Page 65 of Vow of Silence

“What’s up Jayden?” they asked.

He ran his hands through his hair. “She can’t go home uninjured. She wants you to both to hurt her.”

I rolled my eyes. “I need both of you to beat the shit out of me. I’m talking black eyes, busted lips and bruised or broken ribs. If go home like I am now, my father won’t believe I didn’t betray him. I’m a fighter. He knows that I would never return like this.”

Jayden swore and stormed down the hallway. Within minutes the stairs shook as he ran up them. He must really hate the idea of a man hitting a woman. That was the universe showing me that there were still some good men in this world. It seemed like every two minutes a woman was lost to domestic violence.

Maria shook her head. “We’ve always hated Felix Aslanov. Since meeting you we know there’s a special place in hell for him when he dies. Come on Kim, let’s go upstairs to help Jayden.”

Logan cracked his neck muscles. “I won’t hit you in the nose. You have a pretty face. I’d hate to permanently tarnish your appearance.”

Kim turned around. “Tamsyn, are you coming up with us?”

She smiled. “No. I’m going to help the men get her good.”

Ethan didn’t say a word, he just sat his rings on the table. He walked over and punched me in the face. I doubled over with the force of it and swiftly stood back up. Bam. He struck me with a two-piece combo. He hit my nose, and blood was now leaking down my face. Before I could get up, Tamsyn started stomping me. The bitch had put her entire body weight into the blows. She kicked me in the stomach, back, and neck. After the sixth kick to the head, I yanked her down, and elbowed her in the face.

“Bitch, are you trying to break my neck?” I leaned over and headbutted her, before rolling away.

Logan punched me in the stomach. I fell to my knees. Ethan came behind me and dragged me to my feet. Logan began punching me on both sides of my ribs. Each blow was like a steel beam hitting me.

After twelve blows I shook my head. “That’s enough.”

Ethan laughed and dropped me. Tamsyn walked up and kicked me in the face. A bunch of blood poured from my mouth as both of my lips slit. My body trembled with rage. I jumped to my feet and picked her up and body slammed her. Climbing on top of her, I punched her in the face until she was leaking blood and my fingers were numb.

Logan pulled me from her. “Stop. You’re going to kill her.”

Good.

“The bitch thinks she’s slick.”

* * *

An hour later, I drove the old junk car Jayden had given me to the house. I opened the door and fell in. I hadn’t eaten and I hadn’t had any insulin. I was weak. My plan worked a little too well because I had two black eyes, two busted lips and I was certain my ribs were broken instead of bruised. Every time I tried to breathe, it felt like I was sucking air out of a ripped straw.

My father’s men surrounded me. I held my hand out. “A little help please.”

Instead of running to help me, they stood watching me try to move. My head was spinning and my vision was blurry. I saw the front door open and the men backed up. Boris sauntered up to me. I opened my mouth, but his fist came toward my face. Pain radiated up my face from the chin to my forehead. I slumped over.

Splash.

Jerking awake, I trembled as I sat naked in a chair with my hands and feet bound. The freezing water was very unpleasant against my bruised body. My toes curled against the industrial plastic covering on the floor. I knew why father had me naked, but the freezing water was unnecessary.

Great. He’s going to torture me.

Boris sat the empty bucket down and leaned against the wall. If he thought I wasn’t aware of his sick sadistic tendencies, I was. He always egged my father on to prolong the torture sessions.

Father walked through the door.

He tossed a wool blanket over my bruised body. “I’ll put this on you for now. Where have you been?”

I opened my mouth but froze when I felt the sting of a familiar pin prick. The asshole had injected me with his infamous truth serum. This was a good thing in a way. The substance was hard on the body so my veins would roll and be hard to inject later. I had perfected lying with it in my body. Years ago, I assumed that this day would come. In fact, I’d planned on it.

“I broke up with my boyfriend and I stole your car. After everything we said to each other, I needed to get away from the party. The damn car ran out of gas, and I was kidnapped.”

Father looked at Boris. “That doesn’t explain what you were doing in Prague.”

How does he know about Prague?

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