CHAPTER TWO: Caught In The Act.

“Let go of me!” I struggle in the grasp of one of the hooded guys who was currently groping my breasts harshly.

“Keep screaming, it turns me on.” The guy says, laughing harshly in my ears.

I become jelly in his hands at his statement. I force my muscles to relax even when they fought to do the exact opposite.

“Do you know who the hell I am? When I'm out of here, I will make sure you pay for this!” My father screams as the men manhandle him, pushing him onto the floor.

“Papa, what do these men want?” I ask my father in a voice shaky with fear.

“This is not the time to be asking stupid questions, Anya. Just do what you are told and keep your mouth shut.” My father says to me with a snarl on his lips.

I squeeze my hands into a fist, preventing myself from making an angry retort. I still needed my father as much as he needed me. It was unheard of for a young unmarried lady in this part of the world to leave her father's house except for her husband's house.

“Where is our money, Maksim?” The masked man who seems to be the leader asks my father in a dangerous tone.

“And who the hell are you? I do not owe you any money!” My father screams at the man only to end up being punched in the face.

My father looked pathetic with blood and snot running down his face. His eye was definitely going to sport a nasty bruise, he could barely keep it open as it is.

The man brings out a black card from the inner pocket of his suit jacket and hands it over to my dad who freezes at the sight of the card.

“I'm s—orr–y, I didn't— Kn—ow– oh god–– I'm so— so—–rry.” My Father says disjointedly, shaking in fear.

An embarrassing yellow stain coats the crotch area of his trousers. Who were this guys that could elicit such a reaction from the great and mighty Maksim Fedorov?

“Where. The. Hell. Is. My. Money?” The man says while crouching low, his tone thickened with anger.

“I don't h—av—e it— ye—-t, please g—ive me— some time, I will have it ready for you.” My father says to the man. I could barely decipher what he was saying. His voice was so shaky, that all the syllables were jumbled together.

The masked man cocks his gun, attaching the suppressor to the mouth. “This is exactly what you said last time and yet look. Why should I believe you? Give me a reason not to kill you.”

“Please I'm be—gging you— You can take anything of value that you want, and you can keep it till I have the money to pay up.” My father says to him while looking suggestively at me.

The masked man follows his line of sight and when his eyes land on me, he leers at me in a very disgusting manner.

“This….. is the thing of value you were talking about?” The man asks while smiling widely already sure of my dad's answer.

I shake my head vigorously as the masked man stalks towards me. While the other two men were doing an excellent job in pinning me down, they doubled their efforts when I started to thrash wildly.

I couldn't handle another assault, I was this close to having a mental breakdown.

“Would you mind if I sampled the goods?” The masked man asks my father.

“No, of course not.” My father hurriedly says, wiping away the disgusting mixture of snot and blood.

“No, no, no, no. Please let me go. I'm begging you. I have nothing to do with this.” I scream when the man grabs hold of my legs.

“Shut up, Anya. At least you are good for something.” My father says angrily from behind the masked man.

When the man's fingers move beneath the fabric of my dress, I feel myself retreat and detach mentally from this whole situation. I couldn't feel his fingers anymore and at least no one could hurt me unless I let them.

Boom!

The sound of a gunshot brings me back to reality. I look around me and I find the masked man a few feet away from me. I sit up and notice that the men that were holding me down had let go of me.

I look to my father, and see a bullet hole in the wall behind him. He was currently cradling his head in his arms, and was rocking from back to front on the floor muttering pure gibberish.

“YA vsadyu tebe pulyu v golovu, esli pridu v sleduyushiy raz, a u tebya ne budet moikh deneg.” I’ll put a bullet in your head if I come next time and you don’t have my money. The masked man says heavily, hitting my father's cheek with the butt end of his gun.

“Just take her with you as payment.” My father says, crying heavily.

“Oh, I will take her, right after I put a bullet in your head the next time I come here and you do not have my money.” The man says, sneering widely.

The masked man signals his men and they all file out of our door.

I fall back to the ground in relief, looking at my father whose molars and canines had been knocked out of his mouth.

I was alive and safe today, but for how long? If I wanted to survive, I had to leave, and I had to do it fast.

—————————————

“You are so useless. No man even wants to take you as a wife.” My father says in a tone laced in disgust.

