Page 76 of Darkest Sin

“Chiara—”

“Don’t,” she says, grabbing my shoulders as she shakily gets to her feet. “If you knew what those vile monsters did to me. What they . . . I’m going with you, Killian. They put their hands on me, so when you slaughter them like animals, I’m going to be right there to watch it happen.”

I rise with her, holding on to her arms, terrified she’ll crumble again. “What are you talking about, Chiara? What did they do to you?”

She glances away, refusing to meet my eyes as though she can’t possibly divulge this information to my face. “They raped me, Killian,” she whispers. “Three of them. The guy who runs it and two of the guards. They came into my cell, held me down, and took turns—” she pauses, closing her eyes as though the images running through her head are too much for her to handle. “They cut me. One of them had a knife, and they cut these deep gashes on my skin while they were trying to get my clothes off. But they’ll scar. I’ll forever have these reminders of what they did to me.”

“Yes, every time you look in the mirror, you will remember. Some days you will fall apart and other days you will feel rage, shame, fear, and maybe even disgust. But those scars are also a reminder that you survived. Each one of them, while just as painful as the last, tells the story of what you have endured and overcome. You are stronger than them, and no scar is going to keep you from getting the justice you deserve. I know it may be impossible for you to see now, but one day, you will wear those scars as a trophy.”

When she stares at me blankly, I know she doubts every word I say. She’s not there yet. She has been through the kind of hell no woman should have to endure, and while the scars I bear are different, I’m a testament that strength can come from the worst of times.

Pressing my hand to her lower back, I begin leading her back toward my men when Cristian breaks off from the crowd and meets me in the middle. “Do you have the headshots of Ezekiel’s men?”

Cristian nods and pulls out his phone. He brings up the files we need and hands me the phone. I scroll through the images as Chiara looks on. “Tell me when you see them,” I instruct.

She nods, and as I continue flipping, she watches like a hawk. “Stop,” she finally says. “Go back one.”

I do as asked and a hollowness appears in her eyes as she simply stares at him. “That’s one of them,” she murmurs before reaching out and flipping through the images herself. Another moment passes before she pauses again. “That’s the other.”

I nod and pull the phone away, not wanting her to have to look at them a second longer than necessary. Handing the phone back to Cristian, I give him my instructions. “Everyone apart from Ezekiel and these two men will be slaughtered. Those three will be returning with me.”

“Yes, boss. Anything else?” he asks as I slip my suit jacket off and help Chiara into it to offer her just a little bit of dignity.

“No, we’re good to get started.”

“Wait,” Chiara rushes out in a panic. “What about the other girls in there? There’s a few of them. They don’t deserve this. They’re just innocent girls like me who were snatched off the street. We need to save them. Please, Killian. Let me save them. We can offer them a new life where they won’t have to fear for their safety and face men like this ever again.”

“Okay,” I tell her, nodding at Cristian who immediately starts giving orders. “We’ll make the girls a priority.”

Chiara nods and sucks in a deep breath, giving herself a moment to mentally prepare to go back in there. “Alright, then let’s do it.”

“You sure, Angel? You don’t need to witness this. It won’t be pretty,” I warn her. “The things you see will pale in comparison to what you’ve already been through, and I guarantee, I will bring these motherfuckers home for you. You will get your justice at your own leisure.”

“I’m going in,” she tells me with defiance in her tone. “I need to see this.”

She holds my stare for a moment longer, and as I see the true hunger in her exhausted gaze, I finally nod. “Okay, Chiara. You stand at my side the whole time. When I tell you to move, you move. If I tell you to run, you run. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” I finally agree. “Then let’s do it.”

Moving over to the trunk of my SUV, I find a small handgun, and after checking it’s properly loaded, I press it into Chiara’s hand. “Do you know how to use this?”

“Point and shoot?” she asks.

Jesus Christ. I consider taking it off her, but as she looks over it, the confidence builds in her stare, and I won’t dare take that from her, especially not tonight, even if it means I risk catching one of her bullets. It’ll be worth it.

“Good enough, just keep your finger off the trigger until someone needs to die.”

Cristian gives out the order for my men to prepare to infiltrate the warehouse, and though I’m sure we’ve lost our advantage of surprise, I don’t hear any commotion coming from inside. Nobody is trying to escape, and there’s sure as fuck no one going on the defense.

Perhaps we still hold on to that element of surprise.

Cristian nods, getting a message through his earpiece before he turns to me. “We’re ready,” he tells me.

“Good. Then call the order.”

With that, Cristian gives the order for my men to go, and in a show of pure beauty, every door surrounding the building is blown to pieces. Multiple explosions boom through the night, and as the smoke billows high into the sky, my team races forward, guns at the ready.

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