章 4: Not A Chance

(IVANNA)

Later that afternoon, I hurry up to my room and throw my makeup bag into a satchel. I can't bring much on the run, but I'm definitely not leaving my favourite stuff behind, things like the earrings Ma left me. A photo of me and my sisters at a tower. A pair of leggings that fit me perfectly. And of course, a passport and some money.

"This is a terrible idea." My sister, Alya says. "How are you going to live?"

"Let alone that. How is he going to escape Pa and the guards?" Dasha turns the pages of a magazine without looking up. "You will never even reach the street, Ivanna."

"Yes, I will."

About a year and a half ago, I had noticed that the cameras don't cover one side of the wall that surrounds our house. So, I chipped footholds onto the stone that allowed me to leave and come back whenever I pleased. That is how I snuck out last November and lost my virginity to Alexei.

Alya and Dasha know nothing about it, that escape router is probably safe for just me.

Dasha makes a noise in her throat like she doesn't believe me. "Pa is going to be really pissed when you get caught."

Satisfied with my packed belongings, I go and sit on the edge of the bed next to them.

"I'm sorry for leaving you both, but I have to do this. I cannot get married to some stranger that I barely know and become a mafia wife trapped with a hundred kids while my husband fucks her mistress on the other side of town."

"The Sakharovs are loaded." Dasha says. "I looked them up. They live in a castle, Ivanna. An honest to God castle. And the son is a snack. I don't even know what you are complaining about."

"Christ," Dasha is such a naïve kid. She truly has no idea how horrible it gets for mafia wives. "Ma gave up her modelling career for Pa and she always said she

regretted it. You don't remember her as well as I do, but I can't give up my chance at living a normal life for any amount of money. It's not worth it."

"I understand." Alya, the level headed twin says. "And I don't think that you should agree. No one has the right to force you to so anything that you don't want to do. The man that came here, I hear rumours that people call him the

devil."

I do believe it. No one rises to the top of the mafia chain without being vile, evil and terrifying.

"I have a thousand dollars saved up in my room," Alya touches my hand. "Do you want it?"

My eyes sting and I feel like crying. I throw my arms around her. "No, Alya. I can't take your money. You will need it someday. But thanks. That was very kind of you to offer." I have a few thousands in my satchel. That should be enough to disappear, even though I know that they won't last me long.

I then hug Dasha who hugs me back too reluctantly. "I'll just see you in the next few minutes when Pa's men drag you back in." she says.

"Please, just give me a hug? Just in case you don't?"

That gets Dasha's arms to tighten ever so slightly. "Best of luck, Ivanna."

"I love you both. Now, use the next two years to figure a way out of this lifestyle. Pa won't marry you off to some strangers before you are eighteen."

"He might." Alya shrugs. "Mila's father arranged her marriage when she was just thirteen."

I get up and grab my satchel. "You can both come with me, you know." Dasha frowns.

"We would just drag you and that would make it easier for us to get caught. Plus, they won't hurt us to retaliate."

I hope that statement is true for my sake. Women and children are supposed to be off limits in all that mafia violence. If something ever happened to my sisters because of me, I would never forgive myself. "Talk to Pa. Convince him to honour his word and take you both to college."

"Go now." Alya urges me. "It is already dark enough. No one will see you."

She is right. I need to get going because the guards are having dinner for just another twenty minutes before they get back to work.

I glance at my phone in the dresser. Not taking it with me feels weird, but having it with me would make it too easy to find me. I need to leave it behind, just like I always do when I sneak out.

I open the window then take the rope that I kept under my bed. I secure it to the bed post then unroll it over the windowsill, toss my satchel to the ground then climb down into the yard. Alya and Dasha watch me as I descend and once I've safely landed in the yard, they pull the rope back up. I blow them a kiss then sprint for the trees.

Pa has no idea of Alexei's existence. So, I'm going to crash there tonight. By morning, I'm certain that I will have come up with a plan. Maybe I'd go to some small town far off the city and start afresh over there. Somewhere where I can just live my life without having someone watching my back every second of the day.

First, I need to get away, then I will stay in hindsight and change my name. It's sad that I won't contact my sisters anymore. I can't let Pa find me. Not until the threat has long passed. I have to leave. I need to leave all this mafia bullshit behind and live my life. Find happiness just as my mother once told me.

She always told me to never settle. To be my own woman. I didn't understand the words at the time, but I do now. And I will take her advice.

I tread the long path into the trees where the cameras don't see. I drop my satchel over the wall first then use the footholds to climb up, occasionally glancing back to make sure that no one followed me. Once I get to the top, I throw my legs over and hold onto the wall with both hands so that I can jumps the rest of the way down.

Except, fingers wrap on my leg, startling me. They don't let go.

I try to kick them off to no avail. The hands just tighten around my ankles. "Let me go! Stop this!"

"Not a chance, Ivanna."

No. No. No way this is happening. There's no way that the Sakharovs have traced me here. No one knows this escape route but me. This is impossible.

Amid my aimless kicking and my struggles to let myself off the whoever's clutches, my arms finally give away and I am forced to let go of the wall. I fall onto a hard male chest and arms fold like steel bands around me. "Let me go. I'm not

going anywhere with you."

"You're coming with me." he doesn't budge. "So don't make this any harder than it has to be. I'll drug you if I have to."

"Drug me?" I gasp. "Is that what you do to unwilling women?"

His lips hover dangerously close to my ear. "I can't say. There are no unwilling women in my life, Ivanna."

Am I nuts or is that sexual? My mind is racing with all manner of thoughts, but my body must be on board because it straight up goes into flames. He is too close that I can literally smell him. Lemon and mint maybe? I shut my eyes, feeling humiliated at why my body is reacting like this when all this man wants to do is to kidnap me and force me to marry his son.

I summon all the strength left in me and buck hard against him. "Get off me, you sick fuck―"

He chuckles softly. "Drugs it is."

"No… no no no. Please don't―"

What follows is a sharp prick at the back of my neck and a cold rush all over my body. "Wha…what was that? Are you…"

And the world goes black.

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