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Not even Leo.
And so I shake off the pain and fight with everything I have. I jab my elbow backward, striking his gut. He wheezes, the breath knocked out of him, but he soon regains his footing, tackling me to the ground. Desperate, I lash out, trying to shove him off me, but he’s relentless. Straddling me and pinning me with his weight, my wrists are clamped together in his iron grip, and I’m trapped. My vision swims, but I continue to thrash.
“No,” I choke, but he’s deaf to my pleas, consumed by his own darkness.
Bearing down, he hikes up my nightgown, settling between my thighs. Panic floods my senses, but I fight like hell, summoning every ounce of strength. I will resist until my last breath. I owe myself nothing less.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
LEO
I wake up gradually,the world slowly coming into focus. It’s the middle of the night, I can determine that much by the moon still shining in the sky. Which is good. It means I still have another few hours alone with Aly.
My hand instinctively reaches for her warmth, eager to roll over and sink between her legs. Instead, I find her side of the bed cold and empty, like she’s been gone a while. Sitting up, I blink against the darkness, confusion clouding my mind.
My hand gropes for my phone, the faint light from the screen illuminating the cabin as I check the time. Three in the morning. I set the phone down only for it to vibrate with an incoming message. Dima’s name flashes on the screen. He’s sent a file.
Opening it, I find unsealed records from Jack’s time in juvenile detention. My eyes flicker over the words, my stomach clenching with a growing sense of dread as a certain phrase stands out.
Sexual assault.
Disgust settles in my stomach. He’s the absolute worst kind of scum. Once we arrive in Dubrovnik, he’ll get what’s coming to him. But right now, all I can think about is finding Aly.
My bare feet hit the floor, and I pull on a pair of boxers before I leave the stateroom. I move through the dimly lit hallway up to the mid-level deck, scanning the space for signs of her. Nothing.
A distant noise from the deck above snags my attention—a muffled thump, heated voices echoing in the stillness. Heart pounding, I race up to the top deck.
The vision I’m met with is worse than what I could have conjured in my nightmares. Alyona, trapped beneath Jack’s weight, her limbs thrashing, attempting to push him off her.
Rage pulses through me, and I charge at Jack with a guttural roar. My fist connects with his jaw, and the sound of bone cracking strikes like thunder. “You mudak. You will die for this.”
Alyona has scrambled to the side as Jack recovers and comes at me. Our bodies tangle in a vicious dance of punches and blows. Despite reeking of alcohol, he holds his own, but I am relentless, driven by a primal need to protect Aly.
I growl, landing a punch to Jack’s gut that makes him double over. “You’re a rapist. And I will personally make you pay for your sins.”
“She’s a whore.” He spits blood, venom dripping from his words. “You’re both scum, not worth all this shit.”
My fury reaches a boiling point, and I send Jack flying with a devastating punch. “You think you can hurt what belongs to me and get away with it?”
He’s not so quick to get up this time, and I take a brief moment to enjoy the sight of him sprawled flat on his back, struggling to breathe. I seize Jack by the collar, drag him to his feet, and haul his upper body over the edge of the railing. “You’re going for a swim, you miserable fuck!”
He starts bucking and snarling, desperately trying to get out of my hold. “You’re fucking crazy. I’ll die—”
“That’s the point,” Alyona’s voice rings out, cold and vicious. Our eyes meet across the deck, and she gives me a nod, her eyes flashing with resolve.
Jack’s screams rip through the air as I heave him overboard. With a satisfying splash he’s swallowed up by the murky waters of the sea.
I have Aly scooped up in my arms within seconds. My chest heaves as I struggle to catch my breath. “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay,” I whisper into her hair.
She nods, a sob slipping past her lips. “I’m okay,” she reassures me, though she’s still quaking like a leaf in my arms. “I tried to fight him off, but…” Her voice trails off into a whisper. “He’s a monster.”
“Was a monster. Was.” I kiss her hair, holding her tight. “Fuck, Aly, that scared the shit out of me. Finding you here, with his hands on you…” My voice cracks as I start towards our room. “I would die to protect you. You need to know that.”
“I know,” she whispers, face buried in my chest.
In the stateroom, I lay her down on the bed and hold her, trying to erase all his ugliness with my tenderness. “Fuck, baby, tell me how to make this better. What can I do to erase his marks?”
“Youmake it better. Your touch can erase the darkness.”
