Emperor of Havoc: Chapter 31

The air is damp and thick as it clings to the back of my throat, smelling of motor oil and stale cigarettes.

I drop my head back against the cold concrete wall, trying to steady my breathing. The manacle around one of my ankles and one of my wrists—so tight that there’s no chance of slipping out of them—bite into my skin, the chains rattling faintly whenever I shift.

The room is small, cramped, and reeks of death and rot. There’s a rusty metal table in the middle, over a grimy drain in the floor. The three of us are all chained to the walls.

Across the room, Nina huddles on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest. Her wide, tearful eyes dart around the windowless space like a cornered animal. She fidgets with the hem of her blouse, trembling, her movements frantic and uncoordinated.

My heart breaks for her.

Nina also grew up in the mafia world, to a mafia family. But we’re…different. I love her to death, but she’s not built to deal with a situation like this.

She needs to get out of here before she crumbles.

I whistle sharply to get her attention.

She lifts her gaze to mine. Her eyes are unfocused, swimming with fear.

“It’s going to be okay,” I lie, my hands moving slowly, deliberately.

Her lip quivers. “They’re going to kill us,” she whispers, so quietly I can barely hear.

“No,” I sign again, shaking my head, my movements surer. “They’re not.”

Even as I try to reassure her, my own pulse thrums with terror.

Ryu groans from his spot on the floor—deliberately chained too far away for either Nina or I to reach. He’s pale, his breathing shallow, and the blood on his shirt has turned dark and sticky. A fresh pool spreads beneath him, the metallic tang of it hanging sharp in the air.

“Hey,” I sign as his eyes flutter open, his hazy gaze drifting toward me. “Stay with me. Stay awake.”

He grunts, his eyelids fluttering. “I’ve been worse,” he mutters weakly. I don’t believe him for a second. His wound is deep, and without medical attention, he won’t last long.

The door to the room creaks; I flinch at the sound. Sergey Vorobev strides in first, boots thudding on the floor. Rodion follows, his smirk wide and lecherous, flanked by four other Bratva men. Their malicious laughter grates on my nerves.

“Well, well,” Sergey drawls, his voice oozing satisfaction. “The Ishida princess and her loyal guard dog.”

Rodion sneers, his gaze flicking to Nina. “And what’s a princess without her handmaiden?”

One of the men steps forward, grabbing Nina by the jaw and yanking her head up. She whimpers, her eyes filling with fresh tears. My chains rattle as I lunge toward them, a growl rumbling in my throat.

“Let her go!” I sign furiously, my hands jerking against the manacles.

The man holding Nina ignores me, grinning down at my friend. “I like this one,” he growls in Russian. “I’d love to see those lips wrapped around my dick.”

“I bite,” Nina hisses back, also in Russian.

The man grins wider and leers at her. “Then maybe I knock your teeth out first.”

Sergey chuckles cruelly. “First things first,” he says, waving a hand dismissively. “I believe my son has been waiting for something.”

Rodion grins, stepping closer to me. “Yes, waiting,” he purrs, his predatory gaze raking over me.

My stomach churns as I yank at the chain again, the metal cutting into my skin.

“Such fire,” Sergey muses coldly. “But today, malen’kaya printsessa, you will learn the consequences of insulting me and my son.”

He turns to Rodion, clapping his disgusting offspring on the shoulder and smiling. “Have your fun. But leave her alive. We need her to fetch a nice ransom.”

And with that, Sergey strides out of the room, his cruel laughter echoing down the hall.

Rodion moves closer, four other men flanking him like wolves approaching prey. His fingers brush his belt buckle, and terror claws at my throat.

I jam up my middle finger, the gesture defiant despite the panic surging through me.

Rodion grins. “Oh, no, princess,” he purrs. “It’s me who’s going to fuck you.” He turns to his men. “Then I’ll let them have their fun, too. I’m a generous man.”

The others chuckle darkly, grinning savagely at me.

“Fuck you!” Ryu snarls, instinctively trying to lunge at Rodion. But he can barely get up on one knee, and instantly crumples back to the ground.

The Russians laugh and Nina screams when one of them kicks Ryu hard in the side.

“Time to play, bitch.”

My blood turns to ice as I’m grabbed from the floor, my mind going numb. Nina is screaming. Ryu is spitting blood as he tries to get up again, even as that one guard keeps kicking him.

There’s cold fire in my veins as Rodion unlocks my manacles, whips me around, and slams me hard against the rusty metal table. I blanch as he shoves me forward across it.

No.

Not this. Please.

It feels like I’m watching from a distance, feeling sick to my stomach and curling in on myself as Rodion grabs the back of my yoga pants and yanks them down over my ass. Hands paw at me, making me retch. I try to push him away, but one of his guards grabs my arms and drags them tight across the table, both pinning and silencing me.

Rodion grabs my ass again, chuckling darkly as he starts to undo his belt.

“Hold still, bitch,” he orders, his tone gleeful.

Time slows as the air thickens with dread.

The scrape of a zipper undoing.

The pressure of rough hands.

The horrible, excruciating wait for the invasion of my body.

I close my eyes, a tear beading in the corner of one of them as the impending horror fades to a blur around me. Rodion’s hands slide down my back, over my ass, about to move between my legs⁠—

There’s a screech as a metal door slams open, then the sound of a gun going off. Instantly, Rodion rips away from me, and I jolt as hot liquid splashes across my back.

The hands release me. My eyes fly open as I whip my head to the side.

Takeshi.

He storms into the room like the Devil himself—a frothing, savage, vengeful agent of malice. A wraith of fury. A mad emperor of havoc and destruction.

He’s got a gun in one hand and a bloodied katana in the other. He raises the gun, putting a bullet through the brain of the man who was just holding me. Blood splatters across the wall as Nina screams.

The rest of the men rush Takeshi. He puts a second bullet through a second skull, then raises his sword high as he charges the others, roaring. I slump to the floor, staring at him in awe and terror as his blade flashes, cutting through the neck of one of the Russians and spraying a geyser of blood across the wall. The next man is run through with Takeshi’s blade.

A choking, gurgling sound has my head snapping to the side. Rodion is slumped against a wall, his eyes wide, his hands desperately clutching at his neck to stop the heavy flow of blood gushing from the hole in his throat.

Takeshi storms across the room, winding his arm back. Rodion gurgles on his own blood and tries to raise a hand to ward off the attack.

But there’s no stopping Takeshi’s fury.

His katana splits first the air, then Rodion’s hand from his wrist, and finally his head from his neck, letting it roll across the floor.

Takeshi rips his gaze to mine.

“Kat…”

I break as he rushes to me, the tears I’ve been holding back suddenly spilling free and pouring down my cheeks. His strong arms surround me, pulling me into him, and his hands are gentle as they pull my yoga pants back up over my ass. Slowly, he takes his jacket off and puts it around my shoulders as more Ishida-kai men pour into the room.

“I’m here,” he murmurs, holding me close. “I’m here, princess.”

He turns toward the men hovering in the doorway.

“Get her out of those chains!” he snarls, nodding his chin at Nina. “And get him to a doctor now!” he roars, indicating Ryu.

My men spring into action as I cling to Takeshi, burrowing into his warmth and strength. Tears blur my vision as I clutch at his shirt. The scent of blood and sweat clings to him, but I don’t care. He saved me.

I’m still clinging to him as he carries me from the room, past more bodies of Vorobev soldiers, and then past a very headless Sergey himself.

“I’m right here, Kat,” he growls quietly. “And I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”