Chapter 28

Daelyn

Sitting in this dingy, dark room on the concrete floor makes me detach again. I’m so exhausted, so sick and tired of everything and of myself. If Dmitri leaves me here until I decay, I won’t mind.

His room smells like him, which makes my body and brain clash because I feel both safe and trapped at the same time. I can’t believe he lives down here. I’d call him a liar if it weren’t for the rack of clothing hanging across from me. Each piece looks expensive and well taken care of. The blanket at the foot of his cot is also folded nice and neat. There isn’t even a spec of dirt or dust bunny on his cold floor.

The punching bag hanging from a chain looks menacing and well-used. How many hours a day does he spend throttling that thing?

Dread seeps in as I realize what I’ve done. I’m locked in a dangerous man’s room, in a basement of a club, with no way out or to call for help.

Suddenly, the door unlocks and swings open. Dmitri carries in a tray of food, though he still looks angry. “Thought you’d be hungry.”

I don’t move from the floor.

When he looks around as if he’s trying to find a place to rest the tray, he blows out a quick sigh and lowers it to the floor in front of me. “I live simply, and I don’t eat where I sleep, so I don’t have a table or chairs.”

But he’s not going to let me out of this room, so he’s breaking his housekeeping rules and letting me eat on the floor like a pet. I can’t tell if I’m insulted or flattered.

My nerves are too shot for me to eat the food he’s brought, but I don’t want to piss him off by rejecting it. Pulling the lid off the first plate, I stare at a massive pile of hand cut fries.

“Wasn’t sure what you’d like, but I know those are okay.” He sits on the floor across from me. “The first thing you need to remember about fighting is that you’re the hero in the cage, not the villain. You’re going against the worst of the worst and can stop at nothing until they surrender.”

The fry in my mouth is hard to swallow. “Okay.”

“The second part to that is…” His gaze darkens. “We’re all bad guys, Daelyn. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others.”

I couldn’t agree more. “I’m so sorry,” I say again.

“Don’t apologize for doing something you felt you had no choice of.”

His response is more than I deserve. Everything Dmitri’s giving me is more than I deserve. Tears spring out of me immediately, and I curl my legs up to hug my knees and tears well in my eyes.

This is awful.

“Fuck, come here.” Dmitri shoves the tray of food away and drags me across the floor and into his lap. “Damnit, woman, I can’t stand your tears. You’ve got to stop before I crack.”

Fuck, babygirl, I love your tears.

I cry harder.

How can these two men be so opposite and the same all at once? It’s driving me crazy. I think I’ve officially hit my breaking point and that’s why my eyes keep leaking. I’ve never felt so raw and hollow in my life. Rock bottom is a scary place to be. I’m starting to wonder if there’s any hope of climbing out of it.

“Can we just start teaching me how to defend myself?”

“After you calm down and eat, baby.”

That’s more than enough incentive to get my ass into gear. I polish off half the plate of fries and chug some water. I don’t have it in me to touch the burger or fruit cup. “Now?”

He swallows hard and nods, unfolding his body and standing up. He’s a giant in this space. Holding his hand out for me to take, we clasp hands, and he lifts me to my feet.

We go slow with my first lesson. My movements are sloppy because I’m seriously drained from the past few days, but Dmitri’s patient with me.

“Good girl,” he says after I block his kick. The smile he gives me shoots life into my heart. “Again.”

I repeat the movements over and over. Each time he fake-attacks me and I go through the moves, feeling a little more confident each time. But Kaleb doesn’t always punish me with his fists.

“What about when he has a knife?”

Dmitri’s balanced on one leg, the other extended over my head, like a martial arts instructor. He slowly brings his foot back down. “A knife ?”

My immediate instinct is to hide my bandaged arm, which is pointless, but I do it anyway.

“Okay,” he says quietly. “Hold this.” Calmly pulling out his own blade, he hands it over and shows me three simple ways to disarm him.

I know he’s being easy on me, but he’s also bigger than Kaleb, so my bravado lets me believe I can do this when the time comes. Maybe I’m being delusional. Or maybe it’s the constant encouragement Dmitri keeps giving me. Either way, I can almost see a light flickering at the end of my dark tunnel.

“Again,” I say, rejuvenated.

We practice for hours until Dmitri says we’re done.

“I’ll get mats for tomorrow.” He swipes the sweat from his brow. “It’s late. You should rest.”

I’m too buzzed with adrenaline to rest, but I’m not defying the man who’s helping me. I think if Dmitri told me to lick dog shit off his boot, I’d do it.

Anything to get the help I need to free myself from this constant torment.

“I’ll sleep outside,” he says, going for the door.

“Don’t leave.”

“My cot’s not big enough for both of us.”

“Then you take the cot. I’ll sleep on the floor.” Stepping closer to him, my hands ache to hold his arm and keep him close. “You make me feel safe,” I blurt out. “And I know I don’t deserve your help, but… please don’t leave.”

His eyebrows pinch together as he looks at the floor instead of at me. “I’m having a hard time trusting you, Daelyn.”

