It hadn't been all that difficult to keep up a normal conversation with Pargrave en route to the appointment with Eve. Oksana was reminded that she had really liked the man, he seemed good-natured and he didn't keep a wary eye on Oksana like the other staff members in the prison. They had a rapport. It would be a shame to jam whatever kind of blade Renate supplied into him, but Oksana would serve justice for his advances on Eve.

"Here we are," Pargrave let out, reaching a hand to the door in front of them.

Instinctively, Oksana's own hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist. Pargrave looked at her in surprise and tried to pull his hand away from her but she held on.

"You don't have take me into the actual room, you know, I am not some little kid you are dropping off at preschool." Oksana sneered.

Pargrave looked yet more surprised. Oksana had been uncharacteristically calm and pleasant so far during their time together, he supposed he shouldn't have allowed himself to get too used to that. Volatility was a trait of the young woman before him.

"No," he said slowly, "But Dr Polastri is a friend and I would like to say hello." He explained calmly.

"No." Oksana said, her mind made up.

"Astankova, I don't see why—" He began.

"If I get out of here, will you be delivering me to meetings with my parole officer?" Oksana interrupted. She wouldn't be getting out of here, she knew that, but she wanted to keep Pargrave away from Eve without letting him know that she knew what he did.

"Well, no." Pargrave admitted.

"Then let me practice, hmm?" Oksana suggested and then before Pargrave had a chance to reply, "I can probably even manage to find my way back to my cell later too, you do not need to meet me at the school gates and chat to all the other doting mothers." She said mockingly looking around at the empty corridor.

"Ha ha." Pargrave let out sarcastically, "Unfortunately the prison doesn't allow "little kids" to wander this wing unaccompanied, but I will meet you out here in the corridor when you are done. OK?"

"Yes, Mother." Oksana joked.

"Fine. Say hello to Dr Polastri for me." Pargrave relented.

He didn't know what Oksana's issue with him entering the room was, he dreaded to think really, but he had learnt to pick his battles when it came to this particular inmate. She might be tricky sometimes, but she still somehow managed to be one of his favourites. Not that he would admit that to her. Or to Eve for that matter, it seemed she needed no encouraging when it came to Oksana Astankova.

"I will," Oksana promised serenely, knowing that she absolutely wouldn't.

Pargrave stepped away from the door and Oksana finally let go of his wrist, which he rubbed absent-mindedly. Her grip had perhaps been a little strong.

"Be good." He said pointedly.

"You too." She replied, holding his gaze somewhat threateningly and confusing him yet again.

Oksana slipped into the room, not opening the door far enough for Pargrave to look in beyond her and kept her eyes on him the whole time until she closed the door behind her and turned around. Her eyes alighted on Eve at once and she felt her chest flutter like that of the kind of lovesick idiot that she would laugh in the face of. And then she remembered again what Nadia had told her and she felt that flutter turn anxious.

From inside the room, Eve had watched Oksana back through the doorway.

"Um, hello?" Eve said uncertainly from her usual chair, once Oksana had completed her unusual entrance and now stood staring at her and saying nothing.

Oksana looked Eve over as though checking for some kind of distress and then gave an almost relieved smile.

"Hello Eve," she said warmly, and then, "Are you OK?" she added in concern.

Eve's look of bafflement deepened at that genuine question.

"I'm fine, thank-you Astankova. Are you OK?" she asked, perplexed.

Oksana strode over to her chair and settled herself into it comfortably.

"I am good. Very good. And you can call me Oksana now, hmm?" Oksana said, and it sounded like a request, rather than a suggested. "It is nice to see you." Oksana added before Eve could respond.

Eve watched as Oksana relaxed into her seat, there was still a look of… something cautious in her eye, but Oksana did seem pleased to see her. That was such a rarity in Eve's work. Nobody enjoyed enforced visits to a prison-issue psychologist tasked with determining their mental state and possible threat to society. Oksana was a refreshing change.

"It's nice to see you too." Eve replied after collecting her thoughts. It was true after all.

Oksana's smile grew.

"Did you go for a run this morning?" Oksana asked interestedly and Eve caught her eyes flicking to Eve's legs.

