Page 52 of Maksim
“Okay.” He nods, his hands still raised, his voice low. “That was a lie, I’m sorry. I just…”
I shift to sit on my heels. “You just what?”
His eyes close. Finally, I think he’s about to tell the truth. “My relationship with Anya is holding on by a thread, and I don’t know how much more it can survive.”
There’s pain etched into his face that sobers my anger, along with the surge of power. I relax my posture, sinking into the mattress and slumping my shoulders as I watch his inner turmoil move to the surface. I get the strange urge to touch the lines of his face, as if it’d let me feel the vulnerability within, and it hits me out of nowhere just how human he is. Feelings and all.
“Today was the first day she’s hugged me in…” he stares off like he’s trying to recall the last time, “a long time.” He looks at me, his eyes holding a humanity that makes me shrink. I thought I wanted honesty, but this is… Life is easy when we dehumanize each other. When we reduce each other to future victims, to objects to conquer. What he’s doing right now is messy.
“I don’t know what your reasoning was,” he goes on. “Whether it was selfish or if you really did give a shit about my sister’s feelings or something else, but … she likes you. A lot. And she likes the version you painted of me… If you keep this going, at least for a while, I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?” I ask, my throat closing and heart quickening.
He nods. “I’ll personally drive you to the airport.”
My lips part, but I force my excitement to stay locked inside a box in my heart. This is Maksim, the crusher of dreams. He could be lying. He’s probably lying.
I swallow. “You’re saying I can go home.”
He looks up and scratches the back of his neck while I stare intently, my hands gripping the comforter while forcing my breathing to stay even. He’s lying. Right now, he’s coming up with another lie.
“Eventually, yeah.” He brings his eyes back to me. “Obviously, this isn’t something I can force you to do. But…” He looks away again, lost for words.
I think I get it.
“You want me to help you repair your relationship with your sister.”
“No.” He snaps back to me, but then his shoulders fall. “I mean, I don’t know how you could possibly do that.”
My lips lift at the nervous way he rubs at his arm, the slight blush in his cheeks. Maksim, the man I watched casually clean up a dead body, is nervous, maybe even embarrassed.
“By talking you up and making you seem like a world class husband.”
He lets out a stilted laugh, not looking at me. “I wouldn’t get too carried away.”
“Maksim.”
He rests his hands at his sides as he looks at me. The nervous edge to his features settles at the seriousness in my voice.
I take my time speaking, my eyes pinned to him. “What you’re asking me to do is not nearly as difficult as you think it is… But I won’t help you for another second without some assurances that you aren’t going to fuck me over.”
He raises his hand. “I give you my word.”
“Your word is not going to cut it for me.” I lift my chin. “I need more than that.”
His eyes narrow as if he’s confused. “Like what?”
When my mouth dries, I run my tongue along the roof of my mouth, searching for moisture. I did not anticipate having this much power, but I know exactly what I want to do with it. It’s the same thing I wanted when I came to America. Never could I have predicted that I’d actually get it.
“I want a bank account in my name and my name only that has monthly, automatic transfers set up to my mother’s account. I want you to allow me employment and also match what I earn.” I suck in a breath and continue before I can judge his reaction. “I want to be allowed a cell phone, regular access to communication with my family, and a plane ticket to visit them in three months… If you grant those things, I will trust that when the time comes for us to cut ties, you will do so without putting a bullet in my back.”
He raises a brow and stares like he’s waiting for me to go on. “Is that it?”
Should I ask for more?
I blink, searching my mind for what else I could ask for, but he interrupts before I can find something.
“I have a few requests of my own.”