‘Shut your mouth,’ he spat, his punch glancing off the side of her head. ‘You’ve been asking for this all fuckin’ week!’

The back door suddenly opened, and two of the men ran in. Dragging Irena out of their way, Karel said, ‘Took your time, didn’t you?’

‘Sorry, boss,’ Jacko apologized, casting a hooded glance at Irena, but making no move to help her. ‘We were doing a recce of the fields.’

‘Put him in his room while I deal with her,’ Karel ordered, nodding toward Frank who was sprawled on the floor.

‘Karel, you are hurt me!’ Irena cried when he dragged her along the hall.

‘Hurting you?’ he spat, slamming her up against the wall and holding her there with his hand around her throat. ‘Think yourself lucky I haven’t fuckin’ scalped you!’

‘He was lie,’ she whimpered, her hands fluttering over his as she forced herself to meet his gaze. ‘You are only man I love, and he know this, so he is try to punish me by lie to you.’

‘You really think I’m that fuckin’ stupid?’ Karel laughed, his breath thick with alcohol. ‘I’ve known all along, you thick bitch.’

‘No . . .’ Irena tried to shake her head, but he was holding her too tightly.

Karel’s lip twisted into a sneer.

‘I don’t give a flying fuck what you and him did, sweetheart. The only thing that pisses me off is that cunt thinking he’s got one over on me. And you, lying through your teeth when I gave you the chance to come clean.’

Irena swallowed nervously and forced herself to refocus. Karel had beaten her before, and he had humiliated her on numerous occasions. But the benefits of being his woman had outweighed the pain, and she refused to lose the privileges she had earned over something that had been his idea in the first place.

When Nick had come across this place after Karel’s arrest, Karel had told her, during a prison visit, to do whatever it took to get her foot through the door. She had known exactly what he meant, because it hadn’t been the first time he’d asked her to use her body for his gain. But, foolishly, she had forgotten how quickly he could change his mind: that what he considered acceptable one day, could become a sin worthy of retribution the next. As soon as he’d laid eyes on Frank his expression had changed, and she had known he would react violently if he heard what she’d done, so she had lied. That had been a mistake, but she could turn this around. She had to.

‘Karel, I love you, so I will tell truth,’ she began, tentatively. ‘I did sleep in bed with him, but only because you tell me to secure house for you. This is all I do, and I swear I did not make sex with him.’