“You’re making a mistake,” he hissed. “I saved your life, and this is how you repay me? Do you think that man couldn’t have killed you?” He towered over me, his voice cold. “If I say you open your fucking legs, you’ll do it. Do you understand me?”
His hand reached forward, pushing between my thighs, and something snapped inside me.
Rage surged, drowning out the fear. My grip on the knife tightened.
“Strip the fuck for m—”
I didn’t let him finish. With a cry, I swung the knife, the blade sinking into his stomach.
His gasp filled the air, and I stumbled away. Blood seeped into his shirt, staining the fabric.
“F-fucking slut,” he spat, clutching at the wound.
I froze, my mind blank with shock. Almost immediately, my survival instincts kicked in. I bolted, my legs carrying me out of the kitchen.
Christ.I stabbed him.I stabbed Renat.
The thought screamed in my mind as I ran, tears blurring my vision. People shouted as I bumped into them, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I needed to get away.
A door loomed ahead. I pushed it open, locking it behind me before collapsing against it.
I stabbed him.
The sobs came hard and fast, my hands trembling as I buried my face in them. He drove me to this.
Footsteps echoed outside, and I held my breath. A sudden presence made my heart plummet. My eyes snapped up, and there he was, Artur.
Artur stood at the foot of the stairs, his glare pinned on me like a predator sizing up its prey. Where was this? This… this was his wing?
Someone kicked the door open from outside, and I stumbled forward. Matvet walked in, but he didn’t spare me a glance. I tried to shrink into myself, hoping everything would disappear if I didn’t make a sound.
“Boss, we have a situation,” Matvet reported.
Artur’s eyes never left me. “Start talking.”
“I…I didn’t mean to. He,” I sobbed. “He tried to force me to strip. And I—”
“Get her out of my fucking sight,” Artur barked, and Matvet grabbed me. This time, he wasn’t gentle.
Chapter Seven
Alessia
I stabbed someone.
The thought clawed at me. I had crossed a line and joined their ranks. Now I carried the stain of blood on my hands. Only a few days into this nightmare, and I had turned into what I feared most. A killer.
The memory played on a loop in my head. I remembered the knife buried in Renat’s stomach, the blood spreading across his shirt like a dark promise. I couldn’t sleep. Each time I closed my eyes, the image forced itself behind my lids, searing into me like a brand.
Renat wasn’t a good man. I knew that. Yet guilt wrapped around me like a noose, tightening with every passing second. Locked in this cold, desolate basement, I had no idea what awaited me. Clara warned me, but I didn’t listen.
Would they kill me?
And Renat... was he dead?
I hated him with everything I had, but I didn’t want this to be true. I didn’t want to be a murderer. He deserved it. He would have taken what wasn’t his, I reminded myself, yet my breath hitched.
Was that enough to justify what I did?