Chapter
Ten
SOFIYA
“How?” Mila asks as we head upstairs. “Will Mikhail let you?”
“No,” I whisper. “Now, we can’t talk about this more. Mikhail is busy during the day, so we’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll have to sneak past Mary, but we can do that. Now, no more talking.”
“But, Sofiya.” Mila grabs my hand. “Are you sure about this?”
“Of course, she’s sure,” Vik says. “She wouldn’t be saying it if she weren’t. Where are we going to go?”
“Let’s just focus on getting out of Russia first.” I give Mila a smile. “I’m ok. I’ll be ok.”
Will I? I don’t really want to leave Mikhail. He’s the only person who can truly keep me safe.
But I can’t be his trophy. I can’t let him use my body against me.
I pack a change of clothes in a small suitcase Mikhail has in the closet and store it under the bed. Surely, he won’t check under there. God, I hope not.
If he knew I was leaving him now, after he just punished me, I can’t imagine what he’d do to me.
For the rest of the day, I pace around the bedroom. Mary doesn’t come in here much, so I don’t have to worry about dealing with her. It’s better I don’t talk to my sisters right now. I can’t risk Mary overhearing us again.
When night comes, I force myself to lie in bed and pretend to sleep when Mikhail joins me. He gets under the covers and leans over, kissing me on the cheek. I hold perfectly still.
I can feel him staring at me until he lies back down and turns the light off. I don’t move the rest of the night, even when my shoulder starts to ache from lying on it for so long. Eventually, sleep takes over, and I have no choice but to listen to it.
I gasp when I wake up, thinking I lost track of time, but it’s only eight in the morning. Mikhail isn’t beside me. Good. He’s already up and working, which means he’ll be distracted.
I enter the kitchen, acting as normal as possible, and take the food Mary begrudgingly gives me. Mila and Vik are already there, picking at their food.
I want to tell them not to look suspicious, but then that would only make me look more suspicious.
Once we finish eating, the three of us head back upstairs and huddle in Vik’s room.
“So, now, what?” Vik asks.
“I don’t know,” I hiss. “You were the one who wanted to leave. What was your plan?”
“To go back to New York.”
“Which we can’t do because Boris is there.” I sigh, rubbing my hands down my face. “Ok. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to leave Russia, and we’re going to go to France.”
“France?” Vik scrunches up her face. “Why France?”
“Do you have something against France?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “No. I just don’t know why France.”
“Because Mom’s family is from France. She has family there. If you ever cared to look beyond yourself, you’d know that.”
Vik huffs and stands up, shaking her finger at me. “I’m so tired of you judging me.”
“And I’m tired of you trying to ruin my life.”
“How have I ruined your life?”
“I wanted to stay.”
“So?”
I jump to my feet. “But you wanted to leave, so I just have to leave with you so we stay together. I’m giving up my life here. For you!”
“Hey, guys,” Mila whispers. “Keep your voices down.”
She’s right. We can’t have Mary overhearing us again.
“We’re going to France,” I say. “We’ll get the tickets at the airport. It’s the safest way. We should leave now. It could take us a while.”
“Fine,” Vik says tersely.
I ignore her and quickly go to my room to grab the suitcase. I make sure to wear comfortable shoes, but Mikhail didn’t supply me with anything other than dresses, so I have no choice but to wear one.
I give my suitcase to Vik as we meet in the hallway. “Ok. I’m going to head downstairs and keep an eye out for Mary. I know she tends to clean the bathrooms at this time of day. I’ll signal you to come down.”
Walking on my tiptoes, I sneak downstairs and go to the front door. I don’t spot Mary once. My eyes land on Mikhail’s office door, and all I can think about is that I’ll miss him.
