Read Punished by the Dictator's Daughter (The Initiation 3, Book 3) for Free Online

world.
    “He has not recovered from our sister’s
death,” Mansk explains.
    “Have you?” I ask him gently.
    He looks torn. “I tried to, but I . . .
couldn’t.”
    I rest my hand lightly upon his. “I
know.”
    At the same time, I have my own demons with
Max and Greg to exorcise. We are not given the luxury of alone time
in this bustling household, where it is imminent that something of
great import is about to happen. But Max senses something.
    He says, trying to make his tone affable,
“Did you see a lot of Greg when I was with Aimelie?”
    I shrug, my heart pounding. “No more than the
usual.”
    He glances at me askew. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes.”
    I don’t want to face any showdowns now. If
there even is a showdown, I should be so lucky. Although Max says
he loves me and we are practically girlfriend and boyfriend,
something about our entire relationship – with the mix of Russell
and Alice and Greg and sexual slavery – is so off-kilter and
unsettling that I can never really be sure. Like if his love
includes sharing me with his entire family (which he did) or
selling me to some billionaire’s BDSM sex club (which he might
after we get married, you never know).
    So you see, Max keeps me guessing. Any
relationship that any girl has with Max is going to be a
rollercoaster – forever on the balls of your feet.
    But Greg. Solid, dependable Greg. Predictable
Greg, who will love me more than I love him.
    Ahhh, I know I didn’t want showdowns, but
he’s going to give me one too.
    When Max isn’t looking, Greg pulls me
aside.
    “Did you tell him about us?” he says
urgently.
    “I’m not even sure there’s an ‘us’.” Now that
I’m surrounded by people, including Max, I’m suddenly unsure
again.
    I wince at the look of hurt in his eyes.
    “What about Alice?” I challenge him.
    “What about her?” he challenges back. “You
know I’d leave her in a heartbeat for you.”
    “And give up all this wealth, privilege, and
opportunity?”
    “Oh, I see,” he says bitterly. “So it’s about
all that for you too, I suppose.”
    Now he has gotten me in a quandary. The truth
is that I didn’t think of that – not even once – when Greg declared
his love for me. I’ll admit to having thought of it before. But not
anymore. I have decided that no money in the world can make me go
through Ursk again.
    “No, Greg, it isn’t.” I close my eyes. “It’s
just too complicated to deal with right now, so let’s all just get
out of here, OK?”
    I’m aware that I am behaving like a total
bitch. But my mind is run all ragged and I just want to get my boys
and myself out of this place.
    There isn’t long to wait. Exactly twenty-four
hours after we arrived here at this brick farmhouse, Mansk comes to
us.
    “It is time,” he says.
    We have the least baggage, I suppose, of his
entire clan. Under the cover of of night, we leave the farmhouse.
There are nine of us altogether, and frankly, I wonder if we will
ever make it out alive. There’s Mansk and his brood, his brother
and wife, and the three of us. No member of Mansk’s family will be
left behind. His parents are already dead, and he has no other
kin.
    “They’ll torture anyone who is left behind,”
he explains as a matter-of-factly.
    I don’t doubt this. I’m not sure they won’t
torture the neighbors though. Or cousins. Or friends. No one
related to Mansk will be safe here.
    I’m beginning to feel really scared about all
this.
    What if I’m making a mistake? What if I am
needlessly putting everyone in danger? What if Potchenko will honor
the contract after all – despite Aimelie’s threats – and return us
intact?
    I should have waited. I’m rash, I know that
now. Perhaps my rashness will doom everyone to an early death. But
it’s too late to go back and change anything. I made a decision
without consulting anyone, and we are all paying the price for it
now.
    I do not share with anyone my fears as we
pile into Mansk’s truck. Yes,