I feel myself falling, it’s as though I no longer have control over my body. My eyes close and that’s it, lights out.
* * *
I wake up to voices and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. The angry baritone growl from Nikolai has me trying to sit up. I realize that I’m in an office, lying on a leather couch. I have no idea where I am but hearing Nikolai’s voice reassures me. My head’s still spinning with dizziness, and I feel as though I’m going to throw up as I sit back against the couch.
I watch on as Nikolai beats the man into a bloody pulp. The sounds of grunting and groaning fill the room. It takes me a few minutes to realize what has happened. I notice the man Nikolai is hurting is the same man that wouldn’t take no for an answer. My mind is still fuzzy but I know deep inside there’s something seriously wrong. I have a feeling that I was slipped a drug.
“What did you plan to do to her?” Nikolai grunts as he slams his fist into the man’s ribs.
“Look, had I known she was yours, I wouldn’t have touched her,” the asshole says as though it makes any difference.
“Viktor,” Nikolai snarls, seemingly knowing the man. “This is the last time I ask. What had you planned on doing to her?”
“We were going to have a good time.”
It suddenly clicks, he was the one that drugged me. He was watching as the cowboy came over to me. He had been watching me all night.
“He drugged me,” I announce to the room, my voice hoarse, like I’ve been screaming for the past hour or so.
The angry snarl from Nikolai is unlike anything that I have heard before. “You drugged my woman?” The punch he throws is into the man’s jaw. “You were going to rape her?”
There’s no answer from Viktor, but Nikolai doesn’t care, he’s not letting up. I’m not stupid enough to make him stop. He’s right had Viktor been successful, he would have raped me and there would have been nothing that I could have done about it with the drugs in my system.
The beating Viktor takes is horrendous, he releases a low groan and I know that it’ll not be much longer until he takes his last breath.
“I made you a promise, Viktor, I promised you’d die for putting your hands on her. I never renege on a promise. You’ll burn for touching her.”
I’m unable to take my eyes off the scene in front of me. Nikolai has made a statement tonight, there’ll not be a man in the Bratva here in Texas that won’t know that he’s claimed me.
Nikolai’s punches become ferocious. He doesn’t let up, punch after punch into Viktor’s face until it caves in. He’s tied to a chair, unmoving, his features unrecognizable and I know that he’ll be burnt tonight by someone else. Ensuring that his remains will never be found.
Nikolai turns to me, his face and clothing drenched in blood. I should be horrified by what’s happened here—that’s what a normal woman would be—but I’m not. I’ve seen death a hell of a lot and I embrace it with open arms.
“Malenkaya, are you okay?” he questions as he moves toward me, his bloodied hand reaching out and he runs a tattooed finger down my cheek.
I nod. “I’m okay,” I whisper, unsure of what really happens from here.
“Then, dorogaya, let me take you home.” His voice gentle and filled with concern.
“Okay,” I reply just as gently.
He smiles at me and I swear my heart melts. This man has proven more than once that I’m what he wants. The question is, do I take the leap and hold on or do I walk away?