Page 47 of Maksim

I open my mouth, ready to correct her, ready to set the record straight, but something stops me. This is Maksim’s sister. If I tell her the truth, he will no doubt kill me. My only option is to lie.

I could tell her I’m someone else’s wife, but I can see in her eyes she’s already made up her mind. It wouldn’t make sense. Whose wife would I be? Why would I be here? How would I answer these questions?

Anya shakes her head in disgust, but she waits for my confirmation. She cares. I see so much pain in her eyes that my heart grants her sympathy I wouldn’t know was possible for Maksim’s kin.

And even though I hate him. Even though I think he’s slimy, he’s scum, he’s as pathetic as this girl pretends to believe he is … I don’t want her to know the truth about him.

“Your brother loves you,” I say, my voice soft and soothing.

She scoffs, looking away so I won’t see her eyes water.

“He does, Anya. You are the most important person in his life, and he would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

“Do you even know my brother?” she spits, whipping her hair off her shoulders and slapping the bar top. “I mean, besides the fact that he’s an American who can grant you citizenship? Do you know him? What kind of man do you think needs to ship a woman overseas because all the other women in this country wouldn’t want them? Do you think he’s a catch?”

She laughs and drags her hands down her makeup-caked face. “Has he told you what he does for a living? Because as soon as he does, you’ll run. I promise you, you’ll be on the first flight back to Armenia.”

“Albania,” I correct, walking toward her. “And I wish that were possible.”

Her lips purse while she waits for me to clarify.

I lean toward her on the opposite side of the bar. I can feel my face perfectly relaxed even as my mind rejects what I’m about to say. I fucking hate you, Maksim.

“Yes, I know what your brother does for a living. His boss introduced us.”

Anya pulls back slightly, like the mention of Nikita scares her as much as it does me. I don’t imagine she knows much about the man, but enough to know she should be wary of him.

I sigh. “Can I be honest with you? You seem, uh…” I pause as if I’m searching for the word I know hits hardest for her. “Mature. I think you can handle the truth.”

She seems to stand taller, putting on a brave face as she nods.

“Back home, I wasn’t um…” I look down for a moment in false shame. Again, fuck you, Maksim. “I wasn’t free, Anya. There were very bad men there who wanted me to do things for them, to make them money. Do you understand?”

Her shoulders slump, and her face twists with pity as she nods.

“I met an American man there, also not a good man, but he agreed to marry me so I could at least be free of the monsters in Albania. When I got here, our engagement fell through, and I was going to have to go back.”

I look off, willing tears to gather in my eyes as I paint my enemy a hero to this naïve girl. The man who wanted to kill me after telling me salvation was on the other side of a hill.

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, Maksim.

“Then I met Maksim,” I say, a longing quality to my voice that makes me want to vomit. When I look back at Anya, I take her hands. “Please, you must understand, I begged him to agree to marry me. He was terrified of what you would think, but I told him about the horrible life I lived before, and he felt sorry for me. He saved me, Anya. Your brother is a good man… The best I’ve ever known.”

Puke. Vomit. Hurl.

“Wow.” She looks down, then up at me, her cheeks pinkening. “I… I’m so sorry. I had no idea. All that shit I said…” Her eyes well with tears. I let go of her hand to cup her porcelain cheek.

“You couldn’t have known,” I say with a sad smile.

“Still, that was…” She shakes her head and pulls her hands from me to pat her chest, free from a bra. “Hold on a sec, let me get my phone. I want to put your number in, and I’ll give you mine. I can’t really stand to be around my brother lately, to be honest, but if there’s anything you need… I mean, this is a new country, right? Maksim is always working, so if you need anyone to show you the good malls or something, I’m your girl. Unless, you know, you have other friends already or?—”

“I have no other friends.” I smile and pray she doesn’t start another awkward ramble. I really guilted her, didn’t I? She’d feel even worse if she knew the truth.

This is good, though. She’s a child, but someone to show me this city is exactly what I’ve been needing. And she knows the passcode to the alarm system.

Maksim will kill me for this, but he has no idea how much he owes me.

“And that would be great. I’ve been almost nowhere, so I’d love to get out.”