Page 50 of Bound By Hate (Born in Blood)

VIKTORIYA

I’m not sure how much time I spend in the tiny cage in the smelly basement. It has to be hours.

I can hear grunting and talking coming from upstairs. They’re probably moving Akim’s body. Getting rid of the evidence. Sure, I killed him. I could easily be blamed.

But those guards aren’t stupid. They know I could tell the police I was kidnapped and sold to Akim and that I killed him in self-defense. They don’t want to deal with the messiness of it.

Besides, I know Mikhail owns half the police force. Word would get back to him, and he would make sure my name was cleared.

At least, I think he would. Not for my sake but for Sofiya’s, surely.

The longer I remain in the cage, the more my shock wears off. No longer laughing, I’m starting to panic.

I killed a man, and now, I’m stuck in a cage, waiting for those guards to come back down and have their way with me. There are too many of them. I’m not surviving this night unscathed.

Akim was fairly easy to kill, but he was also old—and even he had some strength within him. All the guards I’ve seen are young, buff men. There’s no way I can fight through them.

They’ll kill me, and my body will never be found. My sisters might miss me, but they’ll quickly move on. Everyone else will be relieved I’m dead. I know Mikhail will be—I’m more of a nuisance to him than anything else.

My parents died, so they won’t care. I guess I’ll see them in the afterlife. That’s not exactly reassuring because I wasn’t close with either my mom or dad. Father pushed me to be perfect, but he never showed me love. And Mother preferred Sofiya over me.

Everyone prefers Sofiya over me. I know Mila does. Gleb does.

I wonder, if I’d chosen Aleksander to marry, would he have eventually fallen for Mila and wanted nothing to do with me?

My baby sister. She’s the real perfect one. The angel everyone wants.

I’m just the bitchy oldest sister who can never keep her mouth shut.

I’ve taken pride in my confidence. It’s what helped me get through my parents’ deaths. It’s what helped me take care of Sofiya and Mila.

But my confidence has now become my downfall. Dark, dangerous men hate confident women. They want women to submit to them. They don’t want an equal; they want a trophy to put on their shelves.

I’m not going to die because I didn’t want to be a trophy.

The basement door creaks open, making me sit up straighter. Well, as best as I can in a cramped cage. Scar Guard descends the steps and looks at me with a sneer. He has three other men with him, all equally big, buff, and terrifying.

This is it.

“You’re going to pay for what you did, bitch,” Scar Guard growls.

I could act demure. I could beg for forgiveness.

But fuck them. Fuck Akim. That bastard bought me and then tried to rape me. He deserved to die. I did nothing wrong.

“Then make me pay,” I challenge him.

Scar Guard smirks and opens the cage. He drags me out and throws me onto the ground before punching me in the face. I see stars. For a moment, my vision turns black.

Then he punches me again, this time in the stomach. I can hear my rib crack. The other men cheer him on and laugh at my pain.

I can’t wait to see them in Hell.

Scar Guard lifts his fist again. I brace myself for the next blow.

Until I hear footsteps upstairs and the sound of shouting.

Then, I hear gunshots.

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