"You're not trying hard enough," he says, cutting me off. "You think this is a game? If you can't convince people you're Ana Veche, you're useless to us. And you know what happens to useless people in my world…"
My head drops, my eyes fixed on the eggs cooling on my plate. The fight drains out of me all at once, replaced by a hollow exhaustion that settles into my bones. He's right. I'm not trying hard enough. I'm so focused on being angry and scared and defiant that I'm not actually doing what I need to do to survive.
I'll never go home if I don’t do what they say, and proving I can be like this Ana woman may be the only chance I have at going home. The problem is I'm really not a leader. I've never been one. I'm as introverted and self-reliant as they come. I don't generally need others and I don't necessarily want them around me, either. So if I'm to become the person he thinks I should be, it means I have to find a muse.
"Okay, so tell me about this Ana Veche…" I lift my eyes to look at him, and he tips his chin up as if he's interested in hearing what I have to say. "What's her family like? I need to know who she is if you expect me to be like her."
Lev's eyes narrow as a sinister smirk crosses his face. He's pleased with that response, probably because he thinks I'm finally giving him what he wants.
"The Veche family controls trade routes that run through Belarus and Ukraine. Routes that are being used to traffic Russian and Ukrainian girls, some of them barely old enough to be called women. They're being sold into slavery, shipped across borders like cattle, and the Veches are profiting from every single transaction."
My stomach turns as the words prick my conscience. This is who he wants me to be like? I'm appalled and offended. "That's… that's horrible."
"It is." He leans forward as his forehead crinkles and his eyes soften. "If we can force Ana's brother, Yaros, to open those routes to us, we can shut down the trafficking and stop the flow of girls being sold. But we can't do it without leverage, and you're the only leverage we have."
I stare at him, trying to process what he's telling me. These men kidnapped me off the street, locked me in a room, threatened me with death if I didn't cooperate. But if what he's saying is true and playing this role could actually help stop something as evil as human trafficking…
"If I do this," I say slowly, then let my words fade out as I try to think of a way to phrase this. "You're saying my pretending to be Ana Veche will save those girls? How?"
"You let me work out the details… but yes." He holds my gaze, and for some reason, when looking into his eyes, I believe him. "You can be instrumental in saving those girls, but only if you commit to this. No one can even have a hint that you're not her or it doesn't work."
I think about the girls he described. My heart breaks for them and tears well up in my eyes. I've always known things like this happen, the way everyone knows something is in their periphery but can't do anything to stop it. How many times have I heard of a young woman being abducted and wondered where she is or what happened to her? And now I have a chance to make a real difference here.
I take a deep breath and sigh. "I'll try harder," I say.
Something shifts in Lev's expression as he nods and sits back in his seat, seeming satisfied by my answer. "Good. Now pick up your fork and show me what a Donna looks like when she eats breakfast."
I pick up the fork, adjusting my grip the way he showed me, and take a bite of eggs with my spine straight and my shoulders back. It still feels awkward, like I'm playing dress-up in someone else's life, but now I feel like maybe there's a reason for all of this. What they did to me wasn't right, but it doesn't mean it can't turn out for the good.
"And I'll get to go home?" I ask after chewing carefully and swallowing.
"Wrong answer," he says, and there is a hint of skepticism on his face.
"And after this, you'll take me home," I say, more confidently this time, which brings a smile to his face.
"You're getting it now." His bobbing head is all the praise I need.
Lev watches me eat while his coffee grows cold in his hand, and I wonder what else he hasn't told me. I wonder what other secrets he's keeping behind those dark eyes. But for now, in this moment, I choose to believe that there's a good heart buried somewhere beneath all that cold calculation.
It's the first time I've let myself think of him as anything other than my captor.
I'm not sure what that means yet.
But I think I'm about to find out.
7
LEV
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I hold up a hand to stop Vivika mid-sentence. She's been practicing her introductions for the past hour, learning how to extend her hand and tilt her chin and meet someone's eyes with the kind of cold confidence that Ana Veche was known for. She's getting better. Not good enough, but better.
"Hold that thought," I say, pulling out the phone. Yuri's name flashes on the screen. "I need to take this."
I step into the hallway and answer to avoid Vivika overhearing things she's not meant to hear. I've sold her for now with that line about trafficking girls, which is partially true, but if she learns of the real reason for my need to use her, she'll just keep rebelling. It's easier this way.
"What is it?" I ask into the phone.
"Fyodor's here with intel on the Veches. Come down to my study."
