CHAPTER SIX: Respect Of The Pakhan.

“Why should I have to pay for the sins of my father? I have suffered enough in his hands already.” I say in a voice thick with sorrow.

“We all have, Malyshka. One way or the other. But that doesn't make you any less his child. As much as his wealth is yours, so are his sins.” Dimitri says in a voice tipped low with what I would have called pity under normal circumstances.

“His wealth isn't mine. He made sure that in the event he died, all his money would either go to my husband or charity.” I say looking away while swiping the tears rolling down my eyes angrily.

I don't know why I said that, the last thing I should be doing is fraternizing with the enemy.

“I don't need your pity. If you indeed feel sorry for me, just let me go. Or is that too much to ask from your big ego?” I say taunting him, glaring at him from under my lashes.

“I could let you go.” Dimitri says after some time, refusing to fall into my trap and take my bait. “But I won't, I have far better plans for you.”

“Why won't you just let me go? Would your men think less of you if you do?” I say coldly, knowing at the back of my mind that if I indeed wanted to be free, I had to put more effort into begging him.

“Malyshka, your existence or the lack of it thereof, has no influence on my men's respect for me.” Dimitri says while chuckling softly.

I stare at him for some time and I feel my blood pressure start to increase. I was starting to feel dizzy from fear.

“Uncuff me.” I say in a cold tone while drawing his attention to the cuffs on my wrist by shaking them wildly.

Dimitri does not respond, but he still doesn't rebuff my request.

“It's not like I have anywhere to go. You've successfully trapped me here with you, the least you could do is make this as less painful for me as possible.” I say through gritted teeth.

Dimitri takes out a pin from the box beside him, and pulls my hands into his lap and goes ahead to release me by picking the lock.

“Than—” I start to say but then remember that it was all his fault I was even in this situation in the first place.

I look at the handle of the door and contemplate pulling it open and jumping out of the running car. At this moment, I don't even care that I might sustain severe injuries or even possibly die.

“Don't even think about it, Malyshka.” Dimitri says as though he could read my mind.

I don't look at him to know that his eyes are currently glued to my face, trying to determine my next actions from my expression.

I sit still and wait for the perfect opportunity to execute my badly thought-out plan.

I had no other plan besides jumping out of the car and running away into the woods which stood on either side of the road like

When the car slows down at a particularly sharp bend, I don't wait for any more signals, I immediately pull open the latch of the door and stumble out of the car.

“Fuck! Malyshka.” Dimitri's loud voice curses as he stumbles out of the car and after me.

I feel the concrete digging into my hands and knees, leaving a burning trail of hotness as I roll away from the road towards the safety of the bushes.

Chaos ensues all around me. The cars following us all screech to a stop, and Dimitri's men stumble out of the car drawing their guns out as they run towards us.

Dimitri gets my nightwear in his grasp and he refuses to let go. I struggle against him like a maniac. I make a tough decision then and there.

I hurriedly take off the flimsy material of the nightwear, leaving it behind me in his grasp.

“yebat'! vernis' syuda, malenkaya devochka.” fuck! come back here little girl. Dimitri screams at me as I take off into the woods.

I don't care even for one minute that I'm naked. The fresh green leaves from the trees brush against my skin as I take off farther into the bush.

I hear heavy footsteps behind me and the familiar grunt of a male. I didn't stop to look behind me because I didn't want to end up being caught or worse, dead.

A bullet flies past me and all the air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. Someone shot at me. Someone fucking shot at me!

I fail to see or hear him coming but before I can regain my bearings and take off again, Dimitri grips my hair and tackles me to the ground.

“Get off me!” I say, struggling to disentangle my limbs from his, but Dimitri is having none of it.

He turns me, pressing my torso into the ground and sitting on my lower back. When I stop moving for a moment, he takes his weight off me but still kneels astride me.

“Are you going to stop fighting me now, malyshka?” Dimitri asks in a growly voice.

“I will never stop fighting you. Not now and not ever unless you let me go.” I say in a momentary burst of emotions.

I don't understand the sound I'm hearing until the white hot fiery pain washes over me.

“What the hell are you doing!” I demand, not caring one bit that I already know the answer to my question.

“Let me up right this minute!” I say angrily while trying to throw him off me by lifting my upper body up and off the ground.

Dimitri spanks me across my bare ass once more causing the supple flesh to jiggle in his hands.

I let out a string of curses when he still doesn't let me up. This punishment wasn't about pain, it was more about the humiliation, shame and degradation.

My father had inflicted far worse damage than this. My body knew how to handle pain but not embarrassment and shame. I flush red in anger as I scrape my nipples across the hard unforgiving ground as I try once more to throw him off me.

I look around us and find more than a handful of his men, surrounding us, some clearly ogling me and the others looking at the whole situation with distaste.

After some time, Dimitri stops spanking me and gets off me, pulling me up with him.

“Don't ever throw a fucking stunt like this again, you could have died back there!” Dimitri says angrily.

“Like you fucking care! Stop acting like you care about me or my well-being!” I say stomping my foot on the ground and wincing immediately when a sharp pain runs from my ankle and up my leg.

“I don't care about you, Malyshka. I care about you ruining my plans.” Dimitri says angrily, glaring at me.

“I will never allow you to make use of me like some lab rat. I will run away the first chance I get.” I promise him darkly.

I don't care whether he believed me or not, and judging from his low laugh, he didn't believe me at all, but I always make good on my promises and this one won't be any different.

One of Dimitri's men brings out a syringe from his pocket and hands it over to Dimitri who takes it from him without taking his eyes off me, even for a moment.

“What are you planning on doing with that?” I ask warily while taking a step back from him and his men.

Dimitri grips my hands tighter and pulls me towards him, and I start to struggle again, and somehow, I end up with my back to him.

I hear his breath hitch in his throat as he takes in the scars on my back. Some of them seemed fresh while the others were very old, from my early childhood.

I bend my head and allow my hair to fall around me, like a halo protecting me from the piercing stares coming from his men.

Eyes that once looked at me with scorn were filled with pity. I hated it. I hated the pity in their gazes. I would prefer it if they went back to hating me, and wishing me dead than this.

The scars were mine. There were a receipt for all I endured in my father's hands. It was an evidence of my strength, and I would never let them mock me for it.

Before I can make any more sound, or attempt to fight him off, Dimitri sticks the syringe in my hands, and slowly but surely I start to lose consciousness.

“You are a fucking fighter, Malyshka, and I respect you for it.” Dimitri says, his words following me even after I go limp in his arms as the drugs he pumped into my system kick in fully.