Page 48 of Pageant

When I don’t respond, Kirill grasps a fistful of my hair and gives me a shake.

“Ow. At least I was free before. I’m definitely not happy now.”

“Of course you’re not,” Konstantin murmurs. The light is hitting the scars on his temple and cheekbone, making them stand out against his smooth skin. “It’s hard for our kind to be happy. You should have taken what happiness there was within reach when you had the chance.”

I thought about leaving my husband and running away with Elyah. I thought about it way too much because I was a romantic idiot consumed by daydreams, but it never would have worked. Ivan would have come after us in a murderous rage. My father would have, too, filled with fury over the daughter who dishonored him. Bratva men do not let betrayal and infidelity go. They would have hunted us down like animals. Elyah would have been tortured and killed and I would have been forced to give up any child I bore for adoption before I was even able to hold it in my arms.

Elyah and I would have had a few moments of happiness in exchange for a lifetime of pain. I know that as surely as I know night follows day. Even when I was a romantic idiot, I wasn’t a fool, and I could never have done that to the man I loved.

“Like you are right now?” I say, turning the conversation back on Konstantin. I look around the judging room and the cruel machine he has set up to torture us. “This is what makes you happy?”

Konstantin smiles and spreads his hands. “Exactly.” He turns to Elyah. “Do you have any last questions for Number Eleven?”

My former lover stalks toward me, his fists clenched at his sides. His voice is a growl as he asks, “The day your husband was killed, you ran. You disappeared. Why?”

“I had no choice.”

“Because you’re a fucking snitch who needed the feds’ protection?”

“No.”

Elyah stares at the machine, waiting for the telltale buzz of electricity to burst through me. Nothing happens.

With a snarl of rage, he stabs the intercom on the table with his forefinger. “Get her out of my fucking sight.”

Kirill unbuckles my restraints and removes the electrodes. I don’t need his help getting to my feet, but he puts his hands around my waist and pulls me up.

I stumble against Kirill and his arms wrap around me. He buries his face in my neck, murmuring low so only I can hear, “Your silky pussy is going to feel so good against my tongue.”

“If you touch me, I’ll fucking kill you.” I shove him away, and though he lets me push his muscular body back, his eyes are glittering with a dark promise.

One of the guards takes hold of my shoulder and propels me out of the room.

As the door swings closed behind me, Elyah seethes, “That machine is broken.”

10

Kirill

The mountains have swallowed the sun and night has fallen, inky black and encrusted with stars. A cool breeze blows off the lake and ruffles my hair. The stone paths are still warm from the sunshine and perfumed flowers waft their scent into the sky. There’s no moon tonight, and I can barely see my hand in front of my face, but I’m at home in the dark.

I love the dark. It keeps all my secrets.

I’m consumed with one thought and one thought only. Contestant Number Eleven’s beautiful, defiant face as she swore,I’m never having sex with you. Of all the questions she could have asked today, she wanted to know what I did to her while she was unconscious.

“That’s for me to know,neordinarnaya,” I murmur with a smile as I carry on through the silent garden.

After Number Eleven left the room, we questioned the final four women. Numbers Twelve, Fourteen, and Fifteen passed the test, but Number Thirteen screamed once too loudly and was eliminated.

Eleven women left.

I wonder how they’re holding up.

I step through a side door and enter the corridor that leads down to where the women are being held. There are two guards standing by the door, and I jerk my head at them to leave. “Take a break. One hour.”

Wordlessly, they walk down the corridor and back toward the kitchen. I watch them for a moment, my heart pounding, and then slip down the stairs and into the darkness.

* * *

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