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“Satisfied?” I mumble and begin to move forward inside the mansion.

“Turn to your left and head down to the basement.” He says, voice robotic. “The guards will pat you down once. You can walk in naked if you don’t want to be touched, or you can let them check.” A soft chuckle follows, empty of any real humour.

“Refuse, and you’ll hear a single bullet go through a pretty little head.” He pauses just long enough to let it settle. “Do I really need to tell you whose?”

I sigh, and reach up under my sleeves, fingers slipping into the thin elastic sheaths strapped along the inside of my forearms.

I slide the two slim blades free, one from each arm, and let them drop to the floor with a clatter.

“See why you’d make a good Pakhan?” My father chuckles, and this time there’s real amusement in his voice as it echoes through the speakers.

I say nothing, standing still as the guards pat me down, their hands rough but thorough. Only when they’re satisfied do the doors finally slide open.

I step inside the large room, where sits a metal cage in the centre, in which my malyshka is tied up. Her slumped lifeless body moves when her eyes land on me.

She whimpers, a small incoherent sob slipping past her lips and my heart aches.

“S-Sergei?” Her voice is so weak, almost fragile, it haunts me.

I did this.

“I’m here, baby.” I whisper back, taking another step in her direction and she visibly flinches, her eyes widening before she shrieks, the sound deafening in the quiet room.

“Sergei!”

I sense it before I feel something thick and huge hitting my head, my world turns dizzy but I remain on my feet.

My father watches me with cold interest as his minion lifts his hand to hit me with a bat again when I move swiftly ignoring the slow trickle of blood down my temple.

My fist drives into his stomach, forcing the air out of him as he doubles over. My knee comes up next, slamming into his face with brutal force.

I grab his head before he can recover and drive it down the hard bone again.

A sickening crack travels through the air, before the man flops on the ground.

I look around and find four men straightening up, preparing for a battle they’re gonna lose.

“Did any of them touch you, baby?” My expression softens as I look past Vasily’s pets at Elara.

“All of them.” She nods once. “They kidnapped me.” The world narrows and my movements blur.

By the time the first man realises I’m moving, my knife is already buried in his throat.

I tear another blade from a second man’s belt and gut him with his own weapon before he can draw a breath. The others follow just as quickly, collapsing one after another.

I don’t stop, stepping over their bodies, desperate to reach Elara.

My chest heaves, the ache in my skull from the earlier blow barely registering, only that Elara is in a cage.

In a fucking cage.

“Jesus Christ Sergei, had I known you’ll turn into a killing machine, I’d have kidnapped the whore way before.” My father chuckles, stepping forward to plant himself between me and the cage.

Between me and Elara.

My gaze slips past his shoulder, locking onto Elara. She’s on her knees now, fingers curled tight around the metal bars, her eyes swollen, tears spilling as she blinks through them, trying to see me.

“Let her go.” I growl, closing the distance between us. He lifts the gun without hesitation, the barrel steady as it finds me, a warped smile carving across his face.