Page 54 of Paved in Venom

Vitaly and Lev keep their eyes on the man while I dig my phone out and call Matvey. He answers immediately.

“You ready to get your hands bloody again?”

I hear the excitement in his voice when he asks, “She recognized someone?”

“She did. I need you to find someone who speaks Romanian.”

“Timofey’s mom is from Romania,” Vitaly says.

“Perfect. Did you hear that?” I ask Matvey.

“Yeah, I’m on it. We’ll meet you at the warehouse.”

“Send a couple of our men to the penthouse to watch Simona and Emily. We’ll drop her off on our way.”

“I’ll call them now.”

“Thanks, man.”

I hang up and tell Vitaly and Lev that Matvey’s going to meet us at the old warehouse we bought just for occasions such as this. We knew at some point we’d have to have a place to question people and that it needed to be somewhere private, somewhere we could hold a person and not have their screams heard. The location is an hour away, but every mile of that drive is going to be worth it.

Excited by the knowledge that I’m going to be torturing this sick fuck very soon, I smile and keep stroking Simona’s head. We keep talking to the men around us, holding up our end of the conversation while watching the man slowly make his way around the room. He doesn’t try to speak to anyone, just eye-fucks the women that he’s assaulted. I see the fear in their eyes when they notice him, and I have no doubt that he did the same damn thing to all of them that he did to Simona.

I’m momentarily sidetracked when a man walks over to us. The suit he’s wearing is as expensive as mine, which is saying a lot, and he looks to be only a few years older than me, probably early thirties, which puts us both way younger than the other men here. His dark eyes run over Simona before he meets mine and offers me his hand.

“I wanted to come and introduce myself to the man who outbid me. I’m Dominic.”

His tone is light, but it’s forced. I can hear the edge to it, and I know he’s not pleased that I outbid him. I recognize the look in his eyes. He’s not a man who’s used to losing. I shake his hand, studying the man who would be holding Simona right now if I hadn’t been there, and I want to kill him. I want to take out my gun and shoot him until there’s nothing left of him for daring to even think about possessing what’s mine. I’ve turned completely feral where Simona is concerned, and I can’t switch it off.

Instead of killing him, I say, “Nice to meet you, Dominic. I’m Danil, and these are my brothers, Lev and Vitaly.”

He gives them a nod and then takes the chair next to me, never taking his eyes off Simona. She’s still in my arms, keeping her eyes down, pretending to not be interested in our conversation, but I know she’s listening, and I can feel her fingers playing a rhythm on my side where her hand has slipped under my jacket.

“I was very pissed at you,” Dominic admits with a soft laugh. “I had to go home alone after the auction, which is not something I’m accustomed to. I’ve never been outbid before, and I really had my heart set on this one.”

“I’m sure there will be other auctions,” I tell him.

“There will be, yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have her.”

“No, you don’t,” I say, letting my anger creep into my voice.

He keeps his eyes on mine a few seconds longer than necessary before his lips quirk up and he lets out a soft laugh. “What if I offer you more?”

“You want to buy her from me?” I ask, unable to hide my own laugh at the audacity of this fucker.

“I do. I was able to move some funds around, and I’ll pay whatever you want. Just name it, and it’s yours.”

“She’s not for fucking sale,” I growl out, barely keeping my temper in check.

He gives me that same smirky smile and leans forward. “I think you’re forgetting what she is, and she’s most definitely for sale. Everyone and everything is.”

“She was for sale,” I correct, “but I bought her, which means she’s mine. Not yours.”

His jaw tics, and I know he’s just as pissed as I am. After several seconds of silence, he relents and asks, “How much for one night?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Fucking spoiled rich guys,” Lev mutters in Russian beside me. I know he and Vitaly are listening in while keeping an eye on the doctor, and I can tell they’re getting just as pissed as me about this.

---