The Darkest Torment. Gena Showalter
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for mercy when challenged by such a deadly force. For Katarina, tears were impossible.
She’d cried buckets in the months leading up to her mother’s death, but not a single one after. She’d been too relieved. Her mother’s misery had finally ended. But with the relief had come guilt. If Katarina hadn’t been able to cry for the mother she’d revered, what right did she have to cry for anyone else?
Paling, trembling, Alek retreated—he never retreated!—stepping behind her and...using her as a shield?
In the first pew, her brother stood. He was six feet tall, though his emaciation made him a pin-drop in comparison to the newcomers. Did the chruno actually plan to fight trained killers?
Baden pivoted in his direction.
“No!” She scrambled from the dais to throw herself in front of Dominik. “My brother has nothing to do with this. You will not harm him.” While her affection for her only living family member had withered, she remembered the boy he used to be. Kind, patient and protective. She had no desire to see him killed, would rather see him locked behind bars, forcibly removed from Alek’s insidious influence and a ready supply of heroin.
Maybe, if Dominik got clean, they could try to be siblings again.
He pushed her behind him, astounding her. “Do not play the hero, sestra.”
Baden lost interest in him. Radiating bloodcurdling malice, he closed in on Alek, the man so many feared. “This is your last chance. The coin.”
Alek pursed his lips, an action she knew well. His drug lord moxy—I am master of all I survey—had just switched back on. “The coin belongs to me. Tell Hades he can go to hell where he belongs.”
The dark-haired man laughed. The white-haired man adjusted his gloves.
“Wrong answer. Perhaps you don’t yet believe I’m willing to do anything to retrieve it.” Baden grabbed Alek by the neck and lifted him off his feet, squeezing him with so much force his eyeballs bulged and his face reddened. “Does this convince you?”
The dogs! If he died... “Stop,” she shouted. She tried to return to the dais, but Dominik snaked an arm around her waist to hold her in place. “Prosim!” Please.
Baden ignored her, telling Alek, “I’ll leave with the coin...or I’ll leave with something you value.” He motioned to Alek’s hand with a tilt of his chin, ensuring his meaning was clear. “You choose.”
Alek sputtered, beating at his arm.
“Know this,” the redhead added, unruffled. “I’ll be back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, until I have what I want, and I will never leave without a prize.”
Who was this man? Who was Hades?
Alek grappled for the small gun hidden at his waist. Baden spun with him, using him as a buffer while firing the man’s own weapon at the guards who’d taken aim.
New howls of pain erupted. Blood splattered, and bodies dropped. Katarina clutched her stomach to ward off waves of nausea.
Finished with the guards, Baden twisted Alek’s wrist and broke the bones; the gun fell as her groom screamed. More and more men jumped up to help him, and more and more guns were aimed at the trio.
Even Dominik withdrew a gun from his ankle holster, though he didn’t take aim. He hauled her through a side door, down a long corridor.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Multiple shots rang out behind her.
Had Alek been hit? She tried to fight her way free. “Let go!”
“Enough.” Her brother was panting, already winded. “This is for your own good.”
A gesture of kindness, even if it was executed the wrong way.
“I won’t allow Alek’s bride to suffer,” he added, ruining everything. For him, everything always came back to Alek.
“I must stay with him,” she said. “The dogs—”
“Forget the dogs.”
“Never!”
The gunshots stopped. The pained grunts and groans quieted. The scent of gun smoke and corroded metal coated the air, following her.
Just before Dominik reached the doorway that led to the outside world, she stuck out her foot and tripped him. He maintained his grip on her, lugging her with him as he crashed. As he fought for breath, she was finally able to jerk free. He reached for her, but she kicked him in the stomach and stood.
Cursing, he hopped up. She leaped backward and—
Slammed into a brick wall. With a gasp, she whirled. Her gaze traveled up a man’s legs...a torso ridged with muscle. There were thin rivers of black tattooed from the tips of his fingers to the edge of the black bands that circled his biceps. Three bullet holes marred his shoulder, but the wounds didn’t appear to be bleeding.
Her eyes locked on cool copper irises. Baden.
He was hyperfocused, radiating challenge, determination and lethal intent...maybe even anticipation.
“Get out of the way, Katarina,” Dominik commanded.
Baden reached around her to knock her brother’s gun across the hall.
When confronted with an aggressive dog, stay calm. Avoid direct eye contact. Stand sideways and claim your space.
She peered beyond him while assuming the proper stance. Then, using her calmest tone, she said, “Your quarrel is not with us. We mean you no harm.”
“Lately I need no reason to quarrel with anyone, nevesta.” Bride in Slovak. He spoke her native tongue? “But you...you give me reason. You worry for a piece of shit.” His disgust had returned full force. “You married a piece of shit.”
He thought the worst of her, had no concept of the truth. Don’t know him, don’t like him. His opinion doesn’t matter. “Should you really cast stones? You have glitter smeared on your neck.” Truth. “Courtesy of a stripper girlfriend?”
When he offered no reply, her spark of temper drained. She asked softly, “Is Alek still alive?”
“Are you worried for him, or the position of power you’ll lose upon his death?”
Position of power? Please! “Is. He. Still. Alive?”
Baden inclined his head. “He even has all his body parts. For now.”
Thank God! “Listen to me. I’ll get your coin. Yes?”
“You won’t do any such thing. And you won’t hurt her,” Dominik told Baden. “I won’t let—”
Baden glared him into silence before returning his attention to her. “You know which coin I seek?”
“No, but you can describe it and I can search Alek’s home.” If Baden kept the guards at bay, she could finally hunt for her dogs without fear of getting caught. “Let’s go there now.”
“You’ve seen the trouble your husband is willing to endure to ensure the coin remains hidden.” Dark red waves fell over his strong brow, swatches of pure silk. “It won’t be in a drawer.”
Probably not. “Perhaps it’s inside a safe-deposit box. I can gather all his keys. If we leave now—”
Dominik squeezed her arm but didn’t say another word.
“What do you think I did before coming to the chapel?” Baden asked.
He’d been to the house? “Did you see three pit bulls? One is brindle, one is gray, and—”
“There were no dogs of any breed,” he interjected, his brow furrowed. “No cats, either.”
Devastation mixed with anger, the deadly combination frothing inside her. Where had Alek hidden her pets?
The