Page 57 of Saved By A God
The cuffs of his dress shirt have ridden up, exposing his wrists, and my eyes lock on the burn marks. Tight patches of pink and light brown skin stretch from the backs of his hands to his wrists. Scratches disappear beneath his sleeves, some deep enough to have left red lines behind.
Enzo. What happened to you?
My stomach twists as I stare at how badly injured his hands and wrists are, then suddenly the screens go black.
“No!” My head snaps to Danil. “Put it back on.”
“That’s all you get,” he says, grinning at me.
“No!” Desperation floods me because I wasn’t ready for it to end. “Put it on again.”
He shakes his head. “It’s time for you to get to work, Miss La Rosa. I just wanted you to see that your family isn’t looking for you and has said their final goodbyes.” He gestures at the chair. “Sit down.”
My eyes dart between the screens and Danil, and even though I want to lose my everloving mind and attack him, knowing I’m being given access to the system has me shakily taking a seat.
“Listen carefully because I’ll only explain it once.”
Kirill types something, and information pours over the monitors, some showing blurred images.
“You will search through the dark web for hidden forums and invitation-only circles,” Danil orders, his tone calm enough to make my stomach churn. “We are not interested in petty criminals, Miss La Rosa. We are looking for monsters with money, influence, families, and reputations they cannot afford to lose.”
My fingers curl into my palms.
Shit.
He leans closer, his voice dropping. “You will find people who pay to watch children suffer, who arrange parties where the humans are hunted, tortured, and broken. I want you to find the most depraved who think their wealth makes them untouchable.”
An icy wave of horror moves through me so fast I almost sway in the chair.
Jesus.
The blurred images on the screen make my skin crawl.
Shit, I’m going to have to dig through videos and photos of innocents being hurt and killed.
Now I understand why some of the hackers have been vomiting.
“You will find them,” Danil continues. “And you will confirm who they are. Real names. Businesses. Wives. Children. Political ties. Bank accounts. Every filthy secret they’ve hidden in the dark.” He pauses, letting the weight of his order settle like lead in my mind. “Then you will give them a choice. Pay what we demand, or watch you destroy their lives.”
My lips part, but no sound comes out.
God help me, the Bratva is feeding off the most evil people out there, and I’m going to have to wade through the horror and trauma to find the wealthy ones.
It will break me. Mentally and emotionally.
Danil places a hand on the back of my chair, and I jerk. “You will demand thirty percent of everything they own, and if they don’t pay, you will leak their filthy secrets to the press and hack into their accounts to take the money anyway.”
“Why not just do that right from the start?” At least there will be justice.
“Because a ruined man can’t pay again, Miss La Rosa. We have to keep the money train going.”
My stomach rolls, and I force myself to breathe slowly.
Then my gaze flicks across the system, and I see all the access points, internal logs, and messaging windows.
Code buried beneath more code.
This is my weapon, the one thing I know inside out.
