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The door clicks shut. No more voices, so maybe two women. One of them has a higher voice, the second’s a bit lower and pragmatic.
“We’re here to help you,” the one with the higher voice says. “Please don’t try to fight us.”
Fighting makes no sense when I’m outnumbered. I nod, then realize the blindfold’s damp. Am I crying? One tiny little show of sympathy from someone and I’m crying? I have to get my shit together.
Even though I expect them to touch me, I jerk when I feel hands on me. In seconds, the gag and blindfold are gone.
I blink and stare, my eyes getting used to the light. One of them is a tall, willowy blonde with pale blue eyes and fair, ivory skin. The other’s shorter, with a huge mane of wavy dark hair in a messy bun, glasses perched on the tip of her nose, and she’s obviously very, very pregnant. She looks at my wrists and shakes her head at the blonde. “Handcuffs. Hehandcuffedher. Honestly, have we not made a single dent in their thick skulls?God.I have keys in my bag if these are the basic universal ones handcuffs.”
The blonde wrinkles her nose. “Okay, I do not need to know why you have keys for handcuffs in your room.”
The pregnant one rolls her eyes. “Oh, please, handcuffs are so basic they’re practically vanilla.” She turns to me. “I’m Aria, by the way. Mikhail’s wife. Mikhail’s Aleksandr’s older brother.”
I heard his name before. Mikhail knew Saul, and Mikhail is married to the pregnant one.
The blonde nods. “And I’m Polina, Aleksandr and Mikhail’s sister.” She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Unfortunately. Jesus, why couldn’t my brothers be teachers or librarians or something? I really need to stop making a habit out of meeting my sisters like this.”
Okay, so there’s a story there. My heart beats a little faster.
Meeting my sisters?
My voice is husky and faint when I speak. “I’m Harper.”
“Harper Lee Bianchi. Who’s the literary one in your family?”
I swallow. “My mother.”
“Harper, we’re going to get you fixed up,” Aria says. “Polina’s pretty much the only one, other than her mom, that these men will actually listen to, so you’re in good hands. Though I’ll admit, it’s taken a while but I’m getting good at persuading them.” She heads toward the door. “I’ll be back, just going to grab those keys.”
Polina sits on the side of the bed.
“How can I help you? Water? Food?”
My eyes are scratchy from a fitful night of sleep. I was up most of the night trying to plot various ways I could escape, when I wasn’t trying to plot my future husband’s murder.
“Water and food sound great, but I need to use the bathroom. That’ll probably be easier when the cuffs are off. Does he know you’re here?”
She nods. “Mhm. I think telling me and Aria to come in was his attempt at being half human.”
I’m not sure if that’s supposed to comfort me or what. He’s sent her here to help but didn’t even bother to hide the fact that I’m here against my will, and she doesn’t seem terribly surprised to find me this way.
“Once Aria comes back, we’ll uncuff you and you can use the bathroom.” Her eyes light up. “I’ve looked through your socials and made notes of all your favorite products. I’ve got everything you need in there.”
I blink. My socials. She’s looked through my facade of a life and formed an opinion about me based on that? She’s seen the reams of posts of me with my luxury skincare products, the selfies with the shallow captions, my fake friends and promotion of unattainable beauty standards.Gag me.I wish I could tell her it’s all a lie, that she doesn’t have to believe it. That’s not who I am.
Maybe I can.
Has Aleksandr seen them, too?
God.Of course he has.
Thanks, Mom.
“That’s very kind of you,” I say. “Thank you.”
“Of course. And for breakfast you usually eat Greek yogurt with berries? The nonfat, sugar-free kind, right? I had staff pick up some of that?—”
I shake my head. “No, I hate yogurt.”
