Page 31 of Sinful Promise

My throat burns with bile as I send my fist repeatedly into his head. By the third blow, I hit so hard that I knock Isaak entirely off balance, sending him and the chair crashing to the ground.

Isaak’s head slams into the concrete.

“You don’t get to talk anymore.” I walk around him so that I’m staring down at him.

“This is for Emily.” I send my foot into his head, and Isaak’s answering cry of pain echoes around the empty warehouse.

It doesn’t take long for the blood to pool around his head, but I keep going.

Sweat beads on my forehead and my breathing comes in heavy pants as I send my foot into Isaak’s jaw, then nose, then neck.

Bones crack and teeth go flying, but it’s not enough.

He hasn’t sufferedenough.

Even when Isaak is finally silenced, I don’t stop.

“It’s done, Danil.”

Dimitri’s voice sounds far away, as if I’m trapped underwater.

“Danil.” A hand on my shoulder snaps me out of my trance. “He’s dead.”

I stare down at Isaak’s lifeless form.

There’s so much blood, and from the broken bones in his face and the way his skull has caved in, he’s almost completely unrecognizable.

“Are you okay,brat?”

I wipe my forehead with the sleeve of my shirt as I try to catch my breath.

I thought killing Isaak would make me feel better, but it doesn’t. If anything, I feel worse.

“I’m fine. I just want to get the hell out of here.”

Dimitri and I are both silent as we head back out of the warehouse toward the car. I can feel my brother’s eyes on me the entire time, but I purposefully avoid his gaze.

There was no way Isaak was going to leave that warehouse alive, so I didn’t completely fuck this up, but I know I’ve just lost us an opportunity to gain more information on Igor.

Every time I feel like I’m finally proving myself to be worthy of more responsibility within the bratva, I go pull a stunt like this.

Well done, Danil.

Dimitri opens up the driver's door. “I suggest we keep what we’ve learned to ourselves. I don’t want Igor getting wind of what just happened.”

“Shouldn’t Alexei at least know?”

“No.” He climbs in the car.

I slide into the passenger seat. “If he finds out we’ve kept this from him, he’s going to be pissed.”

Dimitri shrugs as he turns the car on and puts it in drive. “Alexei’s always pissed, so it won’t make much difference.”

“What about Emily and Zara? Do we tell them the truth?”

I know if Emily realizes that she’s gotten herself tangled up with one of Igor’s men, she’ll be terrified. She knows all too well what Igor is capable of, and I don’t want to scare her. But if she knew the severity of the situation, it might make her think twice about leaving her window open…

“They don’t need to know. We’ll just tell them that the guy got away, but that we’re looking into it.”

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