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"Your what?" I exclaimed, shocked at the statement. She just sniffles and nods, unable to speak. I wrap my arms around her rubbing her shoulders, not wanting to press for information. She lets herself cry her eyes out for about an hour, tears soaking through my shirt. Finally she lets out a shuddery breath and picks her head up off my shoulder.
"He was 8 months old." She says a smile coming to her face, thinking of her son. "He had short black hair, from his father, bright green eyes, and the cutest smile you had ever seen." "We named him Anton." Tears form in the corner of her eyes again.
"Who was the father?" I ask, not wanting to bring up him getting taken away just yet. Another smile spreads across her face.
"His name was Aleksey. He was the love of my life. He was so kind; he was funny, handsome and smart." She says. Her eyes filled with laughter as she is thinks of a memory with him.
"What happened?" I ask, fearing the answer. She takes another shaky breath, verging on tears again.
"We were going to move away from my Papa. My Mama died about 6 years ago, when I was 12. After that my father got horrible, he treated me and my younger siblings horribly. Never feeding us enough and always working us to the core. I gave up my food a lot of times for them. "
"Tell me about your siblings." I ask.
"My little brother, Illya, is six. He has brown hair like me, but deep brown eyes. He is so energetic and fun. He loves to learn new things. My little sister, Elena, is four. She had bright green eyes and beautiful blonde hair, like my mother. She laughs at everything, even though we had it hard. They lit up my life that is why I decided to keep Anton." She says.
"They sound amazing. What happened after that?" I ask.
"My father was so mad when he found out I was pregnant. I was 17. We found a house for all of us, except my father." She's says and begins to cry again. "I do not know what happened; it had to be my fault." She is sobbing again.
"Shh, it is okay, take your time. " I say, rubbing her back.
"He found out we were leaving. I do not know how. One night I was up with Anton and he came in my room and ripped Anton from my arms. I tried to fight back, but he was too strong. He threw him outside, where men were waiting and they drove off with him. My father grabbed me and threw me in the back of his car and brought me to Vlad." She says tears still pouring from her eyes. I wipe the tears from the exhausted girls face. "I will never see them again, any of them." She coughs into my shirt.
"Yes you will I promise, I told Irina I would get you both out and I never break promises." I say. She lifts her face out of my shirt.
"You promise?" she asks. I nod.
"Yes I promise." I say
"Can you keep a secret?" she whispers. I nod, wondering what she has not already told me. She reaches into the lining of her mattress and pulls out a piece of paper. She hands it to me, looking around to make sure no one saw us. I turn it over the paper and see it is a photograph. There is a smiling baby and a boy, Anton and Aleksey.
"Natasha, they are beautiful." I say handing her the photograph back, but I am worried. "How did you keep this from Vlad?" I ask.
"I hid it in my sock." She says, carefully putting the photograph back into its hiding place. "You will not tell anyone right?" she asks.
"I promise." I tell her again. I want so badly to take my Papa's watch from its hiding spot in my pillow case and show it to her. But Igor's words of warning come back into my head. Do not tell anyone who you are.
"Natasha, it is not safe to keep that here. If someone found it, they could find your family and kill them." I say.
"No one will find it." she says, trying to convince her and me. I pull her into a hug
We sit like this for a while, until the day's events take a toll on Natasha and she drifts off to sleep. I lay her down, brushing the hair out of her tear soaked face. I climb back into my bed and begin to settle down. Thinking of Natasha's family, I drift off.
I wake to a smiling Nicholas standing at the edge of my bed. I sit up quickly and wrap my blanket tighter to my chest.
"Vlad wants to see you." he says with his heavy Russian accent. I push myself off the bed and my bare feet hit the cold, concrete ground. Nicholas grabs my arm tightly and leads me to Vlad's room. I shake my arm out of his grasp.
"Why did Vlad hire you as a guard if a fourteen year old girl can beat you up?" I ask, smirking at my own comment. Rage flashes on Nicholas's face. I just laugh. He pushes me through Vlad's door smashing my head into the door frame.
"Do not talk to me like that!" He yells. I just chuckle and murmur a sarcastic apology.
"Sasha," his voice sends chills down my spine. "I see your face has done well healing." Vlad says, surveying my face. I nod. "Good, clients do not like bruised girls." He says flipping through a binder.
"Maybe you should not have beaten me up" I say. This takes Vlad by surprise. He loses his confidence for a split second at my strength. Gotcha! I think as I try to pinpoint his weaknesses. I survey the room, looking for ways we can escape. Vlad's desk sits in the middle of the room. Stacks of binders and books are compiled around the room. A plush rug covers the floor. The walls are strict concrete, but there is a small window in the corner of the room. Vlad regains his confidence and finally stops looking through the binder. He points to a picture in it.
"This will be your new client, Josh." He says.
"What if I refuse?" I ask, rolling my eyes. He reaches into a lower drawer in his desk and pulls two things out; a pair of black heels and a gun. He puts them both on the desk in front of me. I gulp, unable to take my eyes off of the gun sitting in front of me.
"Make your choice" he says. I way both options and walk forward, making one of the most important decision of my life.
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