“I understand.”

“I’m not staying the night with you. If that’s a problem, you can leave.”

He’s giving me a choice.

“I want to stay.” My feelings are hurt, but I respect the boundary he’s put between us. “Thank you for helping me.”

On that note, he leaves.

But doesn’t lock the door this time.

???

Dmitri

The club’s finally winding down. It’s almost four in the morning, and I’m too restless to sleep. It’s too soon to expect Vault to have worked his magic, but I’m hoping there’s a chance he’s at least gotten started. Entering his office, it takes all of two seconds for that bubble to burst.

Vault is passed out at his desk with an energy drink in his hand. The man works entirely too much. We all do here. And I’m sure he’s putting in double time because Ryker’s taken me off duty.

After placing the drink can somewhere it won’t get knocked over and ruin his equipment, I slip out, clicking the door closed quietly behind me. Guess I’ll head into Ryker’s office and tell him I’m coming back to work. I can’t let my friends pick up the slack when I’m perfectly capable of handling my own responsibilities.

The doorknob doesn’t budge when I touch it, and there’s the distinct sound of bodies slapping together and Tara’s moans on the other side of the locked mahogany door.

Pivoting once again, I head to the penthouse where Sophie usually lingers.

She’s blowing out candles and has her shoes kicked off. “Hey you.”

Her voice is a balm to my nerves. We’ve connected in a lot of ways over the years, and she’s become a dear friend of mine. “Got a minute?”

“For you? Always.” She sits on the bench used to tie our subs. “What’s up?”

I don’t even know where to start. “Can you just… rub my back?”

Her features soften. “Sure, D.” Sophie hops off the bench and escorts me to the bed while I pull my shirt off. Once I lie face down, she climbs on top of me, and skates her chilled hands along my skin.

We don’t speak.

When I get like this, words don’t help anyway and I’m not looking for advice. I just need comfort from someone I trust.

I wish it was from Daelyn.

“You ever want to turn back time and have a do over?”

Sophie digs her elbows into my lower back, working out the knots. “God no. I don’t want to get my PhD ever again. Once was enough torture.”

Fair. Sophie’s a rocket scientist. How she has time to juggle the Monarch and still go to her day job is beyond me. The woman never sleeps.

“But…” She pours oil over my back and massages harder. “I guess if I could get a second crack at things, I’d do them the same. Even the awful shit.”

“Why?” Wouldn’t she want to skip those parts?

“They made me the delectable creature that I am.” Her hands glide over my scars while she works out more of my tension. “I like who I am. Part of me was shaped by the bad stuff. Who knows what I would have turned into had my life been all rainbows and popsicles.”

God love her.

“What about you?” She nonchalantly traces my triangular shaped scar.

“Sometimes I want to.” Turning my head to the side, I sigh. “Sometimes I wish I was just fucking dead.”

Her hands pause at my lower back. “Well,” she says, moving slower. “I, for one, would be devastated if you weren’t around anymore.” She massages a little harder. “No one else makes coffee like you. I’d be forced to drink that disgusting mud Ryker makes. Or worse, have to switch to energy drinks like Vault. I swear that shit’s got chemicals stronger than rocket fuel in them. His brain’s going to melt out of his nose if he isn’t careful.”

Laughter bubbles out of me. “His brain’s practically a computer circuit board. It would take straight acid to melt it.”

“You’re probably right.” She rotates and works on my shoulders next, and her tone goes back to thoughtful and light. “I think it’s important to remember that everything happens for a reason. And everyone in your life is there for a reason, too. It’s all just to get us one step further on our journey.”

“That’s… very open-hearted of you.”

“I saw it on a social media reel.”

What do you know, I’m laughing again.

“Want to talk about the girl you played with the other night?”

I stop laughing. “Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s not like you to bring an outsider here. You’ve never made concessions like that before. She’s very beautiful.”

“She’s very complicated.”

“Wouldn’t expect her to be any other way.”

I try to look over my shoulder at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“D, you’re not the type to go for a simple woman who will lie down at your feet and suck your toes when told to. You want a challenge. Someone who’s a little unhinged. You’d be bored to tears in two seconds flat otherwise.”

Sophie knows me too well. “What if I told you she was sent by someone to ruin me?”

“Then I guess the ruining better come with a lot of lube, whips, and a few choice tasers because it would take a lot to knock you down, big guy.”

I lean up to look at her. “I’m dead serious, Soph. Someone sent her to come for me.”

Her brow furrows with deep concern. “How did you find that out?”

“She told me.”

Sophie’s expression goes back to impassive, but her tone darkens. “And you trust her enough to believe she’s telling the truth?”

That makes me pause. “Yeah,” I say, surprising myself. “I do.”

“Are you still in contact with her?”

“She’s in my bedroom as we speak.”

Sophie’s brow arches. “Then, like I said, the ruining better come with a lot of lube, whips, and a few choice tasers.” The right side of her mouth pulls up.

Lube, whips, tasers… I’ve got an arsenal in the club to ruin Daelyn with.

And four whole days and nights to do it.