I STOOD THERE in the darkness of the closet, my nails digging into my palms. I heard the bedroom door open. Braced myself for Christina to tell him the truth—

“You changed clothes,” said Konstantin uncertainly. “Is that what you wanted to show me?”

“No,” I heard Christina say. “This is.”

Shit! I threw up my hands defensively, expecting her to pull the closet door open—

But nothing happened. The door wasn’t all the way closed and I peeked through the crack—

Christina was standing right in front of Konstantin, her t-shirt and bra pulled up to her neck, her breasts bared to him. She shook her shoulders, jiggling them at him. He grinned, looking confused but pleased. I felt a sudden stab of jealousy.

Then it got worse. She reached up, took his cheeks in her hands and—no! Stop!—

She drew him down into a kiss.

The jealousy swelled and rose: I realized just in time that I was reaching for the closet door, about to throw it open, and had to force myself to stop. Christina’s kiss was nothing like one of mine. It was open-mouthed and lewd, and she moaned like a porn star as she did it, molding her body to Konstantin’s and grinding against him. She turned him so that she was looking towards the closet over his shoulder, then opened her eyes and stared right at me, her eyes gleaming with victory.

I felt ill.

She finally released him and he stared down at her, wiping his lips and frowning. “You seem...different,” he said.

“Why don’t you go and work,” she told him. “I’ll put on something sexy and come and find you, and we can go down to the dungeon.” She leaned close and whispered in his ear, just loud enough for me to hear. “I’ll let you do horrible things to me. In fact, I’d love it if you—” She lowered her voice even more, but I saw Konstantin’s eyes widen in shock. The bitch! She was setting me up!

She patted Konstantin’s arm and he left, still looking confused. I emerged from the closet and glared at her. She gave me a smug grin. “Don’t be so uptight,” she told me. “You might even enjoy it.”

I scowled, then glanced at the door. Just leave!

She walked right up to me, then leaned in close. I flinched back, but she was already pushing back my hair and peering into first one of my ears, then the other. The earpiece was discreet, but you could see it if you looked carefully. She found it and smiled, nodding to herself. Then she clamped her hand over that ear and whispered quietly in my other one, so that only I could hear.

“I know why you really made that deal,” she told me.

Then she drew back and stared into my eyes to see my reaction. And I felt myself flush and look away, confirming it: I was in love with him.

She grinned victoriously and strutted out of the room. I ran to a window at the rear of the mansion and watched. If I hadn’t known to look for her, I never would have seen her slink out of the back door and slip into the undergrowth. I followed her to the edge of the grounds… and then she was gone.

I let out a massive sigh of relief. It’s over. I had to sit down on the bed for a second: my legs were shaky with adrenaline. God, just ten minutes before, I’d been out in the garden soul-searching about whether I was doing the right thing. But having my new life nearly ripped away from me had woken me up. I nearly lost him!

I took a deep breath and stood up, then started hunting through the closet for some lingerie to put on. I found a pretty bra and panties set, black with silver thread along the edges. I stripped off and pulled it on and as I dressed, I pushed all my doubts down inside. I’d never see my mom, Calahan, Kate or Alison again. And Carrie! I’d be betraying all the trust she’d placed in me. She’d be heartbroken.

I’d never be able to talk to Konstantin about my real past. I’d have to lie to him every day.

But it was worth it, to be with him. My new life started now.

The bedroom door suddenly opened and Konstantin marched in. “I couldn’t wait,” he told me, his voice thick with lust. He put one hand under my ass and scooped me up, being careful of my injured leg. “I’m going to take you downstairs,” he muttered, “and I’m going to give you exactly what you asked for, you dirty little shlyukha.”

I flushed scarlet. I was distracted, half-worried and half-curious about what Christina had set me up for, and just so happy that we were finally together, I did what I always did when I was embarrassed. I pushed my glasses up my nose. And when my finger didn’t find any glasses, I realized what I’d done and froze... which made it way worse.

I stared at him, my finger still against the bridge of my nose.

He was staring right back at me and his face was turning pale.

No. No, he can’t remember. No! It’s such a small thing! No, NO! Not when we were so close! I finally managed to whip my finger away. But it was too late. That one tiny slip had opened a crack in the dam and behind it was the pressure of all his suspicions: every way I’d been different to her, since the very beginning. I watched his face fall, his happiness turning to shock and disbelief as the truth broke free.

He knew.