Chapter 8

Samara~

A s soon as we shut the door to the bedroom, Masha started crying again, and as much as I loved my sister, this wasn't the time for tears and hysteria. If she knew nothing else in life, she knew that Avgust Kotov didn't care about tears.

"You can't go with him, Samara," she plead. "You don't…you don't even know what he wants with you."

That wasn't true.

I knew exactly what Avgust wanted with me.

He wanted me to suffer.

Nonetheless, that wasn't anything that I was going to tell Masha. "What would you have me do? Let him kill you? Kill me?"

Masha started shaking her head. "Avgust wouldn't really-"

"Let me stop you there," I said as I grabbed her shoulders with both of my hands. "The Avgust Kotov sitting in our living room is not the same Avgust Kotov from our childhood, Masha. This Avgust Kotov will kill the both of us without a second thought or any sleepless nights. He is the Kotov Pakhan, Masha. In fact, we're lucky that we're still alive."

"Then let him take me," she offered selflessly. "I mean, it's all my fault that we're in this mess to begin with."

Even though that was true, I wasn't going to be cruel and agree with her. Masha was already going to have enough guilt to live with, so there was no value in making her feel worse for something that she couldn't take back. Just like I did, she knew that I wasn't Avgust's favorite person, so we both knew that what I was signing up for wasn't going to be pleasant.

Besides, even if I was the type of sister to let Masha sacrifice herself, what Masha didn't know was that Avgust had never wanted her as collateral to begin with. Because Avgust was a master manipulator- something that he'd always been -every word out of his mouth since he'd walked into our condo had been deliberate to achieve this particular outcome. Avgust wanted me to pay the price for Masha's transgressions, and I knew it like I knew my own name.

Looking at my sister, I said, "I cannot do that and still be able to live with myself, Masha. I've always taken care of you, and I will continue to do so until my last breath."

She started crying again. "And how do you expect me to live with myself?" she sobbed. "I'll go crazy knowing that…that…"

I started rubbing her arms up and down. "Look, we just need to convince Avgust that you won't ever say anything," I reminded her. "All you have to do is keep living your life the way that you've been living it, and after a while, maybe he'll feel confident enough to let me go. After all, the guard that he assigns you will be reporting back to him, so…just make sure that there's nothing bad to report back."

My sister's lips trembled as she asked, "Do you…he's going to mistreat you, isn't he?"

I grabbed her hands, then squeezed them. "It depends on your definition of mistreatment, I suppose." Doing my best to reassure her, I gave her a small smile. "I can handle Avgust, Masha."

"How can you be so sure?" she questioned. "Like you said, he's not the same boy that we grew up with. He's a monster now, and he blames you for making him that way."

Before I could say anything to that, a rude knock shook the bedroom door, so I let go of my sister's hands, then walked over to open it. I'd been expecting Avgust on the other side, but like a nightmare come to life, Maksim Barychev was the one staring down at me, his dark eyes glittering with his obvious dislike of me.

In a different world, Maksim would be one of the most stunning men that I'd ever seen. He stood at about six-foot-four, had dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, was ripped from head to toe, and he had so many tattoos that it'd take days to identify them all. Next to Avgust, Maksim Barychev was the sexiest demon that I'd ever met, and those eyes of his could suck you in like a warm blanket if they weren't empty of emotion.

"Your two minutes are up, kukla," he said, purposely calling me doll again just to add salt to the wound.

Now, while most women would think it a flattering endearment, Maksim only called women doll when he thought that they were empty of any sort of intelligence. After all, dolls might be pretty to look at, but they had no brains, hearts, or souls. Dolls were playthings and nothing more.

"Am I allowed to pack some things?" I asked, hating being reduced to practically begging for simple permissions.

The gleam that appeared in his eyes was enough to send a dark shiver down my spine. "No," he answered. "You'll not be needing anything apart from what you are already wearing."

I wanted to ask him about a change of clothing, basic hygiene, and toiletries, but I knew that his answers would damage my sister. If I didn't need my clothes or anything else, then that meant that Avgust was going to lock me up in a cell somewhere, or else he was going to turn me into a whore for the bratva, and I wasn't going to have a choice if I wanted him to leave my sister alone. While Masha believed that she'd be keeping me safe by not talking, I was actually going to be keeping her safe by paying whatever price that Avgust felt I owed.

So, instead of putting up a fight, I decided to save it for later, sparing my sister any more heartache. She was already going to struggle with having to live with a perfect stranger and going crazy with wondering how I was being treated, so I didn't want to add to that. If Masha ended up losing it, then my sacrifice would all be for nothing, and I didn't want that. I wanted it to mean something, and I wanted my sister to be happy if possible.

Giving Maksim a tight nod, I turned back to my sister, then gave her one final hug. "I love you," I told her. "I love you so much, and I want you to know that everything will be fine." I pulled back to look down at her. "I'll be fine."

Masha nodded at me with tears in her eyes, but she didn't say anything as we followed Maksim back into the living room. All three men were still where they'd been when Masha and I had been allowed to say our goodbyes, and I had to tamp down the panic that was threatening to take over. My life was about to take a very dark turn, and I could only hope that I lost my mind sooner rather than later.

"Maksim, call Gosha and inform him of his new duties," Avgust instructed. "Until then, Evgen can sit with Masha since he's part of this fuck-up."

"Of course," Maksim answered evenly.

Then looking back at me, he said, "You will be taking your purse only. Understood?"

I nodded. "Yes."

Turning his attention towards my sister, he said, "Masha, should you tell anyone what you saw here tonight, think to go to the police, attempt to help your sister, or escape your guard, I will kill you." Masha let out a quiet sob, her eyes tearing up again. "However, I will kill you after I tie you to a chair and force you to watch your sister pay for all your sins. Am I clear?"

"Yes," she choked out.

Still, that wasn't enough for Avgust. Stepping to her, he grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look up at him. "If you step even one inch out of line, I will rip your sister apart, piece by piece, then make you eat those pieces before finally killing you as well." Masha's tears started falling again. "Trust me when I tell you that nothing would bring me greater joy than to tear her apart with my bare hands. You believe me, yes?"

Masha started nodding frantically. "Yes."

Avgust let go of her chin, then with one last look my way, turned to walk out of the condo, Maksim right behind him, and I had no idea if I was supposed to follow or not. However, before I could say anything, Alexei was talking, and it was enough to make me want to vomit.

"Ivan will stay here until Evgen arrives," Alexei informed us. "Samara, I will be escorting you to your new home."

In the few minutes that Masha and I had been saying our goodbyes in the bedroom, Avgust had laid out his plans for his men, and wherever Alexei was taking me, I doubted that my purse was going to help me. The only things of value that I had were my wallet and phone, the rest of it just junk now that I no longer had a job.

I gave my sister one last hug before I followed Alexei out of the condo, my sister's cries still ringing loudly in my ears. Even though I wasn't in a place to make demands, I needed Avgust's word that his guard wasn't going to hurt Masha. However, I knew enough to know that I needed to request that in private and not in front of an audience. The one thing that Avgust Kotov would never show was any sign of weakness, and granting me any favors could give the false impression that he cared for me a little, though he clearly didn't.

Lost in my own thoughts of misery, I wasn't sure how long Alexei had been driving, but when we finally pulled into a deserted stone facility, terror finally crawled up my spine.