Page 25 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

The man from earlier. The one with the square jaw, the beautiful lips, the midnight-black eyes.

His stare is even more intense up close.

And right now, he looks absolutely murderous.

“Yo, buddy, get the fuck out of here,” the monster on top of me says. “Go find another whore to stick your cock into. This one’s mine.”

My guardian angel doesn’t bother responding.

He takes one step forward, grabs Boulder Man by the throat, and hurls him to the ground.

I feel the pressure around my neck disappear and my legs suddenly feel like jelly. It takes all my strength to stay on my feet.

I draw in a deep, shuddering breath.

Then I look up to see what’s happening.

The two men are on the ground. My rapist is at least fifty pounds heavier than the dark-eyed man—mostly in the beer gut department—but that doesn’t seem to make a difference.

All I can see is a flurry of fists.

All I can hear is a series of muffled groans and sickening crunches.

There’s blood on the tiles, I notice suddenly.

Then—one more crunch.

I scream and look away, but not before I see Boulder Man’s elbow bent exactly the wrong direction. The image sears itself into my brain.

I’m still covering my eyes as I hear more muffled noises.

When I look up again, I see that my attacker has dragged the rapist out into the hallway.

He delivers one more swift, brutal kick to the man’s ribs—CRUNCH—spits on him, and then slams the door shut. Locks it with aclick.

Then he turns to me.

And my heart does a platform dive into the acid of my stomach.

I thought the dark-eyed man was my savior.

What if I was wrong?

I’m shaking like a leaf. Horrified all over again. One bad thought leads to the next.

Is this better? Is it worse? What have I gotten myself into? What is going to happen next?

My dress is ripped, my face is bruised, and I’m sweating all over.

But despite the brutal beatdown this man just administered, he looks perfectly calm.

Perfectly composed.

The very picture of icy control.

“Did he hurt you?” he asks.

His voice resonates with something inside me. I’m still too choked up to answer.

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