When the convoy of cars stops in the driveway, I push the door open and get out. Guards pull Georgi out of an SUV, and I follow them into the house.
With my bedroom being next to the chamber where the torturing takes place, we walk in the same direction toward the basement.
My gaze drifts over the blood matting Georgi’s hair on the side of his head.
I need to tend to the wound.
We head down the stairs into the hallway in the basement, and nearing my bedroom door, I stop for a moment. Instead of going in so I can change out of the cocktail dress, I find myself walking to the doorway of the torture chamber.
One of the men removes Georgi’s watch and hands it to Boris, who inspects it before placing it on the metal table and smashing it with a hammer.
“Give me his phone,” Boris demands. After digging it out of the pants’ pocket, a guard hands the device to him. Not wasting a second, Boris destroys it, then barks, “Strip him and check for tracking devices. Make it quick. The Cosa Nostra has one of the best hackers in the world.”
I remain standing in the doorway as the men remove Georgi’s clothes.
I hold my breath as tanned skin and muscles are exposed. Georgi is otherworldly attractive, and besides the guilt thickening in my chest, I feel a sense of loss because my father is going to destroy this beautiful man.
When they leave on his boxers, relief fills my chest. Sometimes they strip the prisoners completely naked, and it makes it so much worse for me when I have to tend to their wounds.
“Why are you just standing there?” Boris suddenly snaps at me.
As the men shackle Georgi’s wrists and haul his body into a standing position, he lets out a groan, drawing everyone’s attention to him.
“Move faster!” Boris yells, a note of panic in his voice.
He’s probably scared Georgi will regain full consciousness before they manage to secure the chains.
Steel clanks against concrete, and the instant the chains are locked in place, the men step back from the man who killed one of them and took down several more before they were able to restrain him.
Even I move partially behind the wall. I peek into the room, watching as Georgi lifts his head. He glances around the room, taking in the table that’s covered with various tools that will be used to inflict pain on him.
I’m surprised when he lets out a chuckle, and a grin tips the corners of his mouth up. “You must be tired of living.” His tone sounds playful, like he’s cracking a joke, then he looks right at Boris and sneers, “My family will come for me.”
With a dark glare, my father replies, “They don’t know where you are.” He gestures at the broken phone and watch. “You can’t be tracked, Torrisi.”
Georgi lets out another chuckle, giving the impression he’s not worried.
Suddenly, he looks past Boris, and his eyes collide with mine. I pull back, and as I hurry to my bedroom, I hear Georgi say, “I have to give you credit. Using the woman to lure me out of the hotel was good, but…”
I stop dead in my tracks to hear what he’ll say next.
“…my family will track you through her. Her face is on every camera in the hotel lobby. You fucked up, Boris.”
“Shut him up,” my father snaps angrily.
Boris comes stalking out of the room while the sounds of fists connecting violently with skin fill the air, and the instant he sees me, I scurry into my bedroom.
Before I can shut the door, he stops me and shoves it open. His hand swings through the air, the flat of his large palm burning across my face.
Boris grabs me by my throat, and face-to-face with the man who’s inflicted unspeakable hell on me, his breath wafts over my skin. “You think I don’t see the way you look at Torrisi? Wait until Anton hears about how you acted today.”
No!
It’s one of the sick ways Boris loves to torture me. Whenever I lure a man in to keep Simi from being hurt, Boris taunts Anton by telling him how I threw myself at the man. It always leads to Anton beating and raping me.
My father lets go of me, and I fall onto my back, my head missing the metal corner of my bed by an inch.
“Change out of that fucking dress, whore! You have work to do.”
