Page 78 of Kings of Violence

“‘m fine,” I mumble, even though I’m so far from “fine” that I may as well be in another zip code. I start fumbling with my shirt —the shirt that’s ruined now — and the tears start falling faster because fuck, there’s so much blood in my mind.

Someone takes my hands into theirs, and I blink up to see Nikolai standing there. “Let me help you,” he says, his voice strangely gentle. He carefully reaches for the hem of my shirt, and he eases it over my head. I try to help, but my limbs feel strangely heavy.

“You don’t want to help me,” I say with a choked laugh. “None of you want tohelpme.”

Konstantin wraps his arms around me from behind. He’s so big and warm, and my eyes prickle with even more tears. I feel like I’m sinking into him.

“I want to help you,” he says fiercely. “You are mine, Sierrochka.Ours. We don’t let anyone we care about suffer.”

The words are so ludicrous that I almost laugh, but all I can focus on is the way his arms feel around me, the way they’re so warm and comforting even though they shouldn’t be.

I can’t remember the last time somebody in my family hugged me. We weren’t huggers.

We were the shut-up-and-tough-it-out kind.

Yuri walks over to the large shower stall and gets the water going. “We’ll all wash off,” he suggests. “The warm water will do all of us some good.”

A shower will get rid of the superficial problems, at least. The blood and gore. The reminder of the death that had occurred not even an hour before.

I think.

My concept of time is shot, and it could’ve been even longer. I don’t know how long we were in the car.

Why am I freaking out so much? It’s just another dead body.

It’s not like it was someone I cared about. I don’t even think I shut down this hard when I saw…them.

“Yes,” Nikolai says, and he and Konstantin help me out of my bra, then my pants and underwear. “Come on, zaya. Let’s get you nice and clean.” He frowns. “And warm.”

It’s only then that I realize I’m shivering.

Yuri has stripped down too, and he takes my hand to lead me into the large shower. His entire body is covered in tattoos, not just his cock. The water feels far too hot on my cold skin. Yuri notices my wince, and he gets between me and the shower spray.

He rubs my shoulders gently. “You’re all right, Sierra. You’re safe now.”

Safe.

I burst into tears.

Nikolai has followed close on my heels, and he’s there, too, wrapping his arms around me from the front even as Yuri protects my back. “I’m sorry,” he says, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he sounds a little panicked.

“What happened?” Konstantin asks as he gets into the shower too.

I’m surrounded by big men on all sides, we’re all naked, and I’m currently not even worried about erections or birth control.

I squeeze my eyes shut and lean into them.

“One of the men there got his hands on her,” Nikolai says, hugging me closer to him. “He was threatening her. I shot him.”

Yuri says something else in Russian. In English, he continues, “But it’s fine. We can deal with everything later. Sierra is more important now.”

“Important,” I repeat with a giggle that sounds deranged even to my own ears. “Right.”

“You think you aren’t important?” Konstantin asks, and he actually sounds confused. “You are under my care and protection now, Sierrochka. I will not let anyone hurt you.” He settles his large hand on my belly. “We don’tneedto keep you. We could find another person to crack your father’s laptop.”

Yuri sets his hand over the brand on my chest. “We’ve claimed you. Nobody else will ever hurt you.”

It’s oddly… touching, and I don’t understand why. These men took me against my will, branded me, raped me — they force me to do whatever they want, always reminding me of the consequences if I fail. Nothing they say should be reassuring.

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