My angry outburst earns me another slap. This time, I taste blood on my lip.
My adrenaline is too high to feel the pain, though.
Even the ache in the back of my head is dull now.
My father picks up a long, thin, needle-like device. He lets it shine in the light right in front of my face, toying with it in his hands. “I’ve seen grown men cry,” he smiles. “It looks rather innocent, doesn’t it? When this thing gets inserted just behind the knee cap, the pain is apparently unbearable.”
I clench my jaw to hide my reaction. I will not show fear. I will not give him that satisfaction.
“Usually, I rather enjoy it when they cry. It’s somewhat amusing. But it does get in the way of extracting information. All that blubbering and sobbing gets annoying when I’m trying to make someone speak,” he huffs, tossing the tool back onto the table. “This one, though… This one, I think, is the perfect one for you,” he smiles.
The blade isn’t long. But it’s sharp.
“If you don’t want to feel the pain, all you have to do is talk, Selene. Tell me everything you know about the Volkovs. You’re being their little bitch for over a month now. You must know some interesting facts about their business, their family dynamics, about how they run things…”
“I have nothing to say to you,” I spit.
He scoffs. “Fine, we’ll do it the hard way then,” he says, shrugging, as though he wanted to do it the hard way all along.
He places the blade against the skin just below my clavicle. I wince as he presses down. A warm drop of blood spills from my skin. It runs down and gets soaked up by my t-shirt.
“Stop!” Yakov shouts, his voice booming through my father’s office.
“Yakov, if you don’t have the stomach for this, get the fuck out of here,” my father snarls.
“I won’t let you do that to her,” he snaps back.
“It’s not your fucking choice to make. She betrayed the gamily and she must now pay the price.”
“Sheis family!” Yakov argues, stepping closer.
My father makes another move to cut me, and Yakov grabs his hand, yanking it back and twisting his wrist.
Alek yelps in pain and is forced to drop the blade.
“You fucking little shit!” he screams at Yakov.
“I said stop. It’s time you learned that you aren’t the strongest man in this family anymore, Father.”
Alek scoffs. “What… you? You want to take me on?”
“I want you to stop pretending like what you did was right when he locked her away. And there is no fucking chance you can convince any of us that what you are doing now is right. So just stop,” he demands.
“Fuck you,” Alek spits.
“Fine, we’ll do it the hard way then,” Yakov says. His fist connects with my father’s jaw before any of us realizes what is going on.
My father’s body drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes, completely knocked unconscious. I gasp in shock.
“Yakov!” I stammer.
“He deserved it,” my brother snarls. “Come on, let’s get you out of here before he wakes up.”
Yakov moves quickly to free me from the restraints. I stand up too fast and my head spins, dizzy from the blow. He grabs me to steady me. “Are you okay?” he asks. “I wish I had gotten here sooner. I’m so sorry,” he murmurs.
“No, I’m okay, thank you so much,” I say quickly.
He takes my arm and pulls me towards the door.
