“Did you get in trouble for that?” I ask, hoping she did. “I bet Leo was pissed.”
Her eyes narrow for a moment, and I know I’m right. Leo must’ve been livid when he realized the mix-up. “He was… not pleased.”
I’m surprised. I hadn’t expected her to cop to it.
“But then, Leo always runs a little hot,” she continues, a soft smile washing across her face. “I know how to cool him down.”
She gives me a wink, and I’m back to being furious.
“You realize who I am, right?” I ask.
“That is an excellent question. Who are you?” she asks. “Viktoria Mikhailov or Willow Powers?”
The way she asks it gives me pause. Like she’s genuinely curious. Her eyes are bright and cunning, her lips pursed in quiet expectation.
When I don’t answer right away, she gives me a sympathetic nod. “I thought so. You don’t know who you are anymore.”
And just like that, the woman who haunts my nightmares just held a mirror up to my worst fears.
I don’t know who I am. Not really.
Am I Viktoria Mikhailov?
Or am I Willow?
And if it’s the latter, which Willow am I? Willow Powers? Willow Reeves?
Willow Solovev?
I look at Brit. The lines of her face are hard. There’s something worn about her. She’s been through something, but that’s no surprise given who she works for and with.
“Who are you?” I ask, turning the question back on her.
“Me?” she asks. “I’m an enigma. A contradiction. I am everything and nothing.”
“Am I supposed to decipher that riddle? Because I’m not sure I care about the answer enough to put in the work.”
“Darling, you can lie to everyone else, but not to me. I can spot a lie a mile away. Do you think I would’ve survived so long if I couldn’t?” She smiles. “You care entirely too much. About me. About Leo. About me and Leo… together.”
I tense, hating that she’s right. But I stubbornly cling to denial. Denial is comforting and easy. It’s the best way to combat the raging fear in my gut.
“You’re wrong,” I say. “I don’t care. In fact, I think the two of you are made for each other.”
She smiles. “You’re right about that. More right than you know. We’ve suffered the same losses and battled our demons together. We’ve comforted each other through the worst times.”
Her words are sharp and painful. I want to run from them, but I’m the one who’s invited them in.
“I love Leo Solovev,” she announces, standing up slowly and approaching me like a protective lioness. “He is and will always be my family. Now and forever.”
She leans down so we are eye to eye again. “You want to know who I am?” she asks, her smile slipping away. “That’s who I am.”
My heart feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest, but I force myself to speak up again anyway. “Let me go, then. Let me go, and I’ll be out of your way for good.”
She cocks her head to the side and regards me with curiosity. “Do you imagine he’ll forgive me for that?”
“What does it matter?” I ask frustratedly. “He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t love me. You’re the woman for him.”
“But you’re the woman that’ll deliver him the Mikhailov Bratva on a silver platter,” she hisses. “And I’m not fool enough to stand in his way.”
I shake my head. “Is this your whole purpose, then? Running around trying to please the men who pull the strings?”
“There’s only one man I want to please. The rest, I couldn’t give two fucks about.”
So many half answers, so many glimpses at a bigger, darker truth. Who are you? I want to scream at her again and again until she paints the whole picture. But I know better than to ask. She’d never spill it so easily.
She’s a mystery, like she said. An enigma.
“Borek!” she calls.
The door opens and a hefty guard enters the room. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Prepare the jeep,” she says. “We’re leaving in five.”
“Where are we going?” I ask in a panic.
“Where do you think?” she asks impatiently. “Back to the cabin. Did you really think that escaping Leo would be so easy?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
Her mouth turns up in a cruel smile. “Did you know you jump a little when you punch? You should work on that. But it was still a mean jab. It broke Nikki’s nose.”