Page 104 of Merciless Desires

Hating having to say goodbye, I grab my suitcase and swing it off the bed. This is a good time to leave. The worry in Katya’s eyes might make me back down, or delay. Then I’ll be stuck.

I take one last look around my bedroom. This is it. Sadness hurts my heart, but I draw on the last ounces of my strength. I need to run, start a new life, and live on my own, away from everyone and everything I’ve ever known. I slide open my window to climb out, but Katya returns and gasps in the doorway.

“Are you crazy?” she hisses, yanking me back inside. “You’re leaving in the middle of the day?”

“Papa is across town at a meeting, and guards are watching from the main road for an ambush.” I check the time on my watch. Shit, I only have ten minutes. “It’s supposed to snow tonight, and I can’t take a chance on being stuck in a blizzard. I’ll be fine.”

“Wait. Don’t bring your suitcase. Papa will think you left on your own. In fact…” She glances around. “We have to make it look like someone took you.”

I still. “You want him to think someone kidnapped me?”

She shrugs adorably, like this is all a game. “This way, if he finds you, he won’t punish you.”

I pull her into my arms. “Oh my God, that’s brilliant.” I open my suitcase and empty it. While I hate not having my favorite clothes, if it will throw Papa off, make him chase an invisible perpetrator and forgive me if I have to come home, it’s worth it.

Katya knocks over some furniture to make it look like a struggle. Even breaks my mirror. “Here, take this.” She shoves a piece of paper at me. “Students have mailboxes on campus. This is mine. You can write to me there. Papa doesn’t know about it. No one does. Send me your address, and I’ll try to mail you some of your clothes.”

I take the paper from her and put it inside my coat pocket. Dante’s envelope sits tucked inside a hole in the lining I cut. “Okay.”

“Please write me and tell me where you are when you get there.”

“I’ll try.” I kiss her on the forehead, knowing how I’ll miss her sweet, innocent smell. “I turned off the camera in my room.” I check the time again. “Get out of here and do something in your room to make it seem like you’ve been there the whole time. Do your stretching with that classical music you love.” I wink at her. “I’ll miss you, mladshaya sestra.”

“I’ll miss you, too.” Poor girl looks ready to cry.

But I know Yulia, Papa’s housekeeper, will protect her. Papa has no use for Katya since she’s technically illegitimate. When she graduates, she’ll move far, far from Astoria.

CHAPTER 2

Anastasia

I duck out the window and down the set of metal stairs from the balcony outside the media room. With the front gate unmanned, I slip through with no problem. A few blocks away, I hail a cab.

“JFK, please.” I shove my sunglasses on, hoping that disguises me.

The promised snow falls and picks up intensity. I worry I’ll miss the flight that Dante booked for me and pray he’s not at the gate waiting for his blow job.

But Dante is nowhere to be seen. With a swell of relief, I collect my boarding pass. I board my flight to Las Vegas and swear under my breath at the cramped middle seat. Really? Dante couldn’t at least book me a first-class ticket? I’m saving his life!

No, I’m seated in-between two besties who talk over my head and in my ears. But after takeoff and a few drinks, I soften and relax enough to chat with them.

I tell them my name is Ana, the name on my fake ID, and that I’m headed on a solo getaway after a bad breakup. They’re going to a bachelorette party. In Vegas. What a life! I never would have been able to fly off to Vegas for my bachelorette party. But I don’t want to get married.

With my long blonde hair, perfect makeup touched up in the bathroom, and sleek polished nails, I look like a posh, party girl and not a scam artist. They are extremely sympathetic to my faux breakup. I’m not surprised when they invite me to stay in their Airbnb since a girl couldn’t make it. I had planned to get a cheap hotel room and pay cash, but this is too good to be true.

Sometimes it’s about being in the right place at the right time. I hope my luck continues. With the plane’s dramatic lift off, however, a sinking feeling settles into my stomach. Am I making a huge mistake? Will I live the rest of my life on the run? Maybe I’ll give it a few weeks and then call home. Bargain with Papa for my freedom in exchange for my return.

Chatting makes the flight time fly by, and we land to a red-hot setting sun. A far cry from New York’s freezing snow and rain.

My new friends are a blast to hang out with. I linger behind them with my sunglasses on and suck down the free drinks on the casino floor. Papa kept me isolated, and to have friends feels so electric. I blend perfectly with these girls, who probably also have rich daddies.

In the third casino we visit, I pass a souvenir shop and spot an older couple buying postcards. They’re wearing baseball caps with RV-shaped pins from other states. They’re road warriors. An idea pops into my head.

“Can you guys wait for me?” I call out to the girls.

Thinking they’ll hang back, I go inside the shop and approach the couple.

“Excuse me.” I smile, and the old man returns a yellow-tooth grin.

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