Page 63 of Her Cruel Bodyguard

I halt, stepping to the side of the narrow hallway with flickering lights and a tiny window at the end for the guards to step forward with him and lead us to the room they think will be best for what we are about to do.

We are away from the cells, so the stench of sweaty bodies is tamped down. I have no doubt Salvatore will find his click of bandits and continue in his path of bullying the weak, but I also know he will meet his match here.

I am trying to give them an advantage by shattering a few bones and perhaps a broken leg or two. The guards stop in front of a door that looks like the one we shut earlier. It has scratch marks and a few bullet holes to show that some prisoners tried to rebel.

One of the guards steps forward, taking off the keyholder with a variety of keys attached to his belt. He doesn’t take long to identify the key we need. He slots it in and twists, throwing the door wide open to reveal a room almost identical to the one we left, only this one is murky.

This room has the same mock window, no table, and a broken chair. The bulbs are out, save one with a twitching light. Just one look, and you know many bones have been smashed here.

They shove Salvatore inside, and I fall quickly behind them. Lev is the last to walk in but the first to throw a punch, stealing that show from me.

He is short-tempered, which isn’t something I had pegged him for. He appears like he has a long-standing grudge against Salvatore, and if my judgment is right, it has something to do with Nina.

Salvatore stumbles back, his dark eyes going sloppy from the head punch. I step in, not waiting for him to regain consciousness. I aim for his jaw, making sure to hit hard enough until I know he has his teeth down his throat.

Salvatore spurts, and two teeth drop with blood from his mouth to the floor. He curses at me in Italian, and I slap the shit out of him for being disrespectful. I slap again, and again, and again until he is backed up against the wall. Then, one last smack sends him to the floor for the sole of my shoe to stomp on.

Bastard.

He has done too much.

I keep stomping on him, never giving him a break as he scampers to get away from me. He slips out somehow but one of the guards is the one to send him stumbling back with a punch. He doesn’t come back to me; instead, he finds himself between Lev and the other warden. Lev doesn’t fail to deliver by picking up the broken seat and shattering it on Salvatore’s head.

Lev is on a different cruise entirely.

I step in before he kills Salvatore. I want it, but I can’t let it happen. Lev doesn’t agree. He takes off his glasses to show glacial gray eyes, and I know without a doubt that those are the eyes of a killer.

He wouldn’t mind ending Salvatore in a second.

“That’s enough,” I pull Salvatore away, grabbing a fistful of his blood-stained orange shirt. “They can take it from here,” I shove Salvatore to stand on his wobbling feet, and when he manages to get his feet to work, I slap him, sending him into the arms of the guards. “Break his hand,” I give the command. “Make it painful,” I pull out a white handkerchief from the inside pocket of my suit, sending a look in Salvatore’s direction.

His dark curly hair drops to hide his swollen eyes, but his pumped face is on full display. I like what I am seeing, and I will make sure he gets another one before he recovers. I will make sure he never knows or can remember a time when his face isn’t swollen or a part of his body is broken.

I swat the handkerchief in the air and step out of the room.

While I cannot kill him, I will make him wish and beg for me to.

He is not invincible, and I can always access him here.

The sound of kicks and punches, mixed with the sweet cry of Salvatore as they beat the shit out of him, bounces off my back, and my heart warms. My favorite kind of music is my enemies’ cries for mercy.

Lev steps outside and closes the door, muting everything in the room.

We say nothing to each other as I stride through the hallway to the room where Nina and Eva are waiting.

He is a quiet guy, I can tell. We are alike in some ways. He is a survivor. He rides with hell pouring out of his engine. You can tell by just looking at him that he assumes himself to be the Grim Reaper. And if he is on the other side, with Nina, and has served Boris, then he is everything he thinks he is.

Lev opens the door while I take my time to wipe out as much blood as I can from my knuckles before going in. I don’t want Eva to panic. She knows what I have done, but it will be better not to give her any visuals.

I step into the room and she hurries toward me, hugging me like I left for war and I’m returning after years spent on the battlefield.

It’s what she does every time she sees me. I have never had anyone be so excited to see me aside from Jake.

But Jake’s excitement pales in comparison to Eva’s. I clasp my arms around her and kiss her shoulder, then grate it with my teeth.

“Let’s get out of here,” I kiss her cheek and lead her out of the room.

“Is he in one piece?” Eva asks as we step outside the room.

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