Reign of a Billionaire : A Dark Mafia Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

Chapter 10Kingston, 12 Years Old

Fear was part of my every breath and each heartbeat. It shouldn’t be, I needed to be braver, but I couldn’t shake it off.

Two years, four months, two weeks, and twelve days. Eight hundred and seventy-eight days in a windowless, empty basement cell in the middle of the Siberian landscape. The only time I caught a glimpse of the outside world was when I was taken upstairs to fight.

The training didn’t bother me as much as the killing. I tracked the number of lives I’d taken by the teeth I pulled from the corpses. They were just boys, not so unlike me.

One day, someone would probably rip my teeth out when they were done with me.

I leaned against the pillar as I watched a fight between two older kids, my racing heart hidden behind my well-worn mask. Days and months of torture did that to you.

Bright lights surrounded the arena, illuminating the strangers scattered all around it. They shouted, cheered, waved their money in the air with greed in their eyes. The walls behind me were painted red, just like the blood staining the sand in the arena. But that wasn’t what captured my interest.

It was the only window in the room that stretched on the far wall, letting me see the clear blue sky. It didn’t look cold, despite the snow covering the ground. If only the window would open, I’d jump out of it and try my luck at escaping again. I’d take my chances, even in these rags my captors called clothes.

I missed my brothers. My sister.

Their faces slowly faded in my mind, but I clung to them with all I had. Each night before I fell asleep, I cataloged everything I remembered about them. They were looking for me. I knew it in my heart. My father would abandon me, but not my siblings.

The only comfort in all of this was that my baby sister had been spared. It was one of the only things keeping me going, though I still remembered that day clearly. Her eyes full of terror; her chubby cheeks stained with tears.

A loud roar pulled me from my thoughts to where a boy twitched and bled all over the sand beneath the ring. He fought to breathe; he fought to live another day. But everyone knew he wouldn’t. With each passing second, the light in his eyes dimmed until it was extinguished completely.

“Fuck, he didn’t make it.” A mutter by a boy behind me had me turning around. “The Killer is unbeatable.”

His dark blue eyes were resigned. Tired. He looked the way I felt. Beaten and hungry. I’d seen him around, but I didn’t know his name. After I was forced to kill the first friend I made, I never bothered to learn their names again.

“Louisa, stop this instant.”

Sofia Volkov’s voice interrupted the boys in their morbid discussion. She strolled in, glaring after the girl who’d escaped her control. Dressed in a fancy blue dress and holding the hand of another girl—a twin, by the looks of it—the pair looked crestfallen at being scolded so openly.

So the rumors were true. Sofia Volkov had a weakness, and they were living under this roof.

My attention flickered to the one running into the arena on her chubby legs, wearing a ridiculously bright red dress full of lace and frills that looked out of place here.

“Call a doctor,” she yelled, her hands frantically flying through the air and terror evident in her voice. The girl couldn’t be older than seven.

I felt the breath rush out of my chest. She appeared fragile, almost too small for her age. She shouldn’t be here. It was too dangerous.

Tears streamed down her face, her blonde curls bouncing with each step she took. But it was her eyes that captivated me. Big and golden with hazel specks. She fell down to her knees next to the dead boy, grabbing his cold hand into hers and shaking it desperately.

And all the while, she cried, her soft whimpers filling the deathly still arena that had only seen cruelty and death, nothing like this display of empathy.

Then suddenly The Killer snatched the girl, wrapping his bloodied fingers around her neck.

“Let her go,” Sofia Volkov, the bitch of all bitches, hissed. I hated the woman—her puppet of a husband even more—but I didn’t want the little girl hurt.

The tension in the air was so heavy I felt goosebumps rise on my arms. I didn’t move, my focus remaining glued to the little girl with the most unusual eyes I’d ever seen.

“Nobody move or I’ll snap her neck.” The Killer tightened his grip, flashing his feral smile, while the little girl clawed at his hand. Her ivory skin was turning purple.

Ivan chortled. “You stupid boy. You’re dead and don’t even know it.”

The Killer bared his teeth, and I watched in horror as the scene played out. Why wasn’t anyone saving her?

I hadn’t known men—or women—like this until I’d been forced here. I’d never seen truly evil men inflict so much pain on others. A shudder rippled through my skinny body.

The Killer lifted the girl off the ground while gripping her neck, her black flats dangling in the air as she kicked her legs. Every muscle in my body tightened instinctively. Without moving my eyes from the scene, I shifted to the next pillar so I could sneak up on The Killer from behind.

Sofia Volkov’s eyes turned black, and I wondered if she regretted creating this monster out of a boy. Blood rushed through my ears, the entire arena only background noise. I kept my eyes on the scene, inching closer.

I swallowed, waiting for one of Sofia’s men to do something—anything—but nobody was budging.

I remembered the last time I saw my sister, two years ago. The fear in Aurora’s eyes had stayed with me, and I knew that same fear was now rolling off this little girl.

Before I even understood what was happening, I jumped on The Killer’s back, my arm wrapping around his monstrous shoulders. We all lost balance, falling backward. I grunted from the weight crushing me, but I didn’t release my grip.

He gurgled. The girl whimpered. I scrambled to get the upper hand, and when I did, I squeezed the boy’s neck with everything I had. Seconds ticked by. They felt like hours. His body twitched. Once. Twice. Then he went limp, and I peeled his hands off the little girl.

I took her in my trembling arms and shoved the slumped body to the side.

His blood didn’t soak the dirt, but my sins did.

The sudden onslaught of noise finally hit me. The crowd pulsed as one, their eyes locked on me with disbelief. Then came the screams and cries of a little girl.

“Shhh,” I murmured softly, in the same way I used to calm my baby sister down, as I rubbed her back gently.

I was in so much trouble. They’d punish me for this. I clenched my jaw, preparing for the consequences that were sure to come.

I didn’t regret it. Her little body no longer shook with fear. Instead, it clung to me like I was her life raft.

Sofia Volkov stepped forward, her eyes locked on mine. “Well, looks like I found a bodyguard and companion for my girls.”