Page 97 of Lilies from Hell

“Then who can you trust? I’m hanging out with people from our circle. Isn’t that what you wanted?” My voice is harsh. His features soften.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” He sits back down next to me, holding my hands in his. “I’m just trying to protect you.”

“I can protect myself. Besides, he loves me, he wouldn’t hurt me,” I murmur under his attentive gaze, remembering the marks of his teeth and cuts I have under my clothes, my cheeks flushing with a blush that my father ignores.

“He better not. If I find out he lays a hand on you, he won’t get out of here alive. And pack your things, we’re going home right now.” My smile from earlier fades away with his now authoritative voice.

“But…”

“No buts. Oh, and you’re not going out for a year.”

“Dad! You can’t lock me up for life,” I reply behind his back.

“Of course I can. I’m your father,” he says with a wolfish smile. “Hurry up.”

He turns around and walks out of the room. An annoyed snort echoes from the doorway behind me. I turn to see Alek standing there, leaning against the frame of this room—which looks like a hospital room, except for the dark decorations around it.

I ignore his bad mood. When I finish making the bed, I pick up my bag and put the few things I brought with me inside.

“Are you leaving?” he asks behind me. I turn around and meet his apathetic gaze. It stuns me a little, because I’m so used to the adoration I always see in his eyes, but as quickly as it came, it disappears. I nod, and he looks away, tensing his jaw. “When will I be able to see you again?”

“Sooner than you think,” I say with a smile, revealing my teeth.

“Bombs?” Denis asks with an incredulous look.

“I already have all their routes, we don’t need anything else. I want to see all their territories burn,” I say, clenching my teeth.

“Sounds good to me,” Sergei murmurs with a smile on his face.

“Let’s go.” Denis frowns before speaking with a stunned look on his face.

“Now?”

“Yes. Now. Is that okay with Mr. Volkov?” I ask, raising my eyebrows in an ironic expression.

“Fine, but make it quick. I have an appointment at the barber’s,” he mutters behind us as we walk to the van parked on the front garden. “I’m not driving,” he grumbles again when Sergei blocked his way to the passenger door.

I slam the door shut without measuring my strength, completely oblivious to whatever they’re arguing about now. The conversation with Ray keeps going round and round in my head, pissing me off. Above her being his daughter, she is mine. My wife. He has no right to separate us, and of course I will wipe my ass with his words.

“Get going, Denis,” I bark sharply, looking at him through the glass. He curses under his breath when he sees Sergei’s triumphant smile.

Soon we arrive at some buildings that are posing as a shoe factory on the outside. Inside people mix the ingredients to make the cocaine he had trafficked so many times, but no one notices they are not alone. The idiot is too stingy to hire people to secure the perimeter when he isn’t around. Not that I’m complaining.

“Ready. All clear,” a young boy screams approaching us with some bloodstains on his clothes.

I nod, giving the order to activate the explosives we placed earlier. In a matter of seconds, the buildings explode with a deafening noise, leaving a trail of gunpowder, blood, and limbs flying through the air like like bloody ragdolls. With a smile, I watch as the fire spreads further and further, reducing everything in its path to ashes and leaving behind the smell of gunpowder and burnt flesh.

“You’re next,” I whisper into the air, my lips still curving with a smile. One that fades when I pick up my phone and see his name in the middle of the screen. “What?” I mutter with annoyance, walking away from the mess.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Not like this. I’m waiting for you—.” I end the call.

My father is smoking a cigar with a dismayed expression by the time I enter the office. He only makes that face when it came to money or power.

“I don’t know where Lizzie is. I can’t find her anywhere.” I raise my eyebrows as I listen to him speak with a defeated expression.