Her whole body relaxes at that and she drops the knife. I can’t help noticing how young she is. The fact that Ruby was about to throw this girl upstairs to the highest bidder makes me sick to my stomach.
“I’m going to take my hand away. I’m trusting you to not scream.”
I let go and hope like hell I’m right about her. She sucks in a quick breath and then turns to me, widening her eyes when she sees me and the men behind me, all of us looking dangerous as fuck. A sight that any sane woman would run screaming from, but Mindy’s been in this hellhole long enough to recognize the importance of grabbing onto help wherever the hell she can get it, and right now that help is a group of tattooed, muscled Russians dressed in tactical gear.
“Do you know how many people are here?” I ask her.
Her eyes keep jumping from me to the others, but she says, “Four customers upstairs, nineteen women, Ruby's in her office, Bruce is upstairs guarding the door, and Roger’s behind the bar.” Her eyes quickly jump to mine. “He has a gun hidden behind the bar near the cash register.”
“Thank you for telling me.” I reach into the deep pocket on my right thigh and pull out the money I’d brought for her. I hand her the twenty thousand, forcing it into her shaking hands. “Nina’s been very worried about you. I promised her I’d get you out of here. Do you have some place you can go?”
“I have a cousin in Florida. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get to her, but Ruby never lets me leave.”
“You don’t need to worry about her anymore.” I nod towards the room that’s off the kitchen. “Is that your room?”
“Yeah.”
“Get your stuff. One of my men will make sure you get to the airport. Take the first flight you can get and don’t ever come back here.”
She looks at the money clutched in her hands. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“After tonight there won’t be a Ruby’s Lounge. Forget about this place, Mindy.”
I wave one of the guys over and tell him in Russian to make sure there’s a car outside waiting for her once she has her stuff. He nods and starts to lead her to her room so she can hurry up and pack. She looks back at me and gives me a smile that makes her look even younger than her seventeen years.
“Thank you, and tell Nina I said thanks.”
I give her a nod and then put all my focus back on the job at hand. Stepping closer to Volodya and Valeri, I tell them what Mindy told me about the gun and how many customers are upstairs. The door to the kitchen leads out into a small hallway before hitting the main area, so Volodya takes the lead. He’ll take out the bartender while Valeri clears Bruce out of the way so the rest of the men can take care of the rest. That leaves Ruby for me. Her ass has no idea what’s coming. Not wanting to alert anyone upstairs as to what’s going on, Volodya grips the lethal-looking knife that’s always been his weapon of choice and lets out a steadying breath before slipping out the door with the rest of us close behind, guns drawn and silencers attached.
Valeri and I share an amused look when we turn the corner and see Volodya gripping the bartender by his long, greasy hair as he slashes the blade across his neck in one brutal swipe that nearly decapitates the guy, and then plunges the knife into his heart, because the man wasn’t quite dead enough apparently. Seeing Volodya with a knife in his hands has made more than one grown man piss himself. It’s the only time our brother lets himself go. We suspect he enjoys killing even more than the rest of us, which is saying something.
With Roger out of the way, I send a quick text to the men outside to tell them it’s okay to come in, and then I put all my attention on the room at the end of the hall while another group heads upstairs with Valeri leading the way, eager to get his hands on Bruce. Volodya comes up behind me, letting me know he’s covering my back with a quick tap on the shoulder. Gripping the door handle, I don’t waste time, I jerk it open and point the gun, knowing she won’t have enough time to grab a weapon. I’m prepared for a lot of things when I open that door, but seeing a man on his knees with his head buried between Ruby’s long legs while she fists his hair isn’t one of them. It’s so not what I was expecting that I laugh before I can stop myself. She’d been so caught up in the moment that she hadn’t even heard us come in. Her eyes jerk open, rage consuming her features before a fraction of a second later fear takes over.
“Don’t fucking move,” I tell the guy who’s still feasting on Ruby’s pussy and completely oblivious to the gun pointing at him.
“Can you believe this bitch is down here getting head while girls are being raped right above her,” Volodya mutters in Russian.
“Yeah, she’s a real sweetheart. I hope this doesn’t make her shit herself because I really don’t want to fucking deal with that,” I say right before putting a bullet in the man’s head while his mouth is still latched onto her. She’s too shocked to scream. The whites of her eyes are clearly visible as she looks down at the man whose head is now a gory mess. Blood and brain matter pepper her thighs, and when she realizes how close that bullet came to her pussy, she finally finds her voice and lets out an ear-piercing scream.
“For fuck’s sake,” Volodya growls, closing the distance quickly and clamping a large hand over her mouth. He kicks the man so he slumps to the floor and then barks at her. “Pull your goddamn dress down. Nobody wants your pathetic cunt.”
The insult cuts through her shock. She glares up at him and slides her dress back in place. Her eyes dart back to me when I step closer and sit on the edge of the desk in front of her.
“Remember me?”
Her eyes narrow and she spits out some insult that’s muffled by Volodya’s hand.
I laugh at her anger. “I’m guessing that’s a yes.”
She fumes but doesn’t try to yell any more insults.
“I want to know who won the auction for Nina.”
Her eyes crinkle with the laugh she gives, pissing me off enough to almost make me lose control and shoot her in one of her ridiculously huge, paid-for tits. I nod to Volodya and he releases his hand but stays right next to her, making it clear she better not scream again. He’s an intimidating presence, especially when covered in blood, and I’m confident she won’t scream again.
“The name,” I remind her.
“I’m not telling you shit.” She tries to sound brave, but there’s a waver in her voice that’s impossible to miss.
