I stood before the cells where my siblings were being held. Matteo and Salvatore stood close to the iron bars, their faces worn but alert. My heart shattered at the sight of them.
I had pleaded with Gleb to grant me this one last request to see them before I was sent back to Italy in three days.
“Anna… how are you holding up?” Matteo asked, his voice laced with concern.
“Gleb and I are parting ways in three days,” I told them, my throat tightening.
“What?”
I nodded. “We failed to fulfill the purpose of the marriage, so his family decided to dissolve it.”
Matteo’s brows furrowed. “What purpose?”
I hesitated, suddenly self-conscious. “I was supposed to give his family an heir, but…” I looked away, my cheeks burning. “He won’t touch me.” A small, bitter laugh escaped me as I wiped away the tears forming at the corners of my eyes.
Matteo exhaled sharply. “Anna, that psycho refusing to touch you is the best thing that could have happened. When you get to Italy, tell Father we’re alive.”
I clenched my fists. “None of you asked me to get you out of here.”
Salvatore scoffed. “That’s because you can’t. The second you leave, we’re dead.”
“I won’t let him kill you.” The words left me firmly, but the way they looked at me, pity in their eyes, made my stomach turn.
Did they think I was that weak?
After exchanging a few more words, I turned to leave, my heart heavy with guilt. Could Gleb truly not grant me this one request? Even if it was the only thing he ever did for me?
As I stepped out of the dimly lit cell block, a sleek black car parked directly across from me. The door creaked open.
Gleb’s grandmother.
I folded my arms, refusing to hide my disdain. The woman had kept me here under false promises, claiming she would extend my time with Gleb. I had been a fool to trust her.
“Checking on your siblings?” she asked casually.
“Yeah.”
“I know you wish they were free, but the fact that they’re still alive should tell you we aren’t as savage as your parents.” Her voice was smooth, almost sympathetic. “Your father would have cut them apart, limb by limb.”
I exhaled. “Gleb told me you’d send me back to Italy as a corpse.”
“Oh, my dear,” she cooed, placing a hand on my cheek. “You remind me of my goddaughter so much. If she were alive, she’d be your age now. It would have been comforting to have her around.”
She let go and sighed. “I want to leave Russia alive.”
“Have you checked on your womb?” she asked, changing the subject with unnerving ease.
I frowned. “My womb is fine. The problem is Gleb. He refuses to touch me, and last I checked, I can’t get pregnant on my own.”
She looked away briefly before turning back to me. “Shall I get you another man?”
I recoiled. “No.” I steadied my breath. “Again, I just want to leave alive. And if you have any decency, you’ll release my brother and cousins too. I know my parents are terrible people, but my siblings and I are not.”
Her fingers traced the rings on her hand as she considered me. Then she spoke, her tone deceptively light.
“The way this works, Anna, is simple. You must be of value to me if you want my help. If you are without value, there is no reason to grant your requests.”
I swallowed hard.
“I offered you a deal,” she continued. “Betray your parents, deliver them to me. You refused. Even though you know what kind of monsters they are.”
I looked out the window, my mind a storm of conflicted memories. Could my parents really be as evil as everyone said? All my life, I had only known them as loving.
The car veered sharply onto an unmarked road. The tires crunched against the dirt as we descended down a steep slope.
I tensed. “Grandma… this isn’t the way home.”
She let out a soft chuckle. “Like you know your way around Moscow?”
My heart pounded as I scanned my surroundings, tall trees, scattered huts, no sign of civilization.
The car came to an abrupt stop.
Panic seized my chest. “Grandma… are you about to kill me?”
She stepped out without answering.
I reached for the door handle, my pulse hammering in my ears. The moment my feet hit the ground, I saw them, several burly men emerging from the trees.
My fingers trembled as I pulled out my phone. My only lifeline. My only hope.
I dialed Gleb.
“Please pick up, please pick up.”
My fingers shook. The line rang. Once. Twice.
He picked up.
“Gleb,” I gasped. “Grandma brought me somewhere. I don’t know where… I think she’s going to kill me.”
Silence.
A slow inhale. Then: “Can you describe the place?”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t… I don’t know. A forest. There are huts. Men.” My voice broke. “She… she’s tying me up.”
More silence. Then something rustled, movement. A low voice on his end. He wasn’t alone.
“Anna.” His voice was different now. Flat. Calculating. “Stay on the phone.”
Across from me, grandma turned sharply, her eyes darkening.
She walked over, snatched the phone from my grasp, and held it to her ear. “Gleb.” Her voice was almost amused. “Your little wife thinks she can report me to you.”
I strained to hear his response, but she didn’t put it on speaker.
Her next words sent ice through my veins.
“Only because of you, Gleb, will I let her die with minimal pain.”
Then, with a single stomp of her heel, she crushed the phone into the dirt.
I sucked in a breath, my mind racing. Run.
I turned, ready to bolt into the trees, but before I could take more than a step, something coiled around my ankle.
A rope.
I crashed to the ground with a gasp.
Rough hands grabbed me, hauling me back toward her. My breath came in ragged gulps.
“Please don’t let them rape me,” I pleaded desperately. “Kill me if you must, but don’t let them touch me.”