You have good legs. The memory of Oksana informing her of that trickled back into Eve's mind.

"I wish." Eve lamented before she had time to consider her answer. And that was true too. She would far rather have been running than dealing with, or failing to deal with, a bawling child that morning. She couldn't comfort her own son; that was a fact she should probably examine.

"Why didn't you?" Oksana asked with a frown.

Eve paused. How could she answer that? She shouldn't tell Oksana about Leo. She shouldn't talk about herself at all. This room could be, in some twisted way, a sanctuary from that side of Eve's life. A safe haven with a murderer, Eve thought wryly.

"Oh, sometimes life just gets in the way, you know?" Eve said after a moment, deeming that the safest and vaguest response.

"I do not know." Oksana replied, gesturing the walls around her and her prison uniform. "Must be nice." She added, and Eve couldn't tell whether she had struck a nerve, or Oksana's dry humour was at play.

"Sorry." Eve said softly.

"No." Oksana replied immediately. "Don't be. I would like to hear about your life, Eve."

That was a rarity too. These days, when Niko asked about the bits of her life he wasn't involved with, it always seemed as though he was fulfilling some kind of contractual obligation as The Husband, rather than being genuinely interested and actually listening to the response. And recently his questions felt more like interrogations. It was gratifying to be asked by someone who actually wanted to hear and Eve was surprised to discover that she was glad she had told Oksana her name. She also found that actually she did want to tell Oksana. She wanted to explain what had happened that morning. But she couldn't. It wouldn't be right.

"How was the talk this morning?" Eve asked instead, referring to the reason their appointment time had been altered. "It was about drugs, right?"

Oksana looked disappointed for a moment that Eve had changed the subject, and then rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.

"It was boring. And pointless. I do not like drugs. I didn't even ever smoke." Oksana told her, eyes wide.

"I didn't think you were the type." Eve nodded, and Oksana looked pleased.

"Drugs fuck up your body. I have a beautiful body, why would I want to fuck it up? And smoking makes you look old." She said elongating the final word.

Eve laughed. There was Oksana's ego again. But Jesus, Eve's mind had agreed with Oksana's statement the minute she said it. She is undeniably beautiful. Anyone can see that.

At hearing Eve's laugh, Oksana preened even more.

"My father smokes cigars." She divulged, "Big, fat, cigars. He got them imported especially. I used to hate the smell of them and when I was small I would hide the boxes from him. He would always find them though."

Eve watched as Oksana spoke, watched her mind leave the prison walls for a moment as though she could transport herself back to her childhood, back to Russia, back to when her biggest concern was sneaking away her father's smelly cigars.

"Now, sometimes when I sleep I can smell them, you know? I can smell his cigars as though he were standing in my cell." Oksana mused with a faint smile, "I don't hate that smell anymore." She finished decisively.

"Would you try to go back to him?" Eve asked quickly, before she had decided to. She had remembered Bill's words from the other day, about the danger of Oksana returning to her father and his underworld if she were to be released.

Oksana's eyes fixed on Eve's. They had a way of making Eve feel bare, as though Oksana could see right into her. It was unsettling. And perhaps, if she allowed herself to admit it, a little exciting.

"If you got parole." Eve added unnecessarily, just for something to fill the silence.

"I don't know what I would do." Oksana said quietly. "He is in prison also. Everything back home is… scattered. I think. And here, my mother…" She let out a sudden loud laugh. "Well, the bitch probably does not want me back." She said with an amused smile.

"Do you speak to her?" Eve questioned softly, "Has she ever contacted you?"

Oksana raised a sceptical eyebrow at Eve.

"I cut off her husband's dick." She said plainly.

"I know." Eve rushed out. Her question hadn't seemed silly when she asked it, now Oksana made it sound absurd. "But she might have—"

"What if I cut off your husband's dick?" Oksana interrupted, "Would you still love me?"

Eve's mouth dropped open.

"I don't—" she started.

"I meant, if you look at it from her point of view." Oksana said hurriedly, and Eve could be mistaken, but there seemed to be a flash of embarrassment, a hint of pink risen in Oksana's cheeks.

"Well," Eve started, "I don't know the circumstances. You could have been defending her."

Oksana laughed emptily.

"I was not." She stated.

