FAZER LOGINLOTTIE I woke up to the smell of bleach. A light flickered on the ceiling directly above my head. Every muscle in my torso burned when I tried to pull myself up. I dropped back onto the mattress, my teeth grinding together as pain shot down my spine. To my left, a machine beeped at a steady pace. I turned my head. My neck felt stiff, like cold iron. Across the small aisle separating two metal cots sat Viktor. He was tied to his bed frame. Thick leather straps bound his wrists and ankles to the metal bars. A clean white bandage wrapped around his head, covering his left eye. Blood seeped through the white cloth on his chest. His right eye was closed. I cleared my throat. "Vik?" My voice sounded small. It rasped against my throat like dry glass. Viktor’s right eye snapped open. He turned his head toward me, the leather straps groaning against the bed posts as he moved his arms. "Lottie," he said. His jaw was dark with bruises. "You are alive." I looked at h
LOTTIE“Get up. You’re lucky Igor… what the hell…”I froze midway climbing the wall. Shit.“Accidenti, questa ragazza ha proprio voglia di morire.” I heard Leo mutter under this breath. (Damn, this girl really has a death wish).“I’m not… I just wanted to…”“Jump down.”My eyes widened. “What?”I heard a gun cock behind me and let out a gasp when I almost missed my footing. The wall had bumps, which I had discovered were there for this escape cause… but these bumps had gotten weak. The moment I slipped, the bump under my leg gave way, and my leg scratched against the wall, drawing blood.“Please! Per favore, I’m going to die if I jump… it’s too high.”“I don’t give a fuck. You have to jump in ten seconds, or I’ll shoot. I’ll start the countdown now. You wanted to play smart with me, right?”Shoulders shaking with endurance, I stared upwards and saw that the window was just three steps ahead. I could’ve glanced down, but I knew I was going to tumble to the ground if I tried it.“One.
VIKTOR“You fucked my wife.” Igor took a rod off the hands of one of his men, slowly advancing towards me. I had just woken up, my good eye dull with pain.I was no pussy, but there was only so much the body could take. Just like me, Igor was not a merciful man. I knew for a fact that he was going to teach me a lesson. I just had to be ready to learn.“Dad…”“Viktor. I need a yes or no.” He cut me off, stopping in front of me. His hands were shaking as usual, but his eyes were full of revenge. “Did you fuck my wife?”Blood seeped into my eye from a wound on my head, and I blinked. I tried to clean off the blood with the back of my hand. When my hands didn’t budge, I realized in my dazed state, that I’d been tied up.“Dad…”The rod whipped my back at the same time Igor yelled, “I’m not your goddamn father!”“Ah!” I screamed, hitting the floor on my shoulder. The pain shot up my back like a crippling disease, and blood seeped from my mouth.“You’re going to fucking kill me!” I yelled.“
VIKTORMy hands remained behind me even if I’d broken free from the chains already. You know, sealing the act and all.I sat back against the wall, trying to ignore the body pains, as Marco and his men discussed in front of me. They sent looks my way, their eyes filled with hate.“I want to waste him like he’s wasted my friend. I’m not having any compassion, and I don’t give a fuck about who he is. He can be in the mafia all he wants, he’s still under our territory here. Stop being a fucking pussy.” He grabbed the gun off Marco’s hand and pushed him back, stepping up to me. I didn’t move an inch where I sat.His eyes were full of pain. If I had a heart, one that didn’t just fucking respond to Lottie alone, maybe I would have imagined how he was feeling right now, feel sorry for him somehow.But I sat there without a trace of emotion on my face, siding up the man. He was short, lean, easy to handle. My throat bobbed with anticipation when I thought about how satisfying it would be to t
LOTTIE“You have to let me go. You know what would happen if Igor finds out about this nonsense. You know what happens if you harm a family member, especially me. You lose every right to be a Morozov. You lose everything.”That earned me a hard smack across the face. I kept my face to the side, clenching my teeth. Leo grabbed my neck and made me look at him.“Never thought of my brother as such a pussy. I have no idea what you’ve turned him to. He’s not even picking up my calls. Viktor, for once in his life, dipped on a challenge. You, made that happen.”He stared into my eyes like he was daring me to say something. The taste of metal on my tongue had my lips sealed shut. My eyes watered with unshed tears. After I’d been threatened to keep quiet with a gun pointed right at me from the front and behind, I didn’t relent.I waited for the armed men to leave, and then I dialed Viktor’s number again. I called him over and over, I left different voicemails. I left messages that were read.
VIKTOR The referee dropped his hand. “Go!” The big guy came at me with a slow left jab. I stepped inside the punch, slipped my right arm around his head, and hit him hard in the ribs. He grunted and backed up. I did not let him breathe. I pressed forward, threw a left hook to his jaw, and followed it with a straight right to his nose. Bone cracked. Blood hit the canvas floor. The crowd yelled, but the noise sounded far away, like I was underwater. All I could see was Peppe’s face. All I could hear was Lottie telling me to leave. The big guy stumbled back against the ropes. “Hey, hold on—” he spit out. I stepped in and hit him again. A hard right to his cheek. His head snapped back. His legs went soft, and he hit the wooden floor hard on his back. The referee jumped between us, holding his hands up. “That is it! Fight is over! Step back!” I pushed the referee out of the way. I got on top of the big guy on the floor. I grabbed his shirt collar with my left han







