Page 56 of Devil's Vows
Nervously, I shift in my seat, my fingers quivering as I open the faucet, not wanting to look at Milana and read her reaction. If I ignore the slip, she might not pick up on it, but even my body is treacherous and giving me away now. I get busy with washing Katya’s hair using the hand shower, waiting for Milana to say something—anything.
“Day mne shampun, ya pomoyu Irisha golovu.”she says softly.
It isn’t menacing, but still, the words dance a trail of goosebumps down my back. Her gaze dares me to challenge her, making as if I don’t understand a word she just said.
Pass me the shampoo, I’ll wash Irisha’s hair.
I could play dumb, but for how long? She’s on to me now,and she’ll catch me out again. Even worse, she’ll toy with me in front of Yuri or Ivan until I expose myself.
My fingers fumble for the shampoo, and it plops in the water, but Milana leans down and fishes it out of the bubbles. For a good five minutes, it’s just the girls being busy playing, us washing their hair, me secretly freaking out and trying to stay calm. Milana holds all the cards.
I’m clueless as to how she’s going to play this. Conversation has dried up completely between us, and I still have so many things to ask but don’t dare. Bottom line: I understand Russian and have been lying about it.
We have the girls wrapped in towels, and they are waddling to the chest-of-drawers that holds their pajamas in one corner of the bigger bedroom. We help them get dressed to speed things along, and then I just stand there, sand in my mouth, as I brush Katya’s hair with trembling hands. The silence stretches.
Milana puts Irisha’s hairbrush down on top of the drawers. “Go find some stories to read, girls,” she says to them in Russian, and I avert my gaze, having been reduced to nothing but a waiting body, ready to accept whatever cruel, ruthless, and calculated retribution Ivan’s sister has in mind.
But she pulls me gently to the side, out of the girls’ earshot where they are going through the books on Ivan’s nightstand.
“So, this is what you mean by running? All that experience of getting away when you need to get out?” she whispers. “But you’re not a spy. You’re too fucking terrible at it.”
I bite my lip, legs weak as I shake my head. Me? Aspy?Dominic did want me as a plant here, but we’d never stretch it that far.
“You know,” she carries on. “My dad always said,‘Don’t fight the cage, you’ll only hurt yourself. Learn how to work the cage, then, you let it work for you.’” She leans closer, looking me in the eye. “I’m not sure what you’re doing here. I mean, I could guess, and I should warn Ivan, but you’re not here to hurt him, are you?”
It isn’t a threat, but it’s as if I’ve stumbled upon a snake that’s reared up, calculating if I’m worth the effort of a bite and the release of its precious venom.
“No, never!” I whisper back urgently.
She grabs my wrist, fisting it so tight, I flinch. “So it’s worse? You’re here to hurt the girls? To arrange for their kidnapping? To traffic them?”
The world seems to turn upside down. Doesn’t she know? There’s no way she could know I’ve been trafficked as a girl.
“No!” I’m horrified she could even think this about me. What I went through changed me forever, and I don’t wish that on anybody. “I’m here to help with the girls, honestly. As theirnanny. They need me.”
She keeps staring at me, icy blue eyes searching for the lie in my words. Eventually, she lets go of my wrist, and I wrap my hand around it, shocked at the force of her grip.
“I’m not sure what deal Ivan has made with your brothers?—”
“There’s no deal. I pushed to come here. I have my own reasons to have distance between me and my brothers.”
She slowly starts to shake her head. “Stop pretending to be so fucking naive, Gabriella. I’m on to you now.”
“Honestly, I?—”
“Shush,” she hisses. “Like me, you’re just a pawn, and you’ve been moved into this position. Now, we’re going to play them at their own game. I’m not sure what their bigger plans for you are, or whatyouthink you’re doing here, or how the hell you’re going to get out when you want to, but I tell you this now, once, and only once: you can’t run until you’ve helped me get the hell out of here.”
She leans in, her sweet tone somehow sickly menacing. “Until then, your secret is safe with me. Who knows what Ivan will do to you if he finds out you’re just another Darya, here to fuck him over.”
28
GABI
Fuck. I just broke my own rules and it’s going to bite me in the ass. Not only did I give Milana a glimpse into who I am, but I stepped right out of character.
I’m frozen on the spot as I listen to her retreating footsteps. She walks down the corridor, pauses, and makes quick small talk with Ivan, who is on his way to his room. She bids him goodnight, having kept my secret, but the tension in my stomach doesn’t give.
She’s clearly in a hurry to get away from her brother. I don’t blame her. Right now, I can’t face him, either, because she’s trapped me in a promise I didn’t even make.
