CHAPTER ONE
HULK
I will not give in. I will never give in.
The pain fillsme to the point that I’m not sure I can stand it anymore. Seeping into every nerve, every muscle, and every bone until I feel like I’m going to splinter apart. Vlad and his men have been going at it for so long that I can feel myself giving up. I can feel my body wanting to quit, my mind screaming at me to tell them what they want to know. It’s a weakness that I’ll hate myself for the rest of my life.
I will not give in. I will never give in. They’re not going to get an ounce of information out of me.
Being six-five and almost three hundred pounds gives them more of a target, and considering Vlad’s newfound fun with a whip, after beating on me for a good solid hour and slicing my skin for a few more, they’ve left no part of my body untouched. I’m surprised my skin hasn’t just fallen off with every slice ofthe whip’s edge. I can feel the blood pouring down my back, and with each strike, I’m sure he’s getting closer and closer to the bone.
I try to hold back my screams, but there’s only so much I can take. Still, with every demand and every question he asks, I manage to keep my silence, trying to rebuild my resolve and strength for the next round.
Finally, it stops. Torture-wise, this is tamer than I expected when I woke up here, but I know this is only the beginning. This is Vlad’s time to try to get me to talk before he lets his men do the rest of the work.
I just pray that if I’m going to die, I’ll do it cursing him and keeping my brothers safe. Keeping the women safe.
“Tell me what you know and I’ll end you quickly,” Vlad orders, barely contained fury leaking out from behind his calm words. “Otherwise, this is going to be your reality for days, weeks even, until you die in agony.”
I lift my gaze, letting him see the defiance in my eyes. The pure hatred that follows swiftly behind it.
“If you plan on keeping him alive, he will need his back seen to. He’ll die of infection before the night is over,” another deep voice says.
Even through the pain, I know that voice belongs to Vlad’s newest lapdog. Though, I suppose, lapdog is far from the truth. Out of all the men he’s had with him, Nikolai Egorov is the one who will do the most damage, and the one most feared by everyone around them. Even through my pain-filled vision, I can see the slight unease in Vlad’s eyes, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Nikolai is the boogeyman to most Russians—a Pakhan favorite for getting things done.
If he gets a turn on me, I’ll be dead before he’s through, and probably missing a few body parts before he finally kills me. The man has no mercy and is an expert torturer.
I just have to hope that I can hold out until then.
“Fine,” Vlad grits out, stepping back from me. “Get that bitch to come in and clean him up. Make sure one of the men is in here with her.” Then he walks away, the door slamming behind him.
I stay suspended from the rafters above me. My toes barely touch the floor.
When Nikolai comes to my front, we’re almost eye to eye, even with me suspended. At six-foot-six, he’s only an inch taller than me. His dark hair is military-style short, and he’s thick and muscular like me; enough that I’m not sure how he doesn’t bust out of that suit he’s wearing, but clearly money can buy good clothes.
“You are willing to die for your club. But are they willing to die for you?”
I don’t want anyone to die for me, but I know that Bullet will never allow me to be left behind. The man is too fucking loyal. And with the women being sent away, there won’t be anything holding him from unleashing all the power the MC has. Not just for me, though. But for the freedom of being able to have our town back, and going back to the normal way of life for the club.
And that will happen with or without me.
CHAPTER TWO
AVERY
I’m going to kill my mother the next time I lay eyes on her. And I’ll make it worse than whatever these guys are planning for her.
The hospital is quiet tonight.Never a good sign. You never trust a quiet night in a place like this; it’s just a part of the emergency services rule books somewhere. Hell, it’s worse than someone actually saying the word aloud. A surefire way to have three groups of people pissed off at you.
I look at the clock ticking so loudly in the silence; it’s maddening. I have another hour of my shift, and it looks like it’s going to drag out. Not even coffee will help, and I swear by it.
“How are the kids doing at school?” one of the other nurses, Sherry, asks. A thirty-plus career nurse, she’s a steady presence in a place like this. We work well together, despite our age difference, and she’s one of the few people here that I can call a friend.
“Isla is excelling while terrifying her teachers and classmates. Sawyer is struggling a bit with math, but I’m hoping we can get him a tutor.”
She nods. “My sons always struggled with math too, and now I can’t even help my grandchildren because they do things so differently.” She rolls her eyes. “Who knew there were a dozen different ways to add and subtract?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I’ve heard some of it. I don’t even try to help either of them much with their homework unless it’s science related, and I can use what I learn here to explain it.”
