“Except her father didn’t give her to you as payment. You just took her,” the other man said. “And it was a good thing since he’d been abusing her.”
Pavel growled and glared at my uncle. “How many times have you offered your niece as payment for debts?”
My uncle clamped his lips tight and I knew he wouldn’t answer. Maybe he thought if they knew just how thoroughly used I was, they wouldn’t want me. Whatever the case, Pavel didn’t seem to be the type to accept my uncle’s silence.
“He’s used me to repay all his debts for the last three years,” I said, my voice coming out in a near whisper I worried they wouldn’t hear.
“You look like little more than a child,” Pavel said.
“I’m eighteen.”
Pavel snarled and lunged for Uncle Sean, slamming his fist into my uncle’s mouth. “She was fifteen?”
The man spit out more words in Russian and I took a hasty step back. I knew my uncle’s guards wouldn’t let me flee the room, but the anger pouring off Pavel frightened me. My heels caught in my dress and I gave a cry as I tumbled to the floor. The blond man, the one who had stopped Pavel before, came toward me, moving slow. He crouched next to me and offered his hand.
“Let me help you, zaika.”
I didn’t know what that word meant, but I took his hand and let him help me stand. The man shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders. My cheeks warmed as I pulled it closed across the front of me. I didn’t know why he’d shown me a kindness, when it was clear he didn’t care about me one way or another. Maybe it was because of Pavel’s reaction.
“Thank you,” I said.
My uncle’s face was bloody and barely recognizable when Pavel took a step back, breathing hard. “Men such as you do not deserve to live.”
Pavel looked my way and I huddled closer to the other man. The fury in his gaze hit me like a fist to my stomach and my knees nearly buckled. He’d been angry on my behalf, but what would he do now that he’d beaten my uncle? If he left me here, I’d probably end up dead. But if he took me with him… A shiver raked my spine. I’d heard tales of their brothels. He might have been angry I’d been put to use by the age of fifteen, but this man was no saint.
“Dimitri, do you wish to accept her as payment?” Pavel asked.
My back stiffened. Or maybe I’d been wrong. Biting my lip, I looked up at the one he’d called Dimitri, the man who had been nice to me. Or at least hadn’t caused me pain so far.
His blue gaze was locked on mine. “Pavel, what exactly are you asking?”
“If you take her, you accept responsibility for her. She’s yours. Completely.”
He didn’t look away, just watched me. I didn’t understand what was happening. What did that mean?
“Completely,” Dimitri said. “The way you owned Rianne?”
Pavel gave a soft snort and Dimitri’s lips kicked up on one corner in a slight smile. “Nyet. I took Rianne as my property. If you take this one home with you, it’s forever. You’ll marry her. I’ll not have the likes of her uncle coming for her.”
The way Dimitri’s eyes flared, and his jaw tensed, was enough to tell me he didn’t want a whore like me for his wife. I couldn’t blame him. I took a step back then removed his jacket, handing it back to him. I gathered my dress and held it front of me, knowing that I was about to say could very well doom me in a different way.
By refusing the offer, I would open myself up to Pavel’s wrath. I didn’t know why he’d wanted to help me, but I knew it wouldn’t come without conditions. All I wanted was my freedom. Being married to one of these men, would be no different from what I knew now. Everyone knew their wives were used just like me, to further their business deals. I’d only be trading one monster for another.
“No,” I said.
“Excuse me?” Pavel asked.
“I won’t marry him,” I said.
“I’ll take her,” one of the other men said. The look in his eyes was one I’d seen many times before. I knew he would never make me his wife, but he would use me the same as all the other men had.
“Ivan, I didn’t offer her to you,” Pavel said. “You’d just make her your personal whore.”
“She’s one already,” he said.
I flinched, but it was true. I’d never be a wife, a mother. My hands clenched and I fought back tears as I thought about the baby I’d been forced to abort. I didn’t even know if I could have more children. I’d assumed there was a chance, since my uncle said the men couldn’t take me without a condom, or maybe he was just being cautious. The abortion had been costly and my uncle had screamed about it for weeks.
“She’s a victim,” Pavel said.
“What’s going to happen? With Uncle Sean? And me?” I asked.
Pavel rubbed the back of his neck. The fact he didn’t answer right away worried me. I didn’t know if he didn’t want to share Uncle Sean’s fate with me, or if he was still figuring out what to do with me. I couldn’t stay here. Uncle Sean’s men would just use me, sell me, and make me do their every bidding. I’d only trade one owner for another. Then again, it seemed like I’d be doing the same with the Bratva. Even if Dimitri did marry me, I had no delusions. He’d never remain faithful to me, not a wife he didn’t want.
“Go shower and put on something… not so revealing as that dress,” Pavel said. “Then pack a bag. Whatever you need from your bathroom and a few changes of clothes at the least.”
“Shower? But I just…” His look silenced
