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Bloodshed doesn’t usually please me, at least not when it comes to matters like this. I don’t relish punishing my own men, certainly not torturing them or killing them. But in times like these, they leave me no choice. It’s the unpleasant part of my position, a necessary evil. If they believe that this kind of behavior can go unpunished, my Bratva will descend into chaos.
A leader who cannot keep his men in line is no leader at all.
The fear in the room is palpable when Alexei has assembled the men. Most of them are pale, a few are sweating for reasons that have nothing to do with the humid interior of the warehouse, I’m sure. I can feel the cold sense of duty settling over me as I survey them, any emotion I might have had pushed aside in favor of what I know needs to be done.
“You know why you’re here,” I growl out as I pace in front of them. “Who gave you permission to steal from me?”
The men look nervously at each other, a few clearly not catching on. “Sir—I don’t know—” one of them speaks up, I’m sure he thinks bravely, but it’s only foolishness on his part. “We haven’t stolen anything from you, boss,” another manages, clearly bolstered by the first man speaking up.
“Yes, you have.” I face them, squaring my shoulders as my gaze drifts from man to man. “What are the girls in this warehouse?”
There’s a moment of silence, all of them trying to decide what the right answer is. In the interest of moving things along, I decide to help them out.
“The girls here are property.Myproperty. So when you decide to give in to their attempts to seduce you and escape or fuck them for your own pleasure when you’re supposed to be guarding them, or worse still, ruin one of the virgins, you are stealing fromme. Do I seem like the kind of man that you want to steal from?”
“No, sir,” they all stutter out, nearly in unison.
“It seems that you think I am, though. That you don’t have the respect for me that I’m owed. Yourpakhan. You call meUssuri, but you think I am a toothless bear? Without claws?”
“No, sir!” One of them nearly screams it, the fear in his face evident. They all know the punishment for theft. Not one of them wants to endure it.
But there’s dissent in my ranks because Alexei thinks I’m too soft. That I treat the girls too gently, that I’m too forgiving with my men. So that stops here. If the stories about me need to be true in order to command the respect of my men, then I will simply have to be the thing they fear.
“Stefan allowed the girl to escape. He succumbed to her attempts to seduce him and then failed to keep her from running away. For that, Alexei will take him to Oleg for a beating. Make sure he’s not damaged too badly to be back to work within a few days.”
Alexei nods, and Stefan immediately starts begging, apologizing, but I ignore him. Oleg is one of my enforcers, a huge man who enjoys using his fists and meting out punishment. Stefan won’t be likely to repeat his mistakes.
“The ones who fucked the girls without permission,” I continue, “will receive the punishment for theft. Only one finger, on the left hand, since I need them not to be too badly maimed. They will be expected to continue work as normal once the doctor has seen to them.”
Some of the men are silent, others start begging just as Stefan did, but I raise my voice, speaking over them until silence falls again. “Except,” I say coldly, scanning the line. “Except the man who fucked one of the virgin girls. Mikhail, bring him forward.”
I don’t know the man’s name. He’s new, I think, one of the recruits who joined the guard ranks recently. He’s pale as death, and his eyes dart nervously around, unable to meet mine. The cowardice makes me even less inclined to show him mercy.
“You haven’t only stolen from me and cost me money,” I tell him coldly, my blue gaze boring into his. “You’ve also damaged this girl irreparably. Before, she would have been sold to someone who would have been willing to pay a price you can’t dream of for a virgin girl to do as they command. They would have treated her well, given her luxuries and comforts. Now, because you’ve stolen her virginity, not only do I have to renege on a sale, but this girl will go somewhere less pleasant. A brothel, maybe, or to someone else for a lower price, someone less inclined to treat her as an expensive commodity.” I glance at Mikhail. “Bring her out, too. She should see this.”
The girl Mikhail brings out is extraordinarily beautiful, which only makes me angrier. We doubtless had a buyer lined up for her already, someone who would have paid an outstanding price for her. But now, she’ll fetch only half. Maybe less. Beautiful girls are still worth a decent amount, especially one as striking as her, with strawberry blonde hair and flashing green eyes. But her virginity would have made her worth millions.
She’s got fire in her, I can tell. She’s glaring at me when Mikhail drags her out, her gaze shifting across the line of men suspiciously. “Are you about to give me to the rest of them?” she spits, twisting in Mikhail’s grasp, and he rears back, slapping her hard across the mouth.
“Enough!” I shout, and everyone goes very still, even the girl, who is looking at me with bitter hatred etched in every line of her face. “Mikhail, she’s damaged enough. Don’t touch her like that again.”
“Sorry, sir.” He’s holding her bound wrists, and when I walk towards her, she starts to struggle again.
“Easy.” I croon to her like a nervous horse, reaching for her chin gently. “You’re not going to be passed around. Nor is anyone going to hurt you. In fact, I wanted you to get to see what happens when someonedoeshurt one of Viktor Andreyev’s girls.”
She presses her lips together, looking at me through narrowed eyes, and doesn’t say anything.A smart girl who knows when to keep quiet.It’s a fucking shame she was ruined. A girl this beautiful and a virgin, who knows how to be silent for her master, is priceless in my world.
“Is this the man who raped you?” I point at the man standing at the front of the line, now shivering with fear as he looks at the girl. “Who took your virginity?”
The girl swallows hard. She looks at him and then back at me, as if unsure. Like a rabbit wondering if she’s walking into a trap.
“Tell me the truth, and nothing will happen to you,” I assure her. “If he did this, he is the one who will be punished.”
She bites her lower lip, worrying at it, and for a second, I think she’ll refuse to speak. I can’t have her damaged further, so there’s not much I can do to force her to tell the truth, either.
And then, the fucking idiot seals his own fate.
“She’s a lying little bitch, whatever she says,” he hisses, his eyes narrowed. “Don’t fucking believe that whore.”
