CHARLOTTE

Song- Hospital for Souls, Bring me the Horizon.

I shove the last black swimsuit in my duffle bag. Drago told me I’d have a few days to relax while we wait for intel.

I’ll take it. My body is exhausted. I know I’m damn good at my job, but he has plenty of men trained to kill. Yet, I seem to be the one constantly hunting.

No, they probably aren’t as skilled as me. But if they worked harder, they could be.

I dedicated my life to martial arts. And now he’s molded me into a killing machine.

Taking the life of another is the only thing keeping my own heart beating.

And the more jobs I take, the less time I have to spend with Vlad.

I freeze as I zip shut the bag. That’s how I know he’s in the doorway. My body alerts me to danger. It goes into protection mode.

I turn to face him, his gaze locking with mine across the dimly lit room, a strange silence filling the space between us.

Six feet tall, his dark hair cut short, and a long, thin scar sliced across his left eye. A pale line against his tanned skin. To most women, he’s probably attractive. But it’s what lies behind his eyes that gives the real version away.

There is a dark evil that lies beneath them.

Tatiana might be the head of this family, but the awful shit they do, that’s all this man. The puppet master and he controls us all.

“How dangerous is he? This Enzo guy.” I ask.

Vlad swipes his thumb across his lip. His eyebrow with the slit twitches. That’s how I sense his fear.

“Dangerous to you? Probably not unless you are caught. It’s not what he can do, it’s what he knows.”

Jesus fucking Christ, the riddles of this family.

I pinch the bridge of my nose to try to reduce my annoyance. I know what happens to me when I have an attitude. And I don’t want that.

“What does he know?”

With a careless shrug, he dismisses the comment, the sound of his jacket rustling faintly.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out, malyshka. We stole something he wants back. We have to ensure he never finds out it’s here.”

“So what am I asking? What do you have?”

My head shakes involuntarily as I try to make sense of the situation.

“It’s better for interrogation purposes that you don’t know.”

Fuck, I want to punch him in the throat.

He’s probably making the right call. I’d throw my “husband dearest” under the bus to save myself.

Vlad knows I’ll never love him. I make that damn clear every day.

The second I have an opening to escape, I will make time to shove his wedding ring down his throat.

“Okay. Fine. Got it. So find out who Enzo is meeting, intercept them, interrogate, and then kill them.”

Another flower to add to my forearm. That makes me smile, but not in front of him. He doesn’t deserve to see that. He never has and he never will.

“Correct. Then report straight back to Misha with the information. Should be easy for you. You should thank me, actually, for this vacation.”

I choke on a cough. A vacation.

“It’s work, not a holiday.”

He steps forward and my stomach sinks as I watch that darkness take over his eyes.

His rough fingers dig into my cheeks, his stale, smoky breath is hot on my face as he hauls me off of my feet.

“Get on your fucking knees, malyshka, and thank your husband for keeping you alive. Thank him for giving you a purpose in this world. And when I shove my cock in that tight pussy, that is you thanking me for this vacation.”

The reason it’s tight is that it’s so damn dry because I hate him and every time he touches me.

I hiss out a breath as he throws my back against the wall and he grabs my throat so hard my lungs burn.

“What do you say?”

Bile rises into my throat.

“Y-yes. Sir.”

I know when to pick my arguments. Now is not the time to, not when I’m unarmed, on my own, and vulnerable.

Not when with one call he can kill my father.

He shoves me down to my knees and I look away.

I’d rather he cut me up than do this to me. Every time it tears away parts of me and replaces it with evil.

I am the evil that he created. Exactly how he wanted, so he could use me to build his empire.

The woman in the shadows everyone is afraid of. The woman who rips out hearts.

When actually, I’m just a woman fighting to save herself.

I wasn’t born evil.

I was molded, shaped, and twisted into this monstrous form.

And one day, I’ll use every ounce of pain he’s inflicted on me to destroy him.

We will both burn in the fires of hell for our sins, but I will make sure he suffers the flames before me.

It’s just a waiting game.

As he rips open his pants, I recite that line in my head to get me through this.

One day, it will all be over.

He can’t break me.

I won’t let him.

My husband. My abuser. The only way I’m leaving this earth is by taking him with me.