Page 7 of Tarnished Reign

“Hey.” I click my fingers at her but keep my voice calm. “Look at me. Breathe. You’re okay. No one is going to hurt you.”

She turns to the side slightly, thrashing, and I see the ink. Small and discreet, like her nails. A bluebird, placed to one side on her shoulder. I glance down at what I can see of the rest of her body and notice it’s the only ink. No piercings. Not even her ears, which is highly unusual. She got the tattoo in a place it wouldn’t be easily seen.

Bluebird on her shoulder, like the song. Bluebird, blue, black hair, and the biggest blue eyes, I’ve ever seen. Sad eyes. To go with her sad face. Is the bird a reflection of her inner turmoil? Blue seems to be her defining feature in many ways. It’s my favorite color and she is awash in it.

I’m already guessing at some of this girl’s backstory, but in other ways she’s a stunning enigma.

“Boss?” Jinx snaps me out of my reverie. “Now that Mila is safe, and the yacht is secured, can I take this one for some fun?” He leers at the angel on the bed, and something fierce in me, something not felt in a long time, dangerously roars to life. “That’s what the Pakhan wants, no?”

He reaches down and touches her arm, trailing his finger down it. He touches her. As if he has the goddamn right. As if she’s his.

The sound in my throat is a low rumble as something white hot roars to life inside me.

I don’t even think before I have Jinx against the wall, my hand wrapped around his throat. His eyes widen in surprise, and I smirk nastily as I stare him down.

“No,” I snarl. “You can’t take any of them. Get a fucking grip, and stop dicking around or as God is my witness, I’ll choke the life right out of you. Don’t touch her again. She’s not yours to put your hands on.”

I let go, sanity returning in a slow rolling wave, and step back. Jinx coughs and winces, but he doesn’t do anything, and I realize just how far out of control I have stepped. Jesus, I need to get a grip. I stare at Jinx, and he stares back, both of us breathing hard.

Jinx shrugs but it’s an angry one and I hope this doesn’t get back to Jacob because he’ll think I’ve lost my mind.

Protectiveness. Possession.

This woman, this stranger, has brought that instinct out of me in spades, and I tamp down the desire to snap Jinx’s neck. He’ll have my fingerprints on him as is.

I glance again at the small tattoo and think there’s something infinitely vulnerable about it. A small act of rebellion painted against well cared for skin. Skin that was just sold for a million dollars, to a gangster.

“Let the hired and trafficked women go,” I reiterate, wanting Jinx and Yuri out of this room, and my orders made clear to all the men. “Get up on deck and make sure they get them to shore. Remember to call the number for Layna. She can find them a safe place for the next few nights. Take Mila home. I want four men with her at all times and you by her side until she’s safely returned to her father.”

“Yes, boss.”

“You want me to take her too … to shore, I mean?” Yuri asks, pointing at my angel with the bluebird on her shoulder.

He’s confused, as well he might be. She isn’t Dorian’s girlfriend, we know that now, so of course we should send her to shore.

She’s as here against her will as the other women.

The mythical girlfriend doesn’t seem to exist, and this girl is as trafficked as the poor women on deck, and yet, she is here for Dorian. Somone sold her, to the head of an organized crime syndicate for a ridiculous amount of money, to clear their debts. Furthermore, Dorian took her as payment. Why?

She’s gorgeous but it seems odd. There’s something screwy about the entire thing and I want to find out more.

It’s a reason to keep her with me for a few days, right?

I won’t touch her. I’m not a piece of shit who forces women. But there’s something so magnetic about her, so vulnerable that I can’t stand the idea of letting her go.

The way I tell myself this is for the best, that this is right, is ridiculous.

The fact is, I can’t set my little bluebird free yet because she’s somehow, with one damn look, entranced me.

I want her with a ferocious hunger that I’ve never felt before. I want her so much I ache from it.

One sentiment rides me hard as I look at her.

Mine.

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DIMITRI

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