Page 112 of Bratva Knight

Nikolai nodded. He helped me get to my feet and then walked me over to Dario, despite my protests that I could do it myself. His hands never left my body, like he was afraid that if he stopped touching me, I would disappear.

“Hold him still,” I commanded.

Lukyan threw his machine gun behind his back, the strap it was connected to stopping it from falling to the ground, and gripped his ankles, holding him down. Dario fought, screaming and thrashing, cursing and spitting, but every time he moved, the knives in his palms would cut more into his skin, making him cry out in pain.

I dropped to my knees at his side. “Help me with his pants.” Nikolai didn’t hesitate, yanking his pants down.

“What are you doing?! Stop! Stop it!” His voice was filled with panic, and it made me smile.

Good. Let him fucking panic.

“Don’t! DON’T!”

Nikolai didn’t listen, pulling his underwear down next. The material pooled around his ankles and Lukyan adjusted his grip, making sure to keep his legs still.

I held out my hand and Nikolai slapped the hilt of a blade into my palm.

Dario’s eyes widened. “Wait, just wait. Please, don’t do this,” he begged, crying.

A sadistic smirk curled on my lips. I gripped his jaw roughly, holding the knife up for him to see. “How many times were those words uttered to you right before you raped someone? Hmm?” I carved into his cheek and he screamed, blood trailing down his face. I forced him to look at me, staring him dead in the eyes. “Thisis for all of those women who didn’t have a knight of their own to come and save them.”

I clutched his flaccid dick in my hands and cut it off right at the base. Dario screeched so loudly, it hurt my ears, his whole body thrashing and convulsing. I pried his mouth open and shoved it inside. Nikolai darted to the tray in the middle of the room and grabbed a roll of duct tape. I kept my hand over Dario’s mouth, making sure he couldn’t spit his dick back out as Nikolai wrapped the tape around his head and over his lips.

Dario cried, whimpering and moaning. He was losing a lot of blood. I didn’t think he would last much longer.

I kicked him in the side and spat at him.“Svoloch.” Motherfucker.

I looked up at Nikolai, my heart so full of love and gratitude. He stretched his palm out in offering and I took it, placing my hand in his.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Nikolai Volkov

IstaredatTatiana’ssleeping form, unable to calm myself down even though she was lying there, right in front of me.

If I’d been any later…

I shook my head, trying not to think about it, but the image of what I’d barged into was seared into my brain. I feared it would be there forever. That I would never be able to forget it.

After Arturo told me what happened, I almost killed him. The only reason he was still breathing was because Aleksandr had latched onto my arm at the last second, stopping the blade in my hands from piercing Arturo’s chest. It had taken my two brothersandAdrian to pull me off him. I didn’t have the time to waste trying to kill him again, but I planned to challenge him to the ring. I didn’t need a weapon to kill. I could do it with my bare hands. And I would. Illayana would just have to deal with it.

Arturo was aware of the dangers of his little trap. He should have taken the proper precautions and paired Tatiana up with someone who would watch her back. He should have had someone outside, ready to catch any stragglers who ran from the house so Tatiana wouldn’t have to. So she didn’t go running after Franco. He shouldn’t have gone forward with his plan withoutmethere. No one could protect Tatiana better than I could. He should have given me the fucking time to get there before moving forward.

End. Of. Discussion.

When we discovered that her phone had been dumped and the tracker in the back of her neck had been destroyed, everyone thought the worst. That we would never find her in time.

But I never took chances when it came to Tatiana’s life. She had another tracker on her. One she had no idea about. One I’d put into her necklace over three years ago. A necklace she never took off.

We tracked the signal to a double-story house in the suburbs. Aleksandr, Drea, Ivan, Illayana and Arturo, along with a mixture of Cosa Nostra and Bratva soldiers infiltrated the premises and dealt with any resistance while Lukyan and I hunted for Tatiana. The tracker in her necklace was state of the art, and could pinpoint her location precisely, right down to what room she was in, so it made it easy for us to find her.

The image of her tied to that table,that manpressing himself against her, flashed through my mind again and I ground my teeth together, trying to reign in my temper. I thought I had been mad before. I thought I knew whatrealanger was. But it wasn’t until that moment, right there, that I truly felt that emotion. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. A dark, red haze had settled over me and I wanted nothing more than to fucking eviscerate him. To cut off all his limbs one by one until he was begging for me to kill him. But I wouldn’t. I’d do everything in my power to keep him alive for as long as possible so he could suffer for days. Months.Years. So I could torture him every single day for daring to touchmyTatiana.

Tatiana groaned in her sleep, rolling over onto her side and facing me. I leant forward in my chair and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, just watching her. The fire from the fireplace cast her in this beautiful orange/yellow light, her beauty absolutely bewitching me. The flames crackled, the sound oddly comforting.

After we’d gotten her out of there, I’d taken her straight home. To my house. Ivan tried to fight me on it, but he must have realised how close I was to snapping, because he let the matter slide. Tatiana had a shower and fell straight asleep in my bed, despite me trying to get her to eat something.

That was roughly seven hours ago, and I hadn’t moved from my spot next to the bed since. I refused to. It wasn’t just that I wanted to be there for her when she woke up…I found that I was incapable of leaving her side.

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