Oksana looked away, her eyes fixed on the beige wall to the left of her, though she looked through it rather than at it. She lifted a hand to her mouth, biting at the skin next to her thumb. Eve couldn't help but wish she were close enough to gently pull that hand away.

"Why did you do it?" Eve almost whispered.

Oksana's eyes travelled slowly back to Eve, and she sighed in resignation.

"He disrespected my father." She said, and there was a distinct lack of emotion in her voice.

"That's it?" Eve gasped before she could stop herself.

It was like holding a lit match to a gas supply and Eve instantly regretted her words.

"That's not enough?" Oksana seethed, her body going rigid. "Nobody disrespects my father! That snivelling piece of shit should thank God I only cut his useless prick off. I have seen people suffer far worse fates for lesser crimes than stealing my father's wife." She ranted. "She was a shitty wife too, and a shittier mother."

"But your mother walked out on your father. It was her choice to leave. Why only punish your step-father?" Eve probed. None of it made sense.

"You do not thinking finding your lover dead on the floor is a punishment?" Oksana suggested. "She loved him."

"You did it because she loved him?"

"Eve, you are not listening! I did it because he disrespected my father."

"But your mother disrespected him too, surely?" Eve asked.

Oksana looked momentarily unsure of how to answer that, but her hesitation quickly became frustration.

"She was already a waste of space. She has to live with the image of it, I guess. I don't know, Eve." Oksana sighed, clearly becoming irritated with Eve's line of questioning.

Eve thought for a moment, unsure of whether to ask her next question or not.

"Why did you put it in a pan? His… penis." She asked at last, trying to keep her tone conversational and as non-confrontational as possible.

Oksana burst into laughter. She appeared positively joyful.

"That was my idea." She said through a wide smile. "He always liked her to cook for him. He told her she was such a 'good little wife'. And she liked it! Can you imagine? It was disgusting."

Eve used a mammoth amount of strength to keep her expression neutral.

"You didn't approve of that?" Eve mused.

"She is still my father's wife." Oksana replied blankly. "So no, I do not think she is a good wife. They were playing make-believe. Like how they thought it would complete their dumb family when they took me."

"Took you?" Eve checked.

"Mmm." Oksana hummed, "When my father went to prison. I had to go somewhere. I was only 13. I wanted to stay with Konstantin."

"Konstantin?" Eve asked

"My father's best friend." Oksana nodded, and then something flickered across her face, "My uncle."

"He wouldn't have you?" Eve suggested, and then regretted it as Oksana's eyes glinted fiercely.

"He would!" Oksana shot back at once. "But she wanted me. Thought she could change me. Thought she was 'rescuing me'." Oksana laughed.

"She thought you needed rescuing?" Eve clarified.

"I told you, she is a stupid bitch!" Oksana exclaimed.

"Right." Eve nodded. "Sorry."

A silence fell between them as Eve contemplated how best to move forward.

"This is boring." Oksana groaned.

"We kind of need to talk about it." Eve explained.

"That is enough for now." Oksana said decisively.

Eve recoiled a little at Oksana taking such control over their conversation. That really should be Eve's job. But Eve was pleasantly surprised that she had managed to get so much information out of Oksana already. It would do for now. Dealing with Oksana, Eve had learnt, was a little like wrangling a wild animal. You had to read the smallest signals, learn when to coax and when to push, and when to climb the nearest tree for safety. Currently, they weren't at the tree-climbing stage, but Oksana had said she'd had enough. Eve could keep pressing her for information, but she might lose a limb, better to back away and offer a reward.

"Tell me about your husband." Oksana demanded, breaking into Eve's thoughts. "Is he good to you? He should be good to you."

"He… is a kind man." Eve said slowly.

"Kind to you?" Oksana pressed.

Eve opened her mouth to reply.

"I would be kind to you." Oksana said before Eve had a chance to speak.

Eve closed her mouth. There was no come back to that. It was a statement that had both thrown her off kilter and started a warm fizzing sensation in her stomach. Eve cleared her throat.

"Let's play your game." Eve said, a small tremor barely noticeable in her voice. And yet Oksana noticed it.

A look of pleasant anticipation washed over Oksana as she gave a wide grin.