Page 149 of Fallen Empire

One of the men turned his head toward me, a slow, knowing smirk spreading across his face.

Savannah’s head lifted just enough for her voice to tremble out. “Millie. You’re alive.”

“Yes, I—”

A hand shot around the front of my throat, crushing my airway as it yanked me backward into a solid wall of muscle.

“Good hit,” Aleksei’s voice rasped against my ear. “Probably broke my fucking nose. What’s the term they say? An eye for an eye?”

Before I could respond, he whipped me around. His fist slammed into my face with bone-cracking force. Pain exploded through my skull, my vision going white at the edges as warm liquid poured from my nostrils.

I stumbled, the ground tilting beneath me, but couldn’t find my balance. My body hit the concrete with a sick thud, theback of my head smacking hard enough to send another wave of darkness crawling in.

The room tilted, spinning in jagged circles, and I blinked hard to keep from blacking out.

Aleksei’s shadow loomed over me, his voice almost light. “Tie her up next to her friend. Double the pleasure, double the fun.” The gut wrenching smile that spread across his face made me want to shove my palm into it all over again.

I hated the sound of his voice, and I was sick of his fucking games. Everything out of his mouth was some kind of twisted performance.

It wasn’t about sex. I knew that instantly. His pleasure didn’t come from sliding himself into something until he got off—unless it was someone a fraction of his age. He’d already made that sick, demented truth known.

No, Aleksei’s real high came from watching someone bleed out. From seeing the moment their soul slipped loose, only to drag it back with just enough life for another round. He liked to take you to the edge of darkness and stop—just long enough for hope to spark—before crushing it all over again.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Savannah stir, her body shifting as if she meant to get up. She didn’t make it far. Her arms were bound tight behind her, and I was certain the damage to her thigh wasn’t helping.

Her eyes found mine. I gave the smallest nod, just enough for her to notice.

And that’s when I saw it.

Savannah was back.

Her body might have been broken, but her eyes… her eyes were seething. With hatred. With malice. And with something far more dangerous.

Determination.

One of the men pushed away from the table and started toward me.

Years ago, just after high school, Jaxson had taught me how to defend myself. He’d drilled me until muscle memory took over, until I could block, strike, and disarm without thinking. I hadn’t needed it in years, but the second that man moved, it all came rushing back.

I tracked his approach, studying every detail. His movements were a little slow, and a little too confident. Like he thought I’d already given up. My gaze swept down his body, searching for an opening.

There. A pistol at his hip.

Lower… there it was again—another gun, strapped to his ankle. Oddly enough, the holster was on theoutsideof his pants. As if he didn’t care who saw it. As if no one he pointed it at ever lived long enough to tell anyone it was there.

I waited, adrenaline flooding my veins, until he bent down to grab me. The second his hand clamped onto the top of my head, I moved.

In one motion, I ripped the gun from his ankle holster and swung it up. One deafening shot cracked through the room. His hand jerked from my hair as blood sprayed from his neck, and his massive body collapsed onto mine.

I didn’t have time to push him off. I aimed past him—one shot. A man at the table slumped sideways, blood blooming across his temple. Another shot. Then another. Each target dropped with precision until all four men behind Savannah lay motionless. If they weren’t already gone, they would be soon.

Four clean headshots.

And then—cold steel pressed against my temple.

“Nice shots,” Aleksei murmured, his tone holding something that sounded dangerously like pride. “But ending youwith a bullet? That would be a waste. Quick deaths are for men with no imagination. And I prefer to take my time.”

Heavy boots pounded against the floor. More men flooded in, their movements frenzied. Four, five… six of them piling into the room, weapons drawn, eyes darting between me, Aleksei, and the bodies on the floor.