My chest tightened, and I felt a sudden urge to rescue her as soon as possible. “Take him away,” I ordered, turning back to him.
“Roman, please!” he called out. “She could die in there!”
My men forced him to his feet, and as they dragged him out of my study, he kept begging me to get her out of there. “Take me instead!”
My heart sank into my chest as I waited until I could no longer hear his voice echoing through the halls. I grabbed a spare key to the cell and stormed out of my study, hoping to find her breathing when I reached the basement.
If anything were to happen to her down there, I’d hate myself for it.
I couldn’t understand why her safety mattered so much to me, and there was no time to analyze it.
I raced down the steps, reached her cell, and then unlocked the bars. “Scarlett!” I called out, dropping to my knees beside her.
“I can’t…I can’t breathe,” she stuttered, straining to speak. Her voice was so faint that I could barely hear her.
Without a word, I swept her into my arms, cradling her like a bride as I walked out of the cell. She struggled to breathe, his fingers clutching my shirt. Her whole body was shaking, as though she would’ve passed out if I hadn’t shown up when I did.
Once out of the basement, I called out to the maids, and seconds later, Natasha appeared alongside Nikki. They followed me to her room, where I laid her on the bed and entrusted her to their care.
As the maids sprang into action, taking her temperature and getting the things they needed, I took one last look at her before leaving her room.
Downstairs, I sat by the fireplace in the living room, cradling a glass of vodka in my hand. I knew she was in safe hands, yet I couldn’t help thinking about her. A part of me blamed myself for putting her in harm’s way. Although it was never intended, I did endanger her life.
I shouldn’t care so much about it, but I couldn’t help myself. I might have gone too far trying to prove a point: that she was his weakness. And I was right. Shewashis weakness.
“You were right, Boss,” Sergei’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Killing him would’ve been merciful. The fear in his eyes when he saw his daughter in your cell was priceless.” He let out a throaty laugh, mocking Mercer.
I glanced at him as he sat across from me with a smug smirk playing on his lips.
“Where is he now?” I asked, referring to Mercer.
“As planned, the men have driven him off the estate. They’ll dump him somewhere in the city.”
“Good.” I sipped from my glass.
The idea was to show him a glimpse of his daughter’s misery, then throw him out like the trash he was. The thought of his only daughter suffering in my hands would haunt him forever, especially because he was too weak to do anything about it.
In his case, that was a punishment worse than death.
“Boss,” Sergei called my attention. “What are we gonna do about the rumor flying around?”
“What rumor?”
“The same one Lucian Sokolov’s spreading,” he answered. “That you’ve got a girl living in your mansion and that you even intend to marry her.”
The image of her face flashed in my head, prompting a small smile on my lips. Since this was clearly the narrative Sokolov was pushing, perhaps it was time to make it a reality.
I emptied the glass down my throat in a single shot, my smirk slowly broadening.
Chapter 13 – Scarlett
A slight groan escaped my lips as my eyelids fluttered open. I winced at the pain at the back of my head and the ache in my chest. My vision was still blurry, but I recognized where I was.
The comfy mattress beneath me, the chandelier’s soft light, and the familiar scent wafting through the air told me exactly where I was.
I never thought a day would come when I would be glad to find myself in this room. But here I was, grateful I wasn’t rotting in that small, dark cell. The mere thought of the horrors I had to endure there quickened my pulse.
If my jailer hadn’t shown up when he did, I most likely would’ve passed out—or worse. I wasn’t designed to thrive in small spaces, especially dark spaces, and that’s why I almost lost my life.
