Reap (Scarred Souls, #2)(78)

“Never, not once, in all the jobs we’ve been sent on, has the knayz or a pakhan fought beside us. Alik Durov fought in the Dungeon. He murdered on these streets for nothing more than he was a sick f*ck. He treated our men like dogs, disposable soldiers for his amusement. But you, sir, you fight alongside us with pride, as a brother in arms. You give us pride for the Volkov family, and for our position in New York.” He glanced back to the watching now-silent byki, and said, “You’ve led us in every way since you came back. And every one of our brothers here, and the rest of the Bratva soldiers, would follow you straight into hell.” Mikhail shifted in his seat and added, “You’ll be the best pakhan we’ve ever had someday, sir. And I’ll be proudly standing by your side. We all will.”

Emotion clogged my throat at the brothers’ faith in me, and I shared their pride. As I felt the steel of my ’dusters on my hands and the rifle sitting in my lap, I finally knew. I knew this was the life I was made for. The battle, the violence, the years of killing in the gulag, and brother to my thieves in law.

I was the motherf*cking knayz of the Volkov Bratva.

And I wouldn’t fail tonight.

I wouldn’t fail until I wore the name pakhan in my heart. I wouldn’t stop until I made us the strongest, most feared Mafia in all of New York.

I took a long deep breath.

I was finally f*cking home.





Chapter Twenty

Zaal

Darkness.

Back in darkness.

I hated the f*cking darkness.

The chains hung tight and heavy around my wrists and ankles. And the cell was freezing cold.

I didn’t know how long I’d been back here in this hell, but it was long enough to miss the sun. It was enough to miss the light.

My stomach churned in pain. I had to close my eyes and breathe through my nose when I thought of what I missed most.

Talia. My Talia.

Anger filled my chest when I thought of her hanging off the chains, bloodied and beaten, with Jakhua holding a knife to her throat.

She was so strong. Begging with her eyes not to exchange my life for hers. But that was never a possibility. My heart, my heart would never survive losing her. It was full for her. I would take the drugs to keep her safe.

Talia would be safe.

The sound of a guard entering the cell pierced through the dark. Footsteps approached me. A bright light suddenly flared. I flinched away from the flash of white.

“Get up,” the usual guard hissed, speaking in my native Georgian tongue. “Master wants to see you.”

“He’s not my f*cking master,” I snarled. The guard stepped back as I got to my feet and approached the door. I could see the fear on his face.

He was weak.

I held out my hands, but the guard didn’t move. “I will not move,” I said. “Do what you came to do.”

The guard hung back. I could hear the rattle of the keys in his shaking hands. Fury took hold, and slamming my hand against the metal bars, I roared, “Do it!”

The guard jumped into action and unlocked the door. I held out my hands. Gripping the chain he led me down the dank hallway and to a dark room at the end. My skin pricked as flashbacks rushed into my brain. Needles, pain, screams … Anri … Anri …

The guard pulled on the chain. He threw open a door to a room. Suddenly, everything was familiar—the narrow bed, the straps that tied me down, the single light hanging from the roof, and the smell. The smell of chemicals, of the drug, the drug they pumped into my veins, the drug that made me forget.

I didn’t want to forget.

I didn’t want to forget long golden hair, a pair of brown eyes and that smile. Talia’s smile.

Someone entered the door behind me. I knew it was Jakhua. I could sense him. I could see his face in my mind as he ordered the death of my family. I could clearly hear his voice as he ordered his guards to shoot, and I could see that look of satisfaction on his face, as he told the guards to leave my family in a heap against the wall, slaughtered and piled up like culled pigs. And I remembered his face as he strapped my brother and me down, and pumped us full of liquid rage.

“Get him chained to the wall,” he said from behind me. The guard pulled me by my chains, doing as instructed.

I hung from the wall. Jakhua ordered, “Tighter.”

The guard pulled on the chains. I gritted my teeth as my arms stretched so wide that my arm muscles burned.

I breathed through my nose; in and out, in and out, trying to dull the pain. Suddenly, two feet stood in front of me. Fueled with venom and hatred, I raised my head, and met the eyes of Jakhua. His face contorted with fury as I met his eyes. Pulling his arm back, he slammed it straight into my stomach. But I didn’t react. I didn’t even flinch.

Redness spread on Jakhua’s face. Gripping me by my hair, he wrenched back my head and spat, “You f*cking dare to look me in the eye. You.”

My eyes never moved from his, and I hissed, “I remember. I remember, everything.”

When the cunt didn’t react, I said, “I remember you walking into our country house. I remember you killing my family. I remember being brought to you. Remember being tied down to a bed, along with my brother. I remember you experimenting on us. Injecting us, beating us, forcing us to fight as children. Forcing us to kill others, to learn to be savage. I remember you tying us to the wall, just as I am now, hitting us until we called you master. Beating us until we forgot our own names.”