(Reader discretion advised. 18+ mature content)
"That is impossible!" Ashley blurted out, visibly panicked. "It must be a misunderstanding!"
"I am afraid we have confirmed his decision twice already," Nicolai said with a crooked smile.
Pavlov was cackling in the background. He barely let Ashley hear what Nicolai was saying.
"The exact words that Grayson said were I DON'T CARE."
Ashley shook her head in denial.
"Let me talk to him," she begged. "Please, get me on a call with Jake. Perhaps he thinks Zetelica bluffed about seizing me?"
"Do you think we are idiots?" Nicolai fired back. "We took pictures and videos of you. An associate of ours made sure your boyfriend saw them. I heard his decision to abandon you did not take long. You must accept the truth that Jake Grayson considered you a fuckhole and nothing else."
"NO! Jake loves me!" As a response to that, even Nicolai joined Pavlov in the laughter. They sniggered like hyenas.
'Or does he?' Ashley thought bitterly.
Wasn't Jake Grayson the man who abused her for three years in the previous life? 'Haven't I been a fool long enough to place blind faith in the people I love? First Scarlet. Then Mary. Now Jake.'
"I am afraid he loves riches and power, little Miss," Nicolai said. "Most billionaires are made of the same mold. But, you already know that, don't you? Being a Palmer." He spat on the floor with disdain.
Ashley glanced at the heartless Serb and ruminated on what he said. His words strangely made sense.
The pain rushed in, the realization, first in waves, and then it turned into a storm. Ashley started sobbing as the hysterics came to her. She screamed, not caring about getting hit again.
Nicolai shook his head in pity. "Zasto uvek placu (Why do they always cry)?" he asked Pavlov. The latter mimicked weeping with balled fists.
Nicolai scoffed and headed to another engineering table nearby. A black, fortified case lay there unattended. Considering his profession, it was his weapons case. The interior revealed an assortment of guns, knives, and torture tools.
"It is customary of the Zetelica to share the mode of execution with the abducted victims," he told Ashley, with his back turned to her. "What is going to happen next is- we will serve your head to Jake Grayson. You see, even if he does not care about you, it will serve as a warning that his little sister could be next."
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH TESSA!" Ashley erupted.
It was almost as if she expected it- Pavlov's blow was firmer this time, instantly numbing the right side of her face. Her right eye flooded with blood.
“Odsecci cemo ti glavu dok si ziv!” Pavlov thundered.
"What my associate Pav wants to tell you, in his own way, is that you need to worry about yourself right now. I am going to behead you while you watch." He seemed pretty pleased with the impending task.
So, that is what he meant by 'serve your head'?
Was he literally going to decapitate her?
Ashley's panic climbed a higher rung.
"No, no, no, no, no! Please! I have money. Millions of dollars! Just let me make a phone call!"
"Miss, you do not understand," Nicolai replied. "We HAVE money. This retribution is about the disrespect Jake Grayson showed towards Zetelica. You need not worry, though, because I will make it painless. Uh, well, on second thought, no, it will be quite painful."
"You are going to kill an innocent woman over something like that?"
"Miss, you are a spoiled heiress to a filthy fortune. Do not act so innocent."
"Still, Nicolai. You are two strong grown men about to murder a young, helpless woman. There must be some part of you that feels shame."
Nicolai's back was still turned away as he sharpened a blade on a whetstone.
"Do you think you can guilt us out of it? Look over there," he said, pointing at a freshly cemented section of the terrace floor. "We killed a girl there last week. There was a lot of blood. She was the daughter of this movie star. Kako se zvao, Pav (What was his name, Pav)?”
"Fawn!"
"Yes, Alexander Fawn. He refused to attend a certain event of Zetelica members. His poor daughter Alexa had to pay for his disrespectful behavior."
Ashley recalled watching the crime scene of the butchery on TV. The FBI had to be called in for the high-profile case. However, no evidence was found linking the murder to Serbian syndicates.
Nicolai turned around to face Ashley. He had a broad smile plastered across his face and brandished a large machete in his right hand.
"Today is the day of your engagement, Miss. We will make sure you make it in time. However, your head shall represent you in a bridal veil."
Ashley's eyes widened in terror. It was like something out of a gore horror movie. She did not know how to react to her captor's pronouncement.
Ashley's body went numb, her stomach turned, and she wet herself.
"Kurva se samo naljutila (The slut pissed herself)!" Pavlov said, laughing.
Nicolai joined him in amusement. In some twisted sense, the scene was hilarious for the two villains.
Nicolai stepped towards her with the machete.
Pavlov extended an arm and patted his friend's back.
"Sta je to (What is it)?" Nicolai asked, stopping in his tracks.
“Ne zaboravljate li nesto, Nic? (Are you not forgetting something, Nic)?"
"Hajde, covece. Nemamo vremena. (Come on, man! We do not have the time!")
"Pogledaj to dupe (Look at that piece of ass)!"
"Ok, dobro, ali nemojte to reci nasem vođi (Ok, fine, but do not breathe a word about this to our leader)!"
Pavlov threw up his arms to indicate that he understood.
Nicolai turned to go. "Imate petnaest minuta (You have fifteen minutes)," he instructed his partner.
Ashley looked from one face to the other, oblivious to the subject of discussion.
"Miss Palmer," Nicolai told her. "Pav will give you some company before you and I begin our game. Consider it something like a priest's confession."
Pavlov laughed like a hyena again and shoved Nicolai away. "Go! Leave!" he said in English.
Ashley realized all of a sudden what was going to happen.
Pavlov wanted to rape her before the execution.