Page 108 of The Mafia and His Obsession: Part 1 (Tainted Hearts 4)

I stayed silent, only because I didn’t know what to say.

A slave. A motherfucking slave. Another innocent soul. Fuck!

“When Valentin started to notice how close we were, he took her away. He ripped her away by the hair and dragged her out…” Valerie stopped with a choked sob. Pressing a hand over her lips, she tried to keep it in as she continued to speak. “I don’t know…if she is okay. I don’t know…if she is alive. She didn’t deserve this, Viktor. She didn’t deserve to be used. By anyone. She deserved to be free. Happy and loved.”

I held Valerie tighter and pinched my eyes closed.

She didn’t deserve this, Viktor. She deserved so much love and happiness. She didn’t deserve to be used. By anyone.

How many more lives would be destroyed? How fucking unfair would this world continue to be?

“Wherever she is now, I hope she’s okay. Valentin used to do all kind of things to her. Sometimes he would spend more time with her, and I was left alone for days—sometimes weeks. But after he took her away, he started to visit me more. At first, I was worried and thought she was dead. But I hope…I hope she is okay.”

Valerie’s words snapped me out of my thoughts. I stared down at her, and she looked so sad…so lost…so fucking broken. I hated it.

Our eyes met, and she sighed. “Valentin hasn’t come for me in weeks. I wonder who he’s hurting now…who is bearing all his painful, depraved marks. I just hope it’s not her. I hope she is far, far away from him. From this cruel world.”

I cupped her cheeks and swiped away her tears. “I hope so too, baby.”

Just like I am going to take you far, far away from him.

“You would have liked her,” Valerie said. She finally gave me the smallest smile. Something so precious—I wanted to memorize it.

“What’s her name?” I asked, still lost in Valerie.

“Irina.”

Irina.

Irina.

Irina.

Why did that name sound so familiar?

I had heard it somewhere, yet I couldn’t…

Irina.

That name…

When realization finally dawned, my stomach rolled, and I fought the urge the throw up. My lungs squeezed until I was breathless.

I heard Valerie’s voice. “Viktor, are you all right? What’s wrong?”

It sounded far away. I felt heavy; all of me was sinking. Everything was drowned by the tidal waves of nothingness. Except the Devil’s laughter. That I heard, clear and loud. He had been gone for so long. I thought I had finally escaped his taunting, but there he was again. His reappearance made me clench my eyes closed.

The devil on my shoulder mocked me. He reveled in my suffering.

His tongue slithered out, and he hissed in my ears. You fucked up yet again, Viktor. I knew you would. And now…now you have to face the consequences.

Fuck.

Irina’s words echoed in my head.

I also hope you find a good woman. One who will not make you so heartless anymore. A woman who will actually teach you to be good and how to show compassion.

Valerie called out to me again. I couldn’t respond. The devil continued to laugh. I wished he would choke, but instead, he stayed perched on my shoulders, crossing his legs, watching the drama unfold. My life was his favorite fucking soap opera.

The name whispered through my head again.

Irina.

Fuck my life.

THE END