“Promise me that she never goes back to them.” I look him straight in the eyes. I need to know he’ll take her if Abram takes me down before I can get her to safety.
“You have my word.” Vince puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
Ava
“It’s gonna be alright, baby. I promise you.” I straighten my shirt and then look back into the mirror. It’s only been three days with Kane, but the change is so significant. I’m no longer in a raggedy and soiled dress with shackles around my wrists, and a metal collar digging into my neck.
I reach up and touch the small bandage peeking out from underneath the thin leather collar. The nasty cut it's covering has almost healed, but not quite. My fingers travel along my collarbone. I can still see the bones sticking out just beneath it, but not nearly as much as before. My skin looks more vibrant now that I’ve slept.
I’m not the person I was before this nightmare began, but I’m healing. Slowly. My eyes spot the silvery scar of his bite mark on my shoulder. Some things will never heal.
My eyes catch sight of Kane in the mirror, and all the anxiety rising in the pit of my stomach settles. He did this to me. But we’re getting ready to leave. I’ll either leave with him, or I’m going to die. I won’t let them take me back. Today is my chance. I won’t risk not taking it. My fingers rest on the butt of the gun under my shirt. You can’t even see it there because of the way the blouse hangs.
“Stop thinking about it. I’m sure you won’t even need it.” He has no idea. I know he’ll be angry with me. He doesn’t want me to do anything but hide behind him. I can’t tell him what I have planned. I nod my head and act like I’ll obey. But I have every intention of putting a bullet in Vadik’s head.
After I kill Vadik though, I may not be Kane's good girl anymore. The thought makes my heart clench with agony. He may be angry with me. Even worse, he may not want me anymore.
“Just one more time, Kane. Please.” I need this. I need to feel him once more. It may be the last time I ever feel his touch. I hope we live through this. But if we don’t, I just want one more time with him.
He walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He pulls my body into his, and I can feel his erection digging into my back. I want to drop to my knees in front of him. I want to please him. I want him to know I can still be his good girl.
“I do want you again baby, but we have to go.” His full, plump lips leave an open-mouth kiss on my neck. I close my eyes, loving his warmth. And then it’s gone. He takes my hand in his.
“We need to go.” I want to resist. I want to tell him no. I don’t want to go. But this needs to happen. I need to end this nightmare one way or another.
I nod my head and swallow thickly.
“It’s gonna be alright,” he whispers, and kisses my forehead. “Just stay behind me, stay close.”
I look him directly in the eyes and lie, even though it hurts me. “I will, Kane.” I stop myself before more words tumble out. Three words that seem so natural to say. My heart twists and aches. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t tell him the truth just now, or because I really do love him.
The sound of our shoes and the blood rushing in my ears are all I hear as I walk next to Kane on his right side, slightly behind him. A lump grows in my throat, but I do what I’ve done to survive since this nightmare began. I hide away. I bury myself deep down, and pretend it’s not real. The pain goes away, and all the noise vanishes. My heart calms. This is all just pretend.
Kane grips my hands and I obediently respond as I know he’d like me to. I squeeze back. And then he releases me. My heart thumps painfully in my chest as he opens the door to the large warehouse. It groans and reveals the location of what I imagine will be my death. I’ve resigned myself to that fate. I can only hope that he dies first.
Everyone is already inside. A natural division separates two groups of men. I don’t count the numbers, but it seems relatively even. On the left are Petrov’s men. I recognize most of their faces. Shame overwhelms me as memories flash before my eyes. Their sick, twisted smiles, their stale breath in my face. Their hands on me. And then that shame is replaced by rage. My fingers itch to touch the gun. But drawing attention to it would be useless.
It’s relatively quiet, save for the soft laughter from Petrov’s lips over something one of the men behind him said. There are a few other laughs that echo in the large storage room of the hall.
“Are all of them there?” Abram calls out from behind him to someone else entering the large space. The walls are made from drab cinder blocks, and the ceiling is at least two stories high. I don’t look around more than that though, I keep my head forward and my eyes on the floor.
We walk closer, keeping between the two groups of men. I’m closer to the right side, where the Valettis are, and doing my best to stay close to Kane like he told me to.
“Yeah, all nine of them,” someone calls out to my left. I can see Vince out of the corner of my eye. He’s talking to someone I’ve seen before in a low voice, but his body is positioned toward the rest of the men.
“Good,” a deep Russian voice says. I know it instantly. My eyes whip up to find Vadik, standing directly next to Abram. He always is. He likes to pretend Abram’s the one making the moves. But I know better. I’ve seen the way Vadik orders him around when I’m chained to the floor, being as still as possible so they forget I exist.
This is my chance. I don’t waste a second. The moment I see him, my hand is on the gun. I know Kane told me to stand behind him, but I can’t. I have to do this. I have to free myself of him.
“Fuck!” I hear Vince call out to my right just as I grip the gun and point it at Abram. One shot. Bang! I don’t waste any time I move the gun slightly as Vadik tries to grab Abram to shield himself.
Bang! The second shot grazes Vadik's arm, and other shots and screams ring out. I hit the arm he had wrapped around Abram. Abram’s limp body falls to the floor as two shots from someone else hit his chest.
Bang! Bullets whip past me, but I get off my shot and hit Abram in the chest as he aims his gun at me. Bang! A bullet skims past my thigh, slicing it. Maybe worse, but I don’t look. I don’t care. I’m prepared to die.
I run past Kane as he yells out for me to stay behind him. “No!” he screams, but his voice sounds distant. I’m faster than him, though. Both his hands are on his gun when he yells as I pass him, but he quickly reaches out a hand for me. He nearly grabs hold of my shirt to pull me back. But he misses. Bang! Bang! The bullets fly through the air as I get closer to my target.
I see everything in a blur. And then I only see him. He’s gripping his arm on the ground and reaching for a gun nearly two feet away from him. Bang!
His body jolts and he screams out as his hand flies to his chest. Bang! A bullet flies through the center of his throat. Bang! A headshot, and he lies motionless on the ground.
I fire again, but there’s no bang. Only a click. I watch as blood flows from the neat hole in his throat. It spills onto the concrete and pools around his neck. Again I pull the trigger. And again there’s only a click. Again. Again. Tears sting at the back of my eyes.