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“It wasn’t too long after I was taken. This was when I still thought it was worth it to fight Konstantin. I hadn’t learned that it was pointless yet. He brought me to an auction as a warning. He wanted me to see where I’d end up if I kept being willful.”
Matvey’s thumb caresses my shoulder, reminding me that he’s still here with me, and just that one small touch is enough to make me feel better. I take a deep breath and tell Dominic the rest.
“This was in Berlin. I have no idea where the building was. He made me wear a blindfold on the way there.”
“What about on the way back?”
The vivid memory of what Konstantin had done to me in that building after he’d made me witness those poor women being sold is enough to send a shiver down my spine. Matvey feels it and kisses my head, pulling me closer against him. I look away from Dominic when I answer this time.
“I wasn’t in any condition to notice anything on the drive back. I’m sorry.”
Dominic scrubs a hand over his jaw. “No, I’m sorry. Is there anything you can tell me about her? Did you speak to her?”
I shake my head. “I wasn’t allowed to talk to any of them. They were all lined up, all dressed the same, and then they were auctioned off one at a time.”
“Do you remember anything specific about her?”
The pain in his voice breaks another damn piece of my heart. I feel like I’m down to nothing, like the last of it’s going to shatter soon, but it keeps beating when I say, “I remember her because at one point Konstantin got so angry at me that he backhanded me, and when I fell to the floor, I looked over and saw her. I remember her eyes so clearly. They were a beautiful brown, and even though she didn’t know me, they were filled with so much love. It was just one stranger looking at another, but we connected, both of us understanding the hell and misery of the other, and in that moment, she gave me comfort. Everyone else had turned away from me, terrified that by looking at me it would make them a target for Konstantin, but your sister didn’t care. She met my eyes anyway, and I’ll always be grateful for that. I wish I could’ve thanked her.”
Dominic nods, but his mouth is in a tight line and his jaw is so tense I can see the veins in his neck. He rubs a hand through his light beard, taking in a breath before he meets my eyes again.
“Thank you for telling me. That sounds like Isabella. She had a good heart, way too sweet for this family.” The corner of his mouth lifts up in a small smile, but the sadness in his eyes doesn’t go away. “Do you remember anything else?”
“Nothing useful,” I tell him. “The women were led out of the room, and Konstantin brought me into a viewing box. I saw them get auctioned off, but I have no idea who the buyers were.”
“How much was she sold for?”
“Three-hundred thousand.” I’ll never forget the way she’d looked standing on stage, eyes wide and terrified while anonymous men called out bids for her. I spare Dominic and Matvey the details of how she’d been made to turn around in her see-through dress so they could all seeexactly what they were buying or the way Konstantin had pointed at her while he yanked on my hair, forcing me to watch the auction. He’d told me that virgins sell for more, and that if I kept disobeying him, he’d beat me to within an inch of my life so that only the roughest brothels would bid on me.
“You won’t get sold to some Swede for three-hundred thousand, pet. I’ll make sure the price doesn’t go above five thousand. Can you imagine the kind of place you’ll end up in?”
“He was Swedish,” I say, forcing the memory out of my mind. “The man who bought her was Swedish. I remember Konstantin saying that.”
“Fuck,” Dominic says with a deep sigh. He scrubs a hand through what was just moments before perfectly styled hair, and I have a feeling this is as out of control as I’ll ever see the man. “Thank you, Alina.” Lifting his phone back up, he swipes through it before tapping the screen and bringing it to his ear. “I’m sorry, but I need to let Danil know. Lucia can show you out.”
He’s already rushing back to his office when Lucia, the woman who first let us in, appears from the hall. She smiles at us, already holding our coats like she’s been ready and waiting.
“Please follow me.” She gives us both a big smile, swiping back a few strands of graying hair as Matvey helps me into my coat. “Mr. Alessi said you are welcome here anytime. The men at the gate have already been informed.”
“Thank you,” Matvey and I tell her as she leads us to the front door. With one more smile, she retreats back into the house, making me wonder how she first came to work for the Alessi family. She didn’t seem terrified like the women who worked for Konstantin and Osip always had. The way she’d looked at Dominic and been more motherly than anything else, and seeing it had raised my estimation of the man. Men can lie about who they really are all they want, but their staff won’t ever be able to hide their hatred. Fake smiles stand out, and Lucia’s were genuine when she looked at her boss.
When we’re back at the penthouse, we fill everyone in on how Roman and Emily looked, and when we’re alone again, Matvey heatsme up a can of soup. He’s insisting I eat, and soup is the only thing I think I might be able to stomach. Putting the bowl in front of me, he hands me a spoon and gets me a glass of water.
“Please eat,malishka.”
I take a bite while he leans against the island, watching me. When I set the spoon aside after a few bites, his eyes soften with worry.
“Baby, it’s not enough.”
“I know. It’s just hard.”
“Can you tell me why eating is so difficult?”
“It just brings up a lot of stuff. I wasn’t given much to eat, and when I was allowed food,” I pause for a second, trying to figure out a way to explain what it had felt like to be treated like an abused dog, but when I can’t think of anything, I just settle on, “it was unpleasant,” which might be the understatement of the goddamn year.
He leans closer, cupping my face and kissing my forehead. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life helping you replace those memories with better ones, but you’re going to need to eat more for that to happen.”
Taking the spoon, he fills it with the chicken soup and holds it near my lips. “Please,malishka.”
