Page 60 of Broken Sins (Volkov Bratva 3)

“I’d like to show you something,” he says.

I swallow hard. My heart is pounding so freaking loudly; I can’t hear anything else over theba-boom, ba-boomin my eardrums. “What is it?”

“You’ll see.”

I shake my head timidly. Why am I being such a little weakling right now? I’ve stood up to these brothers before. But for some reason, I feel very small and pathetic in this yawning corridor. My dad would be ashamed of me. He raised me to be tough and independent. This is … not that.

“That didn’t work out for me so well last time.”

Leo grins savagely. “Perhaps you will enjoy this more than my brother’s gift to you.”

“Okay.” What else can I say? I’m out of options. And, again—I want this. Whatever it is, I want it.

Leo takes my hand in his. It’s oddly affectionate, especially coming from a man like him who seems so aloof and distant. Together, we walk down the hallway silently. There’s a small wooden door, reinforced with steel, that’s set into the wall down on the right-hand side. Leo lays his other palm flat on the emblem that’s set into the heart of the door. It must be some kind of biometric security device, because I hear a few electronic beeps, then the mechanical whirr of a deadbolt retreating.

The door swings inward on silent hinges. Darkness beckons from within.

I look to Leo. He’s waiting patiently for me.

“After you, darling,” he says so quietly that I can barely hear him.

I gulp and walk inside.

It’s pitch-black. I can’t see anything, not even my own hand in front of my face. I hear Leo follow after me and shut the door behind him. I’m having a hard time breathing, like there’s not enough oxygen in here. The sound of the automated lock sliding back into place does nothing to reassure me.

“Leo?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer.

The only way out is through.I breathe and try to quell my tremors. I can sense Leo move off to my left, followed by another soft clicking noise.

Suddenly, I’m aware that there are lights slowly coming to life. They’re set in the walls like scones, and every one of them is tinged a dark reddish-gold. They don’t brighten very much, but it’s enough to cast everything in an eerie glow.

What they reveal makes my jaw drop.

It’s a full-on sex dungeon.

There are whips and studded paddles hanging neatly on a rack along one wall. The far corner houses a huge pair of wooden masts fashioned in the shape of an X, with cuffs on each end. I see what looks like a sawhorse, only the top portion is covered in thick leather the same color as the lighting. All manner of dangerous-looking devices are arranged around the room, and everything is bathed in that deep red-gold color. It doesn’t seem real. It’s too vivid and too vague at the same time. My brain can’t make sense of it.

I turn to face Leo. His eyes look somehow even bluer against the contrasting color of the light. It casts his pale skin in a fiery pallor. He looks imperial, like he got taller and broader and more intimidating since we first entered the room thirty seconds ago.

“What is this place?” I ask him.

He blinks once, slowly.

Then he asks me a question that forever changes the course of my life.

“Would you like to find out?”

17

Leo

I am on the verge of losing control. I cannot allow that to happen.

But I am so close.

This girl is a delicate flower waiting to be plucked. What she doesn’t yet realize is that plucking a flower kills it.

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