Page 50 of Pageant

“Not from what I heard last night.”

“What?”

Marija shakes her head and turns away, but I’m not satisfied.

“I’d like you to explain what you mean. Do you think I’m working against you all somehow?”

Marija’s lips tighten and she won’t look at me, but Madison suddenly jumps in. “Why should we listen to you when you do exactly what they want you to do? At least Marija was open about what she wanted from these pigs. I’m starting to think you’re hiding something, Number Eleven.”

Marija folds her arms and nods, agreeing with Madison. Her words sting. I want to point out that Marija wasn’t open, she just didn’t know we’d all hear about her traitorous offer.

“Don’t call me by that number. My name is Lilia, and I’m not hiding anything.”

I gaze around at the other women who are looking back at me with troubled expressions. No one is more aware that she’s disappointing these women than I am. I said I would help them get out of here and I wish I had a plan to offer them, but from what I’ve seen, the security at this villa is tight. My only option is to figure out what makes these men tick and see if there’s some way I can use that knowledge to manipulate them. Walls and locks are impenetrable but human hearts are weak. If there’s a way out of here, it will be by using these men’s weaknesses against them, I’m sure of that.

Even if I can only save the women, and not myself.

“Do you think that screaming and crying will get us anywhere?” I ask. “Did it help the first Number Eleven? Has it helped the five women sitting downstairs? I’m watching. I’m listening. You all need to do the same. When the time comes and you see an opportunity, you have to take your chance.” I stare around the group of scared, shivering women. “You’re getting out of this alive. I swear it.”

They exchange glances, some of them hopeful, but the others too scared and hungry to believe there’s life beyond this hateful villa.

“Why should we believe you?” Marija asks, tossing her hair. “Yesterday you were having a good chat with them like you’re all old friends.”

I point to the judging room door. “Whatever I do in there, whatever I say, it’s an act. It’s a strategy. Don’t believe a word that comes out of my mouth. I’m only Lilia when I’m out here with you all.”

Olivia puts her hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “I believe you.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, giving her a smile. I turn back to the others. “You’re all going home to your families, but first you have to be clever. You have to use their code against them.”

“Their code?” asks Nicoletta. “This place seems pretty goddamn lawless to me.”

I shake my head. “The Bratva code. The mafia is a brotherhood, and a man’s word is more binding than any law. If he swears something to one of his brothers, if he says he will do something, he’ll never go back on it. There are no empty threats.”

“But that tall one said he was going to break your arms and he didn’t,” Daiyu points out.

“Yet,” I reply, and her face falls. “Elyah will finish what he started when I’m eliminated. He has to.”

“So? What’s the point of knowing this?” Madison snaps.

“It means we’re not completely in the dark. We can predict what will happen next and look for opportunities to escape. This pageant will continue until there’s one woman left. At the rate we’re being eliminated, this will probably happen tomorrow or the day after. A winner will be declared, and you’ll all be transported back to wherever Konstantin lives. Probably a large city. On the way, you can look for ways to escape. The three men might fight about something. The guards might get careless. There could be a distraction while you’re being transported out of the country.”

It’s important they understand this because they’re going to have to do this without me. My body will be weighted down with stones at the bottom of the lake by the time these women leave the villa.

“How do you know so much about them?” Deja asks.

“Because my father was one of these men. I was married to one of these men.” I swallow, my eyes dropping to the floor. “I fell for one of these men.”

“The tall one with cold eyes?” Imani asks. She was still waiting for her turn when I was strapped into the lie detector yesterday, but someone must have told her about what happened.

“Yes, Elyah. He worked for my husband, and back then, he was charming and kind. It was a horrible mistake letting him get close to me, and I’ve regretted it every day of my life since.”

Silence stretches in the stuffy room, and I know they’re all trying to imagine how the cold, silent, and aggressive Russian could possess even one sliver of charm or kindness.

“We were listening to you and your lover talk yesterday,” Madison says, a bitchy expression on her face. “Did you really betray your husband to the cops like Elyah said?”

“He’s not my lover and I—”

There’s a deafening bang from the other side of the door, so loud that we all jump. Klara clutches my arm and whimpers. “What was that?”

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