Page 65 of Cruel Honor

But when I look back in Dima’s direction, he’s not there anymore. Did I really even see him at all?

“Let me go,” I whisper. Tatiana doesn’t respond.

She gets me out of the club and back into the fresh air of the night. It doesn’t help me at all. In fact, it makes me feel worse. The cold night air slaps me in the face and I begin to shiver.

“I need Dimitri,” I murmur.

“No. What you need is to die and give me Dimitri.” She walks me over to a car and pushes me inside. I slump into the seat, my vision still swimming in circles.

Tatiana gets in beside me and starts the car as Dimitri bursts out of the club and sees us. The sight of him fills my heart with relief and joy, but then Tatiana drives away before he can get to me.

Looking in the rearview mirror, I see him run to his own car.

Then Tatiana turns a corner, and I lose sight of him.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I whisper. My tongue feels heavy in my mouth.

“Because you’re in my way. Plain and simple. Dimitri screwed me over when he took my virginity. Now, no man will want me. No one of high enough status anyway. He needs to own up to what he did, and for him to do that, you need to die.”

She drives us to an abandoned building and drags me out of the car. I stumble as we walk inside. I can’t make a run for it. My body isn’t working properly.

Once inside, I’m confronted with the sight of Abram, Boris, and Arthur.

“You did good, pumpkin,” Abram says, kissing Tatiana on the cheek.

“Thanks, Daddy. Now, get rid of her. I’m tired of looking at her face.”

Abram grabs my arm and tosses me at the other two men. “Before I kill her, I want Dimitri to know what real pain feels like. I want him to know how it feels to have someone he loves violated.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. The words are slurred.

“He violated my Tatiana. Now, I’m going to have these men violate you.”

I feel like ice. I can’t even move as the men drop me to the ground. Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?

I can just barely feel Boris touching my leg as Arthur grabs my breast.

And behind them are Abram and Tatiana, smiling down at me. They’re monsters.

The door bursts open, and Dimitri runs inside. He shoots Boris in the head, and his blood splatters all over me as he slumps onto my body.

Abram and Tatiana take off running while Dimitri shoots Arthur next. Both men are dead.

Dimitri rushes to my side. “Evie. Fuck. Are you ok?” He sits me up, but my head rolls back. “Shit.”

“Get them,” I whisper.

“What?”

“Get them.”

He glances around, but Abram and Tatiana are gone. “Fuck!” His shout echoes through the room. “They’re gone. I would have to leave you alone to go find them, and I’m not going to do that. Not with you in the state you’re in right now. What happened?”

“Drugged me. Tatiana.”

“Fucking bitch.” Scooping me into his arms, he carries me to his car. I’m distinctly aware of the fact that I have Boris’s blood on me. It’s hot and sticky.

Dimitri quickly drives us away from the abandoned building. “What the hell was I thinking, leaving you alone at the club? Fuck. Evie, I’m so sorry.” The look he gives me is so full of pain and regret that I have the urge to forgive him.

---