Page 153 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

The bastard grins. Vanishes.

Leaving me slumped forward in the chair. Unable to do anything but writhe with pain and scream into the empty void around me.

Then—more movement in the black beyond.

And Cesar steps forward into my line of vision.

He smiles sadly. That tousled black hair that would never lay straight looks the same as it always did. The same as it did the day he left and never came home.

My dead brother walks over, kneels next to me, and strokes the back of my hand.

“Hello, Esme,” he murmurs.

“You left me,” I whisper. The knife in my ribs hurts so bad. “You promised you wouldn’t, but you did. Look what happened now.”

“I know, little bird,” he says. His eyes are full of tears. Mine are, too. “I didn’t have a choice. I’m sorry.”

“That’s enough,” another voice says. Sharp, cruel, and horribly familiar.

A new man joins us.

“Papa,” I breathe.

My father ignores me. He sets a hand on Cesar’s shoulder and pulls my brother to his feet.

“She’s a lost cause,” he mutters. “A whore for the Russian. Do what must be done.”

Cesar nods. Dutiful as ever.

Slowly, he pivots to face me again.

“I’m sorry, little sister,” he says in a voice so low I can barely hear it.

Then he pulls a knife out of nowhere and stabs me in the chest.

I scream, so long and loud that I nearly shred my own eardrums. Cesar lets his hand fall, but he leaves the knife buried in me.

Then he too turns and leaves.

It’s just Papa and me now. He’s staring down at me. His mask is off—there’s no hiding the bubbling malice in his brown eyes.

He despises me.

Or maybe something worse, actually.

Maybe he just doesn’t care about me at all.

“Papa, please, no—”

But he’s already doing it. Already plucking a knife from his hip and plunging it into my thigh.

I scream again. My throat is raw from it.

Papa is leaving. He doesn’t look back.

I don’t know how long I sit there with a waterfall of tears pouring down my cheeks. Seconds or centuries—I can’t be sure.

But some eternity later, one more man comes forth.

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