Chapter 29

"We've already told you what we did. Now, her sentence will be given by your pakhan. I imagine you know him better than we do."

Yes, I knew him. That was exactly why I was so tense.

But if there was nothing I could do, I would stay silent.

It was two hours of those bastards taking turns. They seemed to enjoy torturing me, and by the end, I felt like a rag. My back was burning as if someone had set it on fire, and still, it wasn't enough, because I endured a handful of salt, which they thought would make me speak.

I stayed silent.

They wanted to know about her. About my brothers. I would rather be torn apart than think that a single word of mine could make the situation worse for those I loved.

When I was left alone, hearing the heavy door slam shut, I was almost unconscious. I wanted to throw myself on the floor, even if I fell face-first when they freed my fists, but I couldn't.

I lost consciousness more than once, my mouth dry, desperate for water. My hair stuck to my sweaty forehead, but if I pushed it back, the strands would stick to the wounds, and it would be much worse.

Damn... I felt blood dripping everywhere. Falling to the floor in sync with a dripping sound somewhere in that cell. That only made me want to drink some water even more.

I couldn't tell how long I had been waiting there, but at some point, I entered a delirium. Dreaming or awake, I opened my eyes and saw Alejandra in front of me. Beautiful, dressed in white like the first time we met, coming towards me.

I couldn't free my hands to touch her, so she vanished in front of me, turning to dust.

Where was she? What was she going through?

If thinking about her with a small cut on her face had already made me furious, imagining that she could be suffering the same way I was made me ready to explode the whole world, if allowed.

In a treacherous burst of determination, I took a deep breath and started pulling at the chains, wherever they were attached.

Alejandra's face came back to my mind.

For her, I pulled strength from the depths of my being and pulled at the chains once more.

I looked to the side, and they were connected to a slightly rusty link, attached to a wooden column. If I were in better shape, I would have freed myself with some effort. In the state I was in, only thinking of finding Alejandra to protect and defend her would make me achieve this feat.

I let out a roar with the third pull, feeling the wounds on my back tear at my skin.

To hell with it. Alejandra was more important.

The fourth pull made me hear the wood creak. I also felt the chains move slightly.

I needed to catch my breath, but more than that, it wasn't just my back that hurt. My fists were certainly raw.

Again: I didn't care. Getting out of there was a matter of life or death for the woman I...

No. It wasn't the time to admit for the first time what I felt for her. Only when we were face to face, and I could say it, looking into her eyes.

A few more pulls were necessary, and I managed to free one of the chains first. But that gave me the momentum to keep trying until I tore the second one off.

I needed a few moments to recover, so I threw myself on the ground, face down. I might have lost consciousness again, but I woke up when I heard the door open.

It wouldn't do any good to have the chains loose if they were just going to restrain me again. I didn't even know where I was, but I would find a way to escape.

"Damn! He got free!" one of the men exclaimed, surprised. "How the hell did you do that?"

I wasn't going to answer. Not just because I couldn't, being out of breath like that, but because he didn't deserve an answer.

Straining myself to my limit, I got up and used the chain still attached to my wrist to grab one of the goons from behind, choking him.

Kicking out my leg, I struck the other one in front of me while snapping the neck of the one I had as my hostage.

Swinging the chain with my other arm, I hit the second guy, who staggered back.

Two more arrived. I was furious.

With only the two chains as weapons, I took all four down. In minutes.

The door was open, and I walked through it, marching, my hair falling in my face. The adrenaline burned through my body so much that I no longer felt the pain from my injuries. Probably, they would make me pay later, but I entered a haze of violence, similar to the one that overtook me years ago when I had to save myself and Kolya. The event that gave me my nickname.

Passing through the corridor, which I didn't even know where it would take me, I noticed a mirror beside me. Looking at my state, all I saw were my blonde, loose hair falling in my face. The wounds on my back were bleeding and not in a pretty state.

There was blood in my hair too. On my fists. On my hands. All over my body.

It was dripping and falling to the floor.

In that state, I really did look like a beast.

"What did you do to this man?" A male voice put me on alert.

I swallowed hard, trying to extract energy from where it no longer existed.

When I raised my eyes to whoever was coming, I saw Giovanni Caccini and Dominic Ungaretti. Beside them, Hunter Phoenix, my friend, was walking toward me.

He looked fine, but he ran to me to hold me when my legs gave out, and I almost fell to the ground.

"Can someone explain to me what happened here?" Giovanni insisted. "This man works for me."

"But, sir... he's from the Bratva. He's here for some reason..."

"I already know all about that. Take him to a decent place and take care of his injuries. We'll sort this out and talk."

I couldn't hear much more,

because I passed out again, thinking about Alejandra.