I don't bother telling him that the problem is not from me but rather from him. Nobody in his right senses would want to marry the daughter of a man who did not have any connections at all or who was in my dad's case a huge failure in life.

Once upon a time, he was equally a big shot but I guess life happened. And by life happened, I mean his wife gave birth to twin daughters which meant he had no successor so he sunk down the ranks in the bratva until he was forced to turn to alcohol to get rid of his sorrows.

Ever since we were attacked that evening, my dad has doubled his efforts in finding me a husband who had enough money and connections to pay off his debts and also to make him as important as he once was.

“Segodnya vse v poryadke. YA mogu naznachit' vstrechu segodnya.” Today is fine, I can make an appointment today. My father says happily before ending the call.

“Better get ready, a suitor is coming to see you later in the day. Cover up those nasty bruises, no man wants to see his future wife covered in the evidence of her foolishness.” My father says, before turning his back to me, effectively dismissing me.

By nasty bruises, he meant the purple and black bruises on my neck from when he had almost choked me to death earlier on when I refused to say a word to him.

My eyes fill up with tears at the thought of the impending doom. How much more will I have to suffer before I'm killed?

I go about my day, preparing a grandiose meal for our visitors. We spent a lot of money that we did not have on this meal. If my dad puts in this amount of effort into looking for the masked man's money, we would never have been assaulted that other day.

When I hear voices down the stairs, I hurry up to my room and change into my dress. It was the only elegant dress I had or rather the only elegant dress my dad let me keep. It was for occasions like this, when we were hosting important people which was very rare in reality.

I take in the sight of the man my father intended for me to marry. I knew him very well. His name was Boris Sidorov and he was a friend of my father's.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flick together. Boris could be said to be the most triggering man on earth. At least other times I didn't have to interact with him beyond formal greetings but today I was a potential bride so whatever excuses I might have used in the past to escape his groping hands would not work today.

“Come here, Anya and greet Boris and your co-wives.” My father says, laughing alongside Boris.

I bow my head slightly, mumbling a hello which I doubt Boris or his wives hear. I look at his wives and can't help but feel pity for both them and myself.

They always looked poorly taken care of and unhappy. I wonder if that will also be my fate.

My father draws me back towards him after Boris and his family are settled. “If you mess this up for me, I will kill you with my bare hands.”

“You are hurting me!” I say when he tightens his fist around my upper arms.

“That will be nothing compared to what I will do to you if this deal does not go through.” My father says flinging my hand away like it was a stain on his.

I'm left cradling my hand as the whole family settles down, waiting for me to serve dinner.

“This stew is so lovely, who made this? The recipe must be given to my wives.” Boris says in an annoyingly chirpy tone.

“This was made by my daughter, Anya. One of the reasons why you should get married to her. She can make a man grow twice his size in just a month.” My father says in an annoying tone with a wide smile on his face.

“Ha ha ha ha. At least she has some skills apart from opening her legs and accepting my cock.” Boris says in a tone that has me reaching for my glass of water in order to take a large gulp that will prevent me from throwing up.

Dinner continues in the same fashion, with both my Father and Boris competing for who could make the most cringey and disgusting statement. I, just like Boris's two wives keep my mouth shut ignoring the men.

By the time dinner is over and I had finished cleaning up every thing, I was more than ready to leave this disgusting day behind me.

I go up the stairs and into my room. When I pass by my father's office, I find his light off and the door shut close. I guess he had gone to sleep.

I feel my heartbeat increase as I move up the stairs and pull open the floorboard where I had previously stored all the money I had been able to save.

I was more than ready to leave this life behind me.

I heft my bag which had been pre packed before I had gone down to have dinner with Boris and his family.

I put on my slippers which make the least noise and I make my way down the stairs. I successfully pull open the door and just when I'm almost in the clear, I hear a loud growly voice from behind me that has my knees weakening in fear.

“Where the hell do you think you are going?” My father ask angrily from behind me.

When I turn to look at him and I see his blood red eyes, I knew that my time was up and the boogeyman had come for me.

My father dragged me back along with him and locked me in the basement, leaving me there alone.

I knew what came next. I was not that ignorant. He was going to whip me. That was his special punishment for I and Alina. He always said he was whipping the devil out of us. I wish I could say I was scared but I'm not. Given another opportunity, I would still not hesitate to run.