Page 1 of Throttle All the Way

PROLOGUE

MILA

1992…Christmas Eve

The night drewheavy over the choppy waters as the boat sliced through the chunks of ice that were forming. We were heading to Canada, that was the last destination Yulian Volkov had yelled through the radio. I stared at the waves, glistening from the moon’s glow. Battered and still bound, I huddled in a corner, my eyes scanning the small confines of the motorboat for any sign of escape. Cold water sprayed in my face and I shivered.

I knew this was going to be worse than what I had already experienced. I’d been kidnapped by this Russian piece of shit after he’d murdered my father, and my sweet innocent mother who’d taken risks to protect her family, and in the end she’d paid a heavy price. Of course, he

and his brother Arseny, took no mercy on me. They beat and tortured me until I gave up the information they wanted. I handed them the safe’s codes, deeds to properties and millions of dollars, but that still wasn’t enough. They needed me as leverage. I was the sole heir to my father’s estates and wealth, and they needed me to sign off my entire world, which I did.

Arseny was one of the heads of the Russian Bratva, and although he had some sense, his brother Yulian was a cruel monster who got his kicks off hurting people. Hurting me. His cold, apathetic gaze swept over me and I shivered remembering all he’d done to me. The rape, the abuse, the filth he’d forced me to endure. The fucker deserved to die in the most inhumane of ways.

After they’d murdered my family, ransacked my home, and taken everything they wanted, Yulian became infatuated with me. He fought with Arseny but in the end he won, and he took me as his property, to fulfill his own perversions. And Yulian had some dark evil fetishes. I was surprised I still had my limbs on since he loved women without them.

Tonight, his sole focus was on evading the relentless pursuit of the Royal Bastards, the biker club members that had taken on the feat of hunting him down and making him pay for what he’d done to their President, a man they called Bulldog.

In the last year I’d heard talk of what they planned to do to him and how Yulian would make him pay for the death of his brother. Arseny deserved what he’d gotten back in that prison. He’d killed the daughter of a Yakuza head and in return, they took his life. Not much of one, if you ask me.

Yulian had fallen into a pit of misery and despair when he heard his brother had been killed. He took it out on the closest thing he had…me. Daily beatings were a ritual, followed by brutal rape and starvation. Everything he felt, he inflicted on me, and I could only lie there, absolutely helpless to his cruelty. I don’t think I even moved, hoping he’d think I was dead and maybe then he’d let me go.

Instead, one night he came home drunk, grabbed me, put me over his shoulder and dumped me into a motorboat, and here we were.

As the boat approached the desolate Canadian border, I strained to make out snippets of the conversation between Yulian and his accomplices who were waiting for him at the beach.

“Just make sure the car is there! I’ll be landing on the south side near the rocks.”

“Are you alone?” Another gruff voice, heavily accented, came through.

He looked back at me again, and I hunkered down, trying to hide from him. “No. But don’t worry, I don’t need her anymore. Besides, the bitch won’t last long.”

The threat hung heavy in his voice, sending shivers up my already cold body. It quickly became clear that I wouldn’t make it past those rocks on that beach.

The boat's engine roared, and Yulian kept his eyes focused on the horizon while I looked down at the icy water, contemplating if I jumped, would I be able to make it to shore. I struggled against the restraints, each tug forcing the ropes to loosen enough that I could slide my hands through. Yulian hadn’t taken enough care to tighten the rope in his rush to get on the boat. My wrists were sore and bruised, fragile bones that had been broken severely on several occasions. But although my wrists screamed in agony and pain, the pain pushed me forward as I managed to pull one of my hands free.

The boat rocked violently, sending me clinging on to the side, my eyes darting nervously between the choppy waves and the monster’s silhouette in front of me. As land appeared on the horizon, my decision was quick, it was die in the water, or die by his hands, and I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction.

The night air was biting, and the moon cast long shadows over the turbulent waters. I had no protection, my body barely covered, bruises adorned my neck and collar bone, my arms were weak from being bound for so long. I didn’t know how I wasgoing to be able to swim that long of a distance but I had to at least try.

I didn’t want to die.

Keeping my eye on him, I undid the rest of the restraints from my hands and feet. I sat there, pretending I was still bound, as I waited for land to get closer. The motorboat bounced along the waves and I cringed as those chunks of ice and cold wind hit my face. I had to survive, I had no other choice. He’d taken everything from me and I needed to take back something. At least have this one win.

I didn’t think about it, I just acted. As soon as the boat was a few feet away, I slid over the side. I took in a deep gulp of air as the freezing water pierced through my body like a thousand blades. I started to move, limply raising my arms in my attempt to swim. He hadn’t noticed I was gone yet, and the boat continued on as I took off to the right. The waves shoved me into the rocks, one piercing my side. I cried out, choking on freezing water as I continued to make it out onto one of those jagged rocks. I was shaking I was so cold, but as panic seized a hold on me, I began to run, stumbling over rocks and sand. I could feel the cuts forming on my bar feet, but I was desperate to put distance between myself and Yulian.

Through my anxiety and haze, I heard Yulian shouting at me, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps close behind, fueling my fear. As I risked a glance over my shoulder, I spotted Yulian’s shadow making his way over the rocks and heading my way, gun in hand.

"I won't let you ruin this for me," he sneered, leveling the gun at me.

Adrenaline and my instinct to survive surged through me and I darted towards a cluster of rocks, seeking whatever semblance of cover I could find. Shots rang out, and pain searedthrough my leg as a bullet found its mark. I cried out, stumbling and falling out to the hard, cold sand beneath me.

I scrambled to get away, writhing in pain, unable to stand up. Yulian suddenly loomed over me, lifting me by my hair and easily flipping me over so I was staring up at him. He callously delivered a final blow to my jaw.

"Consider this your farewell, Mila." He fired another shot, and the world blurred as pain enveloped me.

In the distance there was the sound of another engine, another boat. Forgetting me, I felt him leave my side and run into the brushes. In the cold embrace of that desolate beach, I lay wounded and left to die.

A deep voice resounded in the darkness, a soft and gentle touch, a desperation that only I could feel.

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