Page 84 of The Bratva's Bounty

"Well, that'll take about an hour to kick in, and of course, the guards here will monitor him and keep administering the medication as needed to keep him in that state," Alexei said collectedly while dusting his hands. "I have to get ready for a shift."

And just like that, the good doctor left as if he didn't just get his rocks off torturing a man just now.

"And you call me the psycho?" I scoffed and deadpanned Lev witha raised brow.

Walking up to me, he leaned down and caged me in with his arms. "Hey, I mean it in a loving way," Lev defended himself with a chuckle.

Gripping the edge of the table, he leaned in and kissed me softly. "Now, what would you like to do, empress?" he whispered against my lips.

I leered at Igor after peering my head around Lev. For a pensive moment, I let my spiteful eyes look at his disgusting body for a very quick moment before deciding, "Rip his nails off, toes and fingers, then break every bone in his feet and hands." The lack of care in my very cruel tone surprised me as much as it did Lev, who looked at me with stunned eyes for a split second.

Then, my twisted man cracked an excited grin before his hand grabbed a hammer off the table. "Consider it done, my love." Right before his body turned away from the table, his other hand snagged a pair of pliers.

Once Lev approached Igor, it took less than ten seconds for his screams of bloody murder to bounce off the metal walls and resound in my ears like the perfect carol. Agonized screams, pleas for the torture to end, nasty comments, and slurs said in between. None of it bothered me because, after all, they were the ramblings of a dead man.

"Did the meds work?" I asked Lev, refusing to trail my eyes down to see for myself.

Movement was caught by my eyes, and I could see Lev moving the hammer down to Igor's pelvic area. Then, Lev's mocking chuckle rang through the air. "If I can even find it."

A splatter of bloody spit landed right at Lev's feet before Igor remarked something to Lev in Russian, only to be met by a burst of loud laughter from Lev.

Spinning around, Lev came back over to me with a lustful frenzy in his eyes. The moment he was inches from me, his hands grabbed my face to bring me into a heated kiss. "Get on the table and spread your legs, empress," he groaned against my lips, grabbing the back of my thighs to help hike me up.

"What are you doing?" My airy voice trailed the more I melted in Lev's loving hands as they wandered my body.

Holding my face tenderly, he looked down at me with pleading eyes full of warmth and want. "Do you trust me?" he asked with a confident smile.

There was a twinkle of darkness in his eyes that sent a small tingle of nervous excitement down my spine. I probably shouldn't, but I nodded my head in response and leaned into his touch. "Yes, always." Unless this was the moment that would break it.

Snaking his hand under my skirt, he brushed his thumb against my clothed sex, rubbing my clit until it throbbed with pleasure. "He won't see you, I promise," he whispered reassuringly against my lips before kissing me deeply.

Carefully, he positioned himself between my legs to use his big body to cover me before undoing his pants and slipping himself under my loose skirt. Spitting in his hand, he slicked himself up before pushing my panties aside and positioning himself at my entrance. "Hold onto me, and don't hold back,zhizn moya."

I didn't get a preparatory swipe or teasing thrusts; he shoved himself all the way to the base with a single, hard jerk of his hips. Instinctively, my body arched against his as a loud scream of pleasure escaped from my open mouth. Shudders trembled my whimpering body as I tried to release Lev's shoulders from my clawing grip.

"Lev, claim me, please," I begged through a shaky exhale. "Show me how much you love me and want me."

Chapter 37

Lev

I was wary ofour trip to The Catacombs when Nicole demanded to go out of the blue. Yes, demanded, not asked, demanded. I tried to talk her out of it, afraid that she was being a little too rash or impulsive or that she was losing it just a tad. Even if she had been making great strides over the past month since she started therapy, I still worried about her quite a bit.

But when she was rather adamant about going to see Igor to settle the score, I was somewhat inclined to let her have it her way. Well, I still fought her about it a little bit because I didn't want her to get triggered. Even if she never really showed any signs of it before, trauma was something I didn't like to play around with. Besides, the last thing I wanted to do was end up in a situation like Nikolai's when he decided to present Angel's ex to her and almost sent her into a crisis.

Thankfully, Nicole kept her head on straight the whole time, which made my admiration for her rise to a new level. If it were me, or if I hadn't promised Nicole that Igor was hers, then I would have ripped into him the moment I stepped into the room. Don't get me wrong, I was furious under my calm demeanor, but this closure was Nicole's to take. Besides, it wasn't as if she didn't let me participate.

When she told me to pluck Igor's nails offand break his bones, I was more than happy to oblige. The bastard deserved far worse, in my opinion, but I guess having his dick rot off and then dying from a bloodstream infection was worth it in the end.

Thinking about that happening made me shudder and clench protectively. I don't know how or where she came up with the idea, but as long as it wasn't me on the receiving end, then I didn't care. If Igor wasn't such a bad person, then I might have felt a little bad for him about his impending death.

No matter, he dug his grave himself. I was merely helping him along to it.

Much to my surprise, he was no fun to torture. Unfortunately, he didn't fight back as much as I had anticipated. Yeah, he spat out nasty words and begged a little, but he didn't struggle or plead genuinely—it wasn't from his soul. He did do a good job of pissing me off, though.

Sure, therapy has been as beneficial for me as it has been for Nicole, but I knew for a fact that my anger toward the whole situation wasn't something I'd fully accepted yet. It was less often now, but I still beat myself down for being a helpless sack of shit during that time. Yes, I know the situation was out of my control; I didn't ask to be tied up or wanted to be bound to the chair, and my strength and skills could only do so much in the situation. Still, it was a constant knife to the heart that would occasionally twist.

It also felt like no matter how much I adored Nicole and tried to prove myself to her, it was never enough. Okay, I know I didn't have to do that, but I felt compelled to. Which apparently wasn't a healthy thing. I was trying to overcompensate for my failure to protect her, even though it was out of my hands.