“You brought me pasta in a locked basement,” I mutter. “You surely weren’t expecting me to welcome you with open arms.”
“You’re right, I wasn’t,” she says with a soft chuckle. “Your pasta is going to get cold, by the way.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Is it poisoned?”
Her chuckle grows louder. “Don’t worry, poisoning people isn’t my thing. Be careful, though—I might have you wrapped around my finger in no time with my charm.”
A laugh rips from my throat. We’ve only been speaking for a couple of minutes, but I think I like her already. I reach for the tray of pasta and take a bite of one of the meatballs on top. It’s well-spiced and so soft it melts in my mouth.
“How come you’re so different from your brother?”
Tatiana exhales loudly. “Well, I guess life threw lemons at both of us and we made lemonade out of them in our own ways.” She pauses for a moment, as if she’s contemplating whether it’s a good choice to tell me about Leonid or not. “I don’t know anything beyond the basic details about the bratva because my brother keeps me shielded from most of it, but I’ll tell you this for sure—he’s not some heartless monster.”
I snort, mostly because I’m insanely attracted to him whether he’s a monster or a man, and I hate it. I have a feeling Tatiana would judge me for it, too. He’s her brother, so it makes sense that she sees him through rose-colored glasses, but she’d think I was out of my mind if I told her I have a thing for my captor.
So I keep that detail to myself.
“Why do you say so?”
Her brow cocks, and for the first time, I see a glimpse of resemblance between them. They both have the same perfectly arched dark brows.
“My brother never hurts women or children. The fact that you’re still alive is proof that he wouldn’t hurt a person unless they’re a danger to him, and the only reason he hasn’t roughened you up to get answers is because you’re a woman.”
I balance the plate of pasta on my lap and rest my back against the headboard, curiosity piqued. “Is that how things are done in the…the bratva?”
She shakes her head. “No. My brother is…well, let’s say he’s kind of twisted. He’s cruel enough to be feared by most other people, but he still has a moral code to preserve his humanity. I wish it wasn’t like this, but in the mafia underworld, it’s either kill or be killed.”
A shiver runs down my spine. I’ve never imagined what it’s like to be in the mafia until now. It sounds like a nightmare of bloodshed and brutality.
“Can’t he just leave?” Even I can hear the ridiculousness in the question, but Tatiana indulges me anyway.
“It’s not that simple,” she explains. “There are freelancers, allies, and enemies who’ll pursue him to the end of the world if he dares leave. No one who makes it into the bratva ever gets out alive.”
“It sounds like a secret society to me.”
“That’s basically what it is,” she says with a casual shrug. “How’s the food?”
I fill my mouth with a forkful of pasta and moan. “It’s tasty.”
“Petrov’s a good cook. Too bad he’s also easy to fool.” She rises to her feet and smiles. “I have to go before Leonid finds out I was here. My brother can be a handful. See you later?”
I should be happy she came. Instead, my heart drops to my stomach at the notion of being locked up in here all alone again. “Are you going to come back?” I ask with a trembling voice.
“Sure.” She crouches beside me and pats the back of my hand reassuringly. “I’ll come here any chance I get, but don’t tell my brother I was here.”
Managing a smile, I raise my pinky finger. “I promise.”
She locks her own pinky finger with mine and smiles. “See you later, Elena.”
Rising to her feet, she turns and walks out the door. When I hear her lock the door behind her, I start to think that maybe there’s some hope I’ll make it out of here, after all.
***
Tearing my eyes open, I take in my environment.
I’m in a large room without much furniture, although more has been added since I arrived. Moonlight slices in through the small window above my bed. It takes a moment for the drowsiness to wear off and awareness of where I am to hit me.
As much as I’d hoped it was all a nightmare, I’m still in the basement of Leonid’s mansion.
