The Lies You Told Me

Chapter 18

Kai's POV
Fuck. I'd messed up. I didn't mean to upset Katana, but I couldn't help myself. Even with mascara streaming down her face, and her hair, which had now fallen out of the bun, and was now falling down her back in messy ringlets, she still looked beautiful. After I tried to kiss her, she looked terrified. In the few weeks I'd known her, I'd never seen her like this. Even when we were being chased by the Russian Mafia, even when she was facing Dante, she still had a relaxed, calm face. But now she looked terrified.

After quickly mumbling something about not dating because of work, she quickly left the room, and I was left alone in her office. I hated myself for upsetting Katana.

I sat there for a few minutes, before going back to my room. I'd already finished my work with Tony for today, so I didn't have much to do. I ended up reading one of the books in the huge bookshelf on the wall of my room, but I couldn't pay attention.

A few hours later, I heard a knock at my door, and Katana quietly stepped into my room.

"Katana, I'm... I'm so sorry... I didn't... Where did the blood come from? Are you okay?"

She had a long gash along her neck, with blooding running down and staining her t-shirt.

"What happened? Who did that to you? Was it Dante?"

"No. I did it. It doesn't matter. We need to go. We're meeting Lena. Be ready in 5 minutes."

"I..."

She left the room before I could say anything. I quickly changed my t-shirt, and grabbed a jacket because it was late.

I opened my door, expecting to see Katana, but instead I saw Dante standing, glaring at me.

"So. You're still alive. What a shame. Won't be for long though." He rolled he eyes, laughed and walked away.

I was pretty shaken up by Dante, but at the point Katana walked over.

She'd cleaned up her face, and had tried to cover the cut with a plaster. She'd changed, and was now wearing a faded band t-shirt under a leather jacket.

"Come on. We need to go." She still sounded exhausted.

I followed her down the hallway way, through to the garage. This time she unlocked a silver Porsche, and slid into the drivers seat. I got in next to her. I saw her grip the wheel, before taking a deep breath, and driving out of the garage.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence. I didn't want to say anything that would upset her, but I also needed answers.

"Katana... You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but... What's the real reason you don't date anyone?"

"I told you. Work."

"I've known you long enough to know that you're clearly lying." She sighed.

"I had... A bad relationship. A while ago. But it pretty much stopped me from wanting any other relationships." I looked at her questioningly.

"I..." She sighed again. "I guess you deserve the truth.

"My father had planned out my whole life by the time I was 5. I was just a girl, so it's not like I could run our family or anything. So, my sole purpose was to strengthen our family, by... Marrying into another family. He had decided who I would marry by the time I was 5. He was a 35-year-old guy from the Bratva. There was a 30-year age gap, but that didn't matter to my father. Why would it? He didn't care about me.

"WhenI was 15, my father forced me to start dating him. To be fair, he didn't seem too bad. He was nice enough, and I hoped that I could at least have a platonic marriage. But he quickly changed.

"By the time I was 16, he had pretty much made me into his servant. I would have to do all his cooking and cleaning, even though he had maids that could do it perfectly well. When he went out with his friends, he took me and showed me off to all his friends. He would force me to wear a little skimpy dress, so I looked 'pretty enough' for them.

"It got worse though. He started to hit me, if I didn't do what he wanted. Then he... He started to rape me. And he did it again, and again, and again. And when he got bored of me, he'd pass me around to all of his friends, and they'd do the same. It was horrible. I'd never felt so weak and helpless.

"Him and his friends got me pregnant several times. I was forced to have abortions, because I wouldn't be 'pretty enough' if I was pregnant.

"I was supposed to marry him on my 18th birthday. My dad died 16 days before my birthday, and I managed to escape him. But I vowed to myself that I would never date anyone again. Because I couldn't go through that again."

She paused, as I tried to process everything she had just said.

"I think... I think Dante is planning to carry on with the marriage. And... I'm scared. That's why I did this." She pointed at the cut in her neck.

"I was so scared. But... I couldn't go through with it. I'm scared of what Dante would do to you if I had... Killed myself."

I looked up at her. She was crying.

"Katana, I'm... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... God, I feel awful. I'm sorry."

"It's... It's not your fault. It just scared me."

We pulled up to an old diner.

"We're here. Get out."

I got out, and waited for Katana.