken. Alone without the army who promised to always back me.

I vowed to follow the Bratva in loyalty and life, but where the fuck are they when I need them most?

When she needs them most.