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My heart is heavy, and I hate every second of it because for the first time in my life, I want something that money can’t buy. I want her and I don’t know if she wants me.
We walk hand in hand toward the room she suffered so much in. Her sister’s death and her abusive occupation all occurred in this room.
As we walk inside, she grips my hand tightly and I sense her trembling beside me.
“It seems so small now.” She stares at the pretty bed, all decked in white and pink frills, the stage set of a virgin who performs to the camera. I note the camera set up at the foot of the bed and my blood actually boils as I see for the first time what Lilli went through for hours every day.
I hold her hand tightly while Damien slips a rope around Mickey’s neck as Sergei holds a gun against his head as Mickey kneels on the same bed he raped Lilli’s sister.
I hiss, “How does it feel, Mickey, being helpless at the hands of stronger men than you?”
“Stronger by numbers and weapons, you mean.”
He fights with words to the end, and it causes the beast inside me to growl. “Think about those poor girls when you did the same to them. You were stronger and your weapons were your fists and your strength. They were scared of you, and you overpowered them. You raped Reggie and drugged her into acceptance. You used her to make money and threw her to dogs who were no better than you. This is rough justice, Mickey, and is nothing less than you deserve.”
I move closer and snarl, “If I had my way, we would draw this out. Did you know, I’ve taken a week to kill a man before? A long-drawn-out process over several days where he pleaded with me to end his misery, but I didn’t listen.”
Mickey actually pisses himself and I stare at it with my lip curled in disgust.
“String this bastard up.”
He yells as Damien throws the rope over the beam that hangs above the bed and along with Sergei, they haul his body up.
I turn to a frozen Lilli beside me and whisper, “Go and wait in the car gorgeous. You do not have to see this.”
“I do.” Her voice is a hoarse whisper, and she takes my hand and holds it tight. “I want to watch the life drain from the bastard’s eyes, knowing my sister’s death has been avenged. It’s all I wanted for her. To make the men responsible pay.”
“Are you sure, baby?”
I’m not certain this is such a good idea, and she nods with a determination that drives that nail deeper into my heart.
“I’m sure.”
We stand silently as Mickey is hauled up, his naked body soaked in his own urine, and I say darkly, “It’s such a shame when people commit suicide, isn’t it Mickey? They must be so desperate it’s the only way out for them. To escape the horrors of their life, to forget and give up. At least there is nobody who will mourn you. Alone until the bitter end.”
Lilli stares at him as if she is frozen to the spot and her voice cracks as she whispers, “I hope you rot in fucking hell you sick bastard.”
“Language, Lilli.” I remind her and she laughs, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “Thanks, Mikhail. I really mean that.”
As I stand hand in hand with this incredible woman, I nod to Damien, and he pulls down sharply on the rope. Mickey’s screams turning to a strangled cry instead. We all stare as he flails in mid-air, his hands grasping at the rope, attempting to loosen it as it cuts off his air as it slices into his skin. His face turns purple, and a strange gurgling sound reverberates around the room and Lilli weeps silently beside me. Not for him. Not for Mickey Gruber but for her sister, who must have been so desperate she chose this way out.
It’s as if Lilli is witnessing her own sister’s death and I really should have thought about that and so I take her in my arms and turn her into my chest and whisper, “Cry for Reggie, baby. Let your grief out into this room and then we will walk away knowing she got justice in the end.”
Lili’s sobs are drowned out by the thrashing of her tormentor, and I maintain a blank expression as he dies a painful, violent death. Rough justice indeed, but suicide to the authorities.
On these occasions, I fucking love being me.
CHAPTER 34
LILLI
Watching Mickey die has unleashed the floodgates. It’s an ending. Years of terror avenged by one flick of a rope by stronger men than him. I am now stronger than him and I owe everything to Mikhail.
I don’t look back. I don’t want to. Mickey Gruber deserves no more of my time or energy. I’m moving forward now and as we leave the room, I see Katerina helping my mom down the hall.
“Lilli.” Her eyes widen when she sees me and I’m not sure what to do. I should go to her. Reassure her even but what I have just witnessed and the pain of what happened to me and Reggie, is still an open wound bleeding on the floor.
“What’s going on?” Her eyes are glazed, and she is unsteady on her feet and only Katerina’s strong arm is keeping her up and I don’t sugarcoat my words and say roughly, “Mickey’s dead.”
