Pretty Little Sins (Kings of Bolten 2)

I shifted to rise from my chair, ready to kill some motherfuckers. But a fist caught me in the face, sending me toppling backward. Arms laced around mine, holding me back as I struggled to clear the room of all the fucking monsters in it.

“Relax. She doesn’t have to die,” Father said calmly as if we were discussing the weather.

Bianca stared back at me with terror in her eyes. And she should be scared. She was in a den of vipers with no escape.

Father snapped his fingers. One of the guards went to the door and opened it. A man entered, holding a struggling Natalia. I stared at her, sickness washing through my guts.

The guard threw her roughly to the floor in front of me. She stared up at me, tears staining her pretty face, the sleeve of her blue cotton dress falling off her shoulder.

“What’s this?” I demanded, trying to jerk away from the assholes behind me. I made a mental note of who they were—Darwin Adams and Malcom Sims. When I took over, I’d fucking kill them. Or maybe I’d do it tonight. It depended on a few factors, but I’d make a fucking effort.

“This is your little friend. Natalia, isn’t it, love?” My father looked down at a sobbing Natalia and grinned. “I figured since you care about her so much this next part would be easy for you.”

I watched as Father tilted Bianca’s chin up. “Let me have your wife. Same terms as before. You can walk away when we’re done.”

“What’s the other option?” I snarled.

“You fuck the Vasiliev girl, who you care about so much, in front of us all. We’ll do a little reversal in our tradition.”

“You fucking monster!” I shouted, losing my cool on him and jerking hard against the assholes who held me in my chair.

They could barely hold onto me. One clubbed me in the back of the head with the butt of his gun, making my ears ring. I stopped struggling as my vision blurred. It was still long enough for them to adjust their holds on me.

Father clicked his tongue at me. “It’s not a difficult job. You went out on a limb to keep the Vasiliev whore safe. You’ve visited her. You promised me we’d use her… but we haven’t. I figured tonight she could finally be of some use to us.”

“I’m not doing it.”

He nodded, lacing his fingers together. “I thought you’d say that too,” Father said, giving Bianca a fond look. “But here’s the catch. You either fuck the Vasiliev whore, or I kill your pretty, little wife. The one you claim to not love or care about. It should be OK since you lack any emotional attachment to her, right? When her heart stops beating, I’ll fuck her dead body just so you can remember who the fuck is really in charge around here.”

I shook, glaring at the man who created me, hating him with every ounce of my being.

“What happens if I do it?” I asked after a tense moment, unable to look at Bianca as I said the bitter words.

“Then you get to take your wife home.”

“And Natalia?”

“Still safe. At least for now.”

I chanced a glance at Bianca, fear clinging to my heart. She stared back at me with wild eyes, her lips parted. Both options would hurt her, wreck her. I had to choose the lesser of two evils. It was her or me. I’d never let it be her.

She must have known my decision because she let out a wail that broke my fucking heart.

“I’ll do it. Natalia. For my wife’s safety.”

A sinister smile spread over my father’s face as Natalia cried softly. I knew what happened the last time a woman was forced to her knees in front of me. I wouldn’t let it happen again. I’d made a promise to Fallon that I’d keep his sister safe. There was a catch to everything though.

“Get to work or both whores will die,” Father said, fisting Bianca’s hair and jerking her head back.

I snarled as he forced her to remain kneeling in front of him with his gun pointed at her head. She sobbed softly as he gripped her hair.

“If you fuck up, she dies. I won’t hesitate,” Father said in a deadly whisper. He nodded to his men who released me.

I shook as I stared at Bianca. The pain and misery on her face ground the shattered pieces of my heart into dust. I wasn’t sure how I’d come back from this, how we’d come back from this. She’d have to watch me fuck another woman. And not just any woman. Fallon’s sister. I’d promised to keep Bianca safe. Any other circumstances, and I would’ve fucked like a king to save my wife without giving a shit who was watching. But it was her—my fucking wasp—watching me with heartbreak in her gaze.

Where the fuck was a lord when you needed him?

Reaching out, I took Natalia’s hands and pulled her closer to me.

“Make me believe it,” Father warned.