“I killed Jack,” Alek says, keeping their attention on him, “because he was getting too handsy with my wife. I needed to teach him a lesson. And that goes for all of you. If you try to hurt my wife, I’m not going to hesitate to murder every single one of you.”
“We’re your coworkers, Alek,” another man says.
“I know that, Erik. I don’t want to lose my relationship with any of you. So let’s call this a day, shall we? We all know Jack was annoying. He’s gone now. Let’s move on from this situation.”
“I can’t do that,” Sasha says. “She needs to die, Alek. For killing Jack.”
“You are not killing my wife,” he grits out.
“I figured you would say that. So I’m willing to offer an alternative. We punish her for Jack’s death and then we can all move on. We’ll even let her live so you can spend your life with her. Though, when we’re through with her, you might not want her anymore.”
“Motherfucker,” Alek growls. “Don’t do this, Sasha. Katya is innocent. I swear I killed Jack. I swear.”
Sasha walks right up to Alek and stares him down. “You see, I just don’t believe you. Your wife killed him and she needs to pay the price. Get her on her knees.”
The other four men come at me. Alek tries protecting me but Sasha shoves Alek to the ground, though Alek easily gets a punch into Sasha’s face, making him jerk back.
But the other men force me to my knees and rip open the back of my summer dress, exposing my bare back.
“Don’t fucking hurt her,” Alek says, drawing his gun and pointing it at Sasha’s head.
“Here.” Without a care in the world, Sasha picks up a whip that I hadn’t noticed on the ground earlier and hands it to Alek. “Use this on her. Whip her back. And then we’ll call it a day. No more issues. She’ll be forgiven for what she did to Jack.”
I begin to cry and my tears coat the cement floor. My bare back is chilly in the cool early morning air.
Alek takes the whip from Sasha. “I am not going to hurt my wife.”
“Then we’ll do worse to her if you don’t. We’ll fuck her until she’s bloody. All of us men are in agreement that you have a pretty wife that we’d all like to fuck. This is our chance. Or you can whip her back and we’ll call it a day. I promise.”
“I don’t trust your fucking word.”
“And I don’t trust your word!” Sasha shouts. “You’re choosing a woman over one of your men.”
“Jack was an asshole. We all thought it. Do any of you really miss him?” Alek asks, looking around at all the men. None of them can look him in the eye because they know he’s right.
I know firsthand how much Jack was a bad man. From the way he cornered me in the bathroom to how he pushed me against the counter. There was a darkness inside of him that’s also in these men. It’s also in Alek. It’s also in my brother.
It’s the mafia way.
My mine goes back to my room like it always does whenever I’m stressed and upset. But it’s not my room I want right now. It’s Alek.
I want him to get me out of here. I want him to protect me. I want him to touch me again. I want to be desired by him. Consumed by him. Made into a woman because of his guidance.
“That doesn’t matter,” Sasha says. “Jack was an annoying fucker, yes. But he still died unfairly when your wife killed him.”
“I killed him,” Alek repeats. “For trying to put his hands on her. You can understand that. Sasha, you have a wife. Do youreally want some motherfucker putting his hands on her? You’d kill him for it.”
“Sure I would. But I would never kill one of my own.”
“Not even if he was raping your wife?”
Sasha’s face turns into an ugly sneer. “I still wouldn’t kill one of my own over that. My wife knows that. She knows I’m loyal to my men.”
“I feel sorry for your wife then.”
“You kidnapped your wife to get back at Dimitri Ivanov. He’s been tearing up this city over the past few days you’ve been gone. Pay the price, Alek, and then we can work together again. We can move on from this. Just whip her back. Punish her.”
“You’re not going to back down, are you?” Alek asks.