Her hum was eerily soft. “They won’t.” She met my terrified gaze. “Not because I care about your dignity, but because you are still Gleb’s wife. And disrespecting him is not something I tolerate.”
Relief barely had time to set in before she added, “But they will strip you and tie you to that tree. Then, we will proceed with your execution.”
I shook my head violently. “Grandma, wait… what if I can help you get my parents?”
Her eyes flickered with interest before they dimmed again. “It’s too late for that, dear. I will find them on my own.”
She made a subtle gesture. Two men stepped forward.
As the men restrained me, I stopped struggling. What was the point? It wasn’t just the ropes cutting into my wrists that made me weak, it was the weight of betrayal. I had no illusions about Gleb’s love, but I thought, on some level, I mattered. That his obsession meant something.
But he wasn’t coming for me.
And if he wasn’t coming… who would?
He had said I’d be sent back to Italy once the thirty days were up, and it seemed that’s exactly what was about to happen.
Grandma exhaled another cloud of smoke, watching me with something almost like pity.
“If only you had been reasonable, Anna.” Her fingers tapped the cigarette against the side of a tree. “I would have given you everything. Protection. Power. A place in our family.” She tilted her head. “All you had to do was betray your parents. But you? You’re still clinging to the fantasy that they love you.”
I swallowed hard. Was I?
With a wave of her hand, the men holding me exchanged glances. One, tall, scarred, with a jagged tattoo curling up his neck, sighed in frustration.
“We’re really doing this?” he muttered.
Another snorted. “Orders are orders.”
A third man chuckled. “Gleb ain’t gonna stop us if she’s already dead.” His eyes roamed over me hungrily. “What’s one last little taste?”
My stomach twisted. They weren’t supposed to touch me, but the way they spoke, it was like they were convincing himself it would be worth the risk.
“If you touch her, I’ll cut your dick off myself,” Grandma said flatly.
A sob tore from my throat. “Please. I don’t want to die.”
Grandma tilted her head, a mockery of sympathy in her expression. “Oh, my dear…”
“No!” I screamed, jerking back, but hands grabbed me, strong, unyielding, indifferent.
Fingers ripped at my clothes, tearing fabric from my body as I thrashed against them. My bra snapped, leaving me exposed before their leering gazes. I tried to cover myself, but two men forced my arms down, pinning me to the dirt.
“Please,” I sobbed. “Please… If Anastasia was still alive, would she want this? Would she want you to turn into the same kind of monster my father is?”
I could see her clenching her fist, looking away…ashamed, but refusing to admit it.
Laughter. Someone grabbed the waistband of my trousers, yanking the zipper down. Cold air hit my thighs as they dragged them lower, lower… until I was left in my underwear.
A beat of silence. Then…
“Shit!” One of the men recoiled.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I already knew. They’d seen the blood.
A sharp slap cracked across my face, whipping my head to the side.
One of them cursed, his disgust obvious. “She’s bleeding.”
Another snorted. “So? You never had a woman on her cycle before?”
A third spat to the side, scowling. “Mrs. Valentina said no touching. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna lose my damn head over this.”
“No one touches her.” Grandma shouted from where she stood.
One of the men hesitated, his gaze raking over my bare skin. “You sure?”
Grandma smiled. “You still want to keep your fingers, don’t you?”
She turned toward the car. The men grinned as they watched her leave, their eyes flicking back to me like predators studying caged prey.
Then…
One of them stepped forward, unbuttoning his pants.
A sick feeling twisted in my gut.
“We shouldn’t be doing this. The Pakhan will have our heads.” One of the men’s voices trembled slightly.
I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to disappear.
A twig snapped somewhere behind the trees. The men didn’t notice, but my stomach twisted in unease.
Another crackle. A rustle. Was someone there? Or was my mind playing tricks on me?
The man was still smirking, his hand reaching for himself…
Then… A blur of silver.
For a moment, there was nothing. Then a scream, high, raw, inhuman.
My eyes snapped open just in time to see blood spraying in the air, an arc of red painting the dirt.
The man fell to his knees, clutching his groin. A choked, agonized sound wrenched from his throat. Half scream, half gurgle.
His dismembered flesh lay in the dirt.
A knife had severed his dick clean off.
Terror lanced through my spine. Who?
A shadow moved beyond the trees.
Another whistle.
And then… another scream.
The silence was deafening.
The others took a stunned step back as the man collapsed, howling in agony.
“What the…?”
Another knife.
This one buried itself in another man’s throat before he even had time to react.
Panic erupted.
Gunfire exploded from the trees.
Men screamed, scrambling for their weapons. One dropped before he could even aim. Another took a bullet to the knee, collapsing as blood gushed from his shattered leg.
The trees weren’t empty.
There were people out there.
But who?
Gleb’s men? Vincenzo? Someone else entirely?
Grandma didn’t move.
Even as her men fell around her, she stood perfectly still, watching with cold calculation.
“Well, well,” she murmured. “He actually came for you.”
She turned her gaze to me, eyes narrowing slightly. “I didn’t think you mattered to him this much.”
Her lips curled into something that almost resembled a smirk. “How… interesting.”
I wanted to believe she was wrong, that Gleb had come for me because he cared. But as my vision blurred and the chaos swallowed me whole, one question echoed in my mind:
Then why did he wait?
