Page 9 of Wicked Vow

“The other girls, I–”

“I know you don’t want to leave them on their own. But I don’t think any of them would turn down something like this for you. This is achance, Ruby. For both of us. I can help you. I can make things better for us both.”

Ruby looks at me, and I can see her grappling with what to do. “Natalia–how do I know you’re telling the truth this time? How do I know any of this will work?”

“Everything I ever covered up was to keep you safe,” I tell her desperately. “I swear. I would never have lied to you about anything if I didn’t think I had to.”

“She’s telling the truth about that,” Mikhail says suddenly. “I threatened you to keep her in line. All of her covering for me–that was to protect you. And she did it very bravely. So anything else she wasn’t truthful about, I would assume it’s for the same reasons.”

The room goes so silent that any of us could have heard a pin drop. I stare at Mikhail, caught completely off guard for a moment. A dozen questions run through my mind, not least of which iswhy would he back me up like that?It seems to me it would be more to his benefit to make Ruby distrust me.

His expression, when he looks at me, is so carefully blank that I can’t begin to read what he’s thinking.

Ruby lets out a breath. “I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse about all of this,” she confesses. “But Natalia–I don’t think it matters. I don’t have a passport–”

“It’s taken care of.” I slip the envelope out, showing her. “I have false passports and IDs for us both, paid for–good ones. I promise, Ruby, I’ve done everything I can to make sure it’s safe for us both. And when we get there–you can make your life whatever you want. You won’t have to scrape for control over a place like this just to feel like you have some control over your life.”

Ruby purses her lips. “So working for a man like Viktor will give me that? You really believe that? I don’t even know who you really are anymore, Natalia–”

“I’m someone who could get out of the situation I was in with Mikhail, take control of it, and get us false identification that will get us both out of Moscow and into New York. The rest I can tell you on the plane–and Iwill,” I tell her firmly. “I swear, Ruby. I’ll tell you everything. But we don’t have time to go into it here.”

For a moment, I think she’s going to tell me no. I can see the decisions flickering over her face, the fear that I’m leading her into something worse.

“Ruby–I know I haven’t told you the entire truth about a lot of things. Whether it was for your own good or not, friends shouldn’t keep things from each other. But wehavebeen good friends. You’re–you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, honestly. And webothdeserve a better life than what we’ve had here.”

“This is very touching,” Mikhail says, narrowing his eyes. “But we’re going to need to get to the hangar soon if we’re leaving tonight, the way you and that gun seem to be demanding. So your friend needs to make up her mind, Natalia, and we need to go.”

“Ruby–”

“Alright!” She says the word on a sharp exhalation of breath, her gaze flicking between the two of us. “I have to go by my apartment. I can’t leave everything–”

“It has to be fast.” I glance at Mikhail. “But yes, we’ll stop there.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Mikhail groans, but I ignore him.

“Do you need to do anything else here?”

“I need to go tell Taffy. She’ll tell the rest of the girls–”

“Don’t tell her where you’re going,” I caution her. “Whatever else you need to tell her, just–keep the details light. Trust me, please.”

Ruby hesitates, but she nods. “Give me five minutes,” she says finally.

“The car is out back. I’ll meet you there.”

“You’re being a fucking fool,” Mikhail says in a low tone when we’re back in the car. “We could already be on the way to New York now if you were so worried about it. But we’re waiting on yourfriend. How long have you known her?”

“It doesn’t matter. And you need to stop talking.” I shift the gun towards him again, pointedly. “When she gets out here, she’ll give you directions to her apartment. Drive her there, and then we go to the hangar. No more arguments, no more discussion.”

My heart is in my throat the entire time that we’re driving. Ruby gets into the car without a word, silent and stiff, and stays that way when she comes back out of her apartment with a single duffel bag. I see her watching Mikhail from the backseat, her shoulders stiff, and I feel the knot of anxiety in my stomach again.

All I want is to be on the plane and in the air, so I can explain everything to her.

I hear her nervous intake of breath as we drive up to the airport hangar, and Mikhail parks the car. “Last chance to change your mind,” he says, glancing at me and down at the gun. “This isn’t going to go the way you hope it will.”

“Shut up.” I tilt the gun a little closer. “Get out of the car. I’m going to be right there when you talk to the pilot, so don’t get any funny ideas about telling him to take us somewhere else.”

“Natalia–” Ruby’s voice floats nervously towards me from the backseat, and I glance back at her.

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