Page 33 of Pageant

I gaze at her dispassionately as she struggles to her feet and is escorted from the room. Not daring to hope that the next woman will be any different, I turn my attention to the one the guard is bringing in. Lilia Aranova is standing in the doorway.

Elyah has gone totally still at my side. Kirill is radiating interest, and I recall how he told us with shining eyes how she almost shot him.

Number Eleven is an untidy mess. Her bikini is in knots to hold it in place and her feet are bare and dusty. Dark blonde hair hangs in lank ribbons around her face and her fists are clenched like she’s ready to drop into a fighting pose. Nothing about her says beauty queen.

And yet she is beautiful.

I tap my long fingers on the tabletop as I watch her walk slowly into the room, taking in the exits, the furniture, us. She doesn’t flinch as the door is slammed and the guard disappears. Someone taught this woman about survival. Or she taught herself out of necessity.

Number Eleven turns her unwavering gaze on me. She’s not looking at my scar. She’s looking into my eyes, her gaze boring through my skull like a bullet. What beautiful eyes she has, a delicate shade of sea green, edged with dark blonde lashes. The bikini she’s wearing is ill-fitting and an unpleasant color, but it can’t hide the fact that her body is stunning. Long, slender legs, and she has feminine curves to her hips and breasts.

“Tell me about yourself, Number Eleven.”

“Why?” she shoots back.

I give her a smile. “Because I’m asking you.”

She shrugs. “Sorry, there isn’t much to say. I’m a model. I walk up and down a catwalk. My life is very boring.”

That’s a lie already. “You can shoot a gun. You’re hiding from the Bratva in America who want you dead because you informed on them to the feds. You’re the daughter of a powerfulPakhan, and you were once married to Ivan Kalashnik. I’m sure you have dozens of tales you could entertain us with.”

Elyah leans forward, clasping his hands together on the table as his gaze burns. If he’s hoping she’ll look at him, he’ll be disappointed. Lilia stares at me, saying nothing.

“You know you’re a dead woman. Why not use your family connections to bargain your way out of this?” I ask.

There’s a slight curl to her lip. “My father probably likes you three more than he likes me. Besides, I heard what happened to the last Number Eleven when she tried to use her father to get out of here.”

I can’t help the smile that spreads over my face. Number Eleven has her wits about her. “You will die as soon as you’re eliminated from this contest. Do you have nothing to offer me to save your life?”

There’s nothing she can offer that will make me go back on my word to Elyah, but I want to dangle the possibility in front of her and watch her dance for it.

Number Eleven refuses to play. “I have nothing and no one. Though I can offer you a piece of advice, for free.”

My eyebrows creep upward, the muscles of my forehead tugging on the scar. “Oh?”

“Beware of Elyah Morozov. Whoever you take as a wife, the moment she’s yours, he’ll try and steal her from you. He won’t be able to help himself.”

Beside me, Elyah goes rigid with fury.

I check my watch. “Four minutes. Faster than I expected.”

“What was faster than you expected?” she asks.

“How quickly you would try to drive a wedge between the three of us. Do you think that Elyah hasn’t told me every detail of what went on between the two of you?”

Number Eleven’s eyes widen.

“You supposed that Elyah would be too afraid to tell hisPakhanhow he nearly screwed his oldPakhan’swife? Elyah told me everything right away. All the lurid details. You were as cool as an assassin the day he nearly fucked you in your kitchen. Facing your husband, you didn’t betray a flicker of what a disloyal whore you are.”

“I must have really got to you,neordinarnaya,” Kirill tells her with a laugh. “You would have taken my head off yesterday if I’d let you near me.”

She flicks an indifferent glance at Kirill, and then looks back at me. “The day in the pantry when Elyah stuck his tongue down my throat? It wasn’t difficult to act like nothing happened. Elyah must have imagined that he got me more flustered than I really was.”

Anger races through Elyah’s muscles and he clenches his fists on the table.

Lilia notices and laughs. “What nonsense has Elyah been telling you? That there was some great forbidden love between us likeRomeo and Juliet? Please.”

“Then what’s your side of the story?” Just as with all the other women, I’m giving Number Eleven the opportunity to show me what she’s made of.

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