Chapter 120 Chapter 120
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty
Dimitri
The food Lucia brought was keeping me alive.
Barely.
She came twice a day now. Once in the morning. Once at night.
Real food. Not scraps. And medicine for my wounds.
I was healing, slowly.
My ribs still hurt. My arm was still weak. But I could move now without collapsing.
And I could think clearly again.
Which was both a blessing and a curse.
Because clear thoughts meant remembering. And remembering meant pain.
Sergei's death. Mikhail's broken legs. Irina's face as they dragged me away. Nikolai growing up without me.
The thoughts haunted me in the darkness.
But they also fueled me. Gave me purpose.
I would survive this. I would escape. I would get my family back.
The cell door opened. Torchlight flooded in.
I shielded my eyes.
"Up," a guard ordered.
Here we go again. Another beating. Another interrogation.
I stood slowly. My body protesting.
They grabbed my arms. But gentler this time. Like they were following new orders.
They led me upstairs. But not to Alexei's office.
To a bathroom.
I stared in confusion.
"Boss says you need to clean up," one guard explained. "You stink."
They threw me inside, leaving clean clothes on the counter.
"You have ten minutes," the guard said. Then locked the door.
I stood there, not quite believing it.
A shower. Actual running water.
I turned on the tap and nearly cried when hot water came out.
I scrubbed three weeks of filth and blood off my body, watching it swirl down the drain.
When I was done, I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time since my capture.
I barely recognized the man staring back.
Gaunt. Hollow-eyed. Covered in bruises and scars.
But alive.
I dressed in the clean clothes. They fit poorly. They were too big. Like I had lost significant weight.
Which I had.
The guard knocked. "Time's up."
I opened the door.
They led me to Alexei's office.
He was sitting behind his desk, smiling.
"Much better," Alexei said. "You look almost human again."
I did not respond. I just stood there.
"Sit," Alexei ordered, gesturing to a chair.
I sat, warily.
Alexei pushed a plate of meat, vegetables and bread across the desk.
"Eat," he said.
"Why?" I asked. "What changed?"
"I have decided you are more useful to me alive and healthy than dead and broken," Alexei explained.
"Useful how?" I asked.
"I am moving forward with my plan," Alexei said. "To take over your territory. And I need you presentable for when I parade you through Moscow."
So that was it. He wanted me healthy enough to humiliate publicly.
"I told you," I said. "I will never help you."
"You do not have to help," Alexei replied. "You just have to exist. That is all I need."
He leaned back in his chair.
"Your lieutenants are tearing each other apart," Alexei continued. "They have separated into five factions now. All claiming to be the rightful successor. It is chaos. Mikhail is helpless against them."
"You are lying," I said. But I could hear the doubt.
"Am I?" Alexei smiled. "Why would I lie? You are here. Powerless. I have already won."
He pulled out a newspaper. Slid it across the desk.
I picked it up and read the headline.
VOLKOV EMPIRE IN TURMOIL: POWER VACUUM LEADS TO VIOLENCE
My blood ran cold.
"As you can see," Alexei said. "Your empire is crumbling without you."
I read the article. It detailed the infighting. The violence. The chaos.
Everything I had built was falling apart.
"In two weeks," Alexei said. "I will march into Moscow. I will show them you. And I will offer them a choice. Join me. Or die."
"They will fight you," I said.
"Some will," Alexei agreed. "But most will bend the knee. Because they are pragmatists. They want to survive."
He stood up and walked to the window.
"And then," Alexei continued. "The Volkov empire will become the Alexei empire. Everything you built will be mine."
Rage boiled inside me. But I forced it down. Showing emotion would only please him.
"What about Irina?" I asked. "What about Nikolai?"
"They are already mine," Alexei said. "Irina is learning her place. And Nikolai..." He smiled. "Nikolai is bonding with me. Soon, he will forget you entirely."
The words were knives.
"You bastard," I said quietly.
"Careful, brother," Alexei warned. "I am being generous by letting you live. Do not make me reconsider."
He walked back to his desk. Sat down.
"You will be moved to a better cell," Alexei said. "With a bed. A window. Regular meals."
"Why?" I asked suspiciously.
"Because in two weeks, you need to look healthy enough to stand trial," Alexei explained. "I am going to put you on trial in Moscow. For crimes against the brotherhood. For weakness."
"A show trial," I said.
"Exactly," Alexei confirmed. "And you will confess. You will admit your failures. You will beg for mercy."
"Never," I said.
"We will see," Alexei replied. "You have two weeks to think about it."
He nodded to the guards.
"Take him to the new cell," Alexei ordered. "And make sure he eats. I need him strong for the trial."
They led me out, down a different corridor to a different part of the basement.
This cell was better. Much better.
A ac
tual bed with a mattress. A small window high up. A toilet. A sink.
Luxury compared to where I had been.
But still a prison.
The guards left and locked the door.
I sat on the bed, looking around.
This was Alexei's plan. To fatten me up. Make me presentable. Then parade me through Moscow as proof of his victory.
And I could do nothing to stop it.
Unless...
I walked to the small window and looked out.
It was too high and too small. There was no escape here.
But at least I could see outside. I could
see the sky and the trees.
Freedom was so close, yet so far.
I lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Two weeks. I had two weeks before Alexei took me to Moscow.
Two weeks to figure out an escape.
Two weeks to save my family.
It was not enough time. But it was all I had.
I closed my eyes and thought of Irina and Nikolai.
They were why I had to survive. Why I had to escape.
I would find a way.
I had to.
Because the alternative was unthinkable.