Page 36 of Savage Princess

“I’m going to see about gambling for more,” I tell her finally. “I have enough to try and still keep us going for a few days. I’m fairly skilled at it; I should be able to have us in a better spot quickly.”

Elena looks uncertain, and I can’t blame her. “I know this isn’t what you’re used to,” I tell her quietly. “But if you’ll trust me, I’ll make sure you’re safe. I promise.”

“I trust you,” she says quickly. “Of course I do.”

“I’ll go tonight, then. You’ll have to be alright here for a little while, keep the door blocked, and–”

“I want to go with you,” she interrupts.

I hesitate. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Some of these places are rough. It’s not the safest place for someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” Elena raises an eyebrow.

“A very beautiful, very young woman.”

Her lips twitch with the beginning of a smile, and I know she wanted to hear me say that. It’s the truth. Sheisvery beautiful—and the last thing I want to do is take her into a seedy place where she’ll be in danger.

“I want to go,” she says firmly, continuing quickly before I can say anything else. “I don’t want to be left alone. Not after what happened before—and what I saw today. Please,” she adds, and when I see the look on her face, I can’t bring myself to tell her that she has to stay.

We need the money. But I can’t stand the idea of Elena being here alone, terrified, for as long as it takes me to make what we need.

“Alright,” I tell her reluctantly. “You can come with me.”

Elena

As much as Levin dislikes the idea of me going with him, I’m more than a little excited. It sounds like another adventure—something a little dangerous and scary, maybe. Still, I don’t think it can be worse than things I’ve already seen since that first night when Diego attacked my family home. My entire life has been turned upside down since then, and I don’t think going to watch Levin play cards is going to be scarier than the things I’ve faced since then.

After I shower, I put on the blue dress again, combing through my wet hair and French-braiding it back. I brush my fingers over my earlobe, wishing I had earrings or some kind of jewelry. It’s not a date, but it feels a little like one, and I wish I could dress up more.

Levin is waiting for me when I step out of the bathroom, in jeans and a cotton t-shirt. His gaze flicks over me, and I can see the momentary glimpse of desire in his eyes. “You look too good to be going to a place like this,” he murmurs, and I feel a small burst of pleasure.

He called me beautiful earlier, and now he says I look good.It feels good to be complimented. To beappreciated.

“I can’t exactly wear leggings or bike shorts and an oversized t-shirt,” I tell him wryly. “My wardrobe isn’t what it once was.”

It’s meant to be a joke, but Levin’s expression flattens. “You deserve better than this,” he says, reaching for his wallet. “I’m going to get you out of here soon, Elena. I swear.”

I know that’s supposed to make me feel better. But deep down, I can’t summon the excitement for getting to Boston that I know I’m supposed to have. For all of the danger we’re in here—it doesn’t feel as if it’s been that bad. Ilikebeing with Levin. I like sharing space with him, a bed, a routine. I like having him close. I like having sex with him.

I feel things for him that I know I shouldn’t. But those feelings are there, regardless. And I don’t know how to change that.

I don’twantto change it, not really. And I know that once we leave Rio, everything will change.

“Are you ready to go?” He frowns, glancing towards the door. “It’s not too late for you to stay. It might be safer–”

“I want to go,” I tell him firmly. “I don’t want to be alone here.”

“Alright.” It’s clear from his expression that he doesn’t think this is necessarily a better idea, but he doesn’t argue with me. “Let’s go, then. We’ll get a cab—I’d rather keep you out of sight off of the street. It’s not safe to be walking around this time of night for you.”

We’re dropped off in front of a concrete building with light flooding out of the door and patio tables out front, all of which are filled with men smoking, surrounded by women who are clearly looking to pick any of them up in exchange for money. I stick close to Levin as we approach, feeling a twist of anxiety in my stomach.Maybe this wasn’t the best idea.But it didn’t feel safer to be at the hotel alone, either.

The building is so full of smoke when we walk in that I choke back a cough—I don’t want to stick out as someone who doesn’t belong here—but it’s a thick haze, and not the sweet-scented tobacco that my father used to smoke in his pipe either, but the bitter, acrid scent of cheap cigarettes. There’s a well-worn bar along the far end of the room, and Levin keeps me close as we wind through the tables, heading towards it and the equally well-worn bartender standing behind it.

I can feel the eyes on me as I walk, the predatory gaze of hungry men that I’ve become so much more familiar with since I left home, and I lean into Levin, my hand wrapped around his muscled upper arm. I want anyone looking at me to think I’m his, to feelcertainthat I’m his.

I can’t say that I don’t enjoy pretending that’s the truth, either.

“Vodka, neat, and a glass of wine for the lady,” Levin says as we approach the bar. “Anything happening downstairs?”

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