Page 150 of Lethal Torture

Her chin moves slowly from one side to the other. “It wasn’t your fault,” she says quietly. “None of it was. But I didn’t know that then.” When she raises her eyes, again I see in them the faint hint of defiance. Oddly, it doesn’t make me suspicious.

I know that spark. It’s the anger that exists when all else is lost.

It’s what keeps us alive.

“Bogdan and Simon told me about your clubs,” Sophie says. “About how you lived in a Mayfair penthouse and entertained the richest people in London. They told me you ran girls, just like Oleg once had. That you were the worst psychopath London had ever known. They told me,” she goes on, meeting my eyes, “that you were stealing Simon’s girls and forcing them to work in your clubs.”

I sit back in my chair, reeling. “And you believed that?”

She lifts a shoulder helplessly. “Why wouldn’t I? Bogdan told me for years that Oleg had made you his star attraction. I thought you’d been coddled, nurtured, raised to be his heir. I thought you’d forgotten me the moment I was taken and never thought of me again. I couldn’t understand why, if you had all that money, you’d never tried to find me.”

The undertone of pain in her voice is like a hot poker of injustice, searing my throat and chest closed.

“I neverstoppedtrying to find you!” It’s almost painful to speak. “Every container I opened, every girl who walked through these doors...” I stumble over the words. “I tried everything, Sophie. Private detectives. DNA tests. I asked people high up in government, and in the depths of the criminal gutter. I tortured men for information. But that was more than a decade after your disappearance. I had next to nothing to go on. No photo, no DNA sample. Nothing but your name and the fact that, as far as I knew, you’d been put on a shipment to New York.”

“Which I never was.”

“Which you never were.” I lean forward, desperately wanting to take her hand, horribly aware it isn’t my place. “I’m sorry, Sophie. I’m so sorry I didn’t find you.”

She nods slowly, her eyes not leaving my face. “I know that, now. It didn’t take me long to work out after I came here. But at the beginning, when Bogdan and Simon told me to come here, I hated you, Zinny. I hated yousomuch.”

Her use of my childhood pet name jolts me into silence, the tears choking my throat making me unable to ask the questions I need to.

“They said you were using this place to recruit girls for your clubs.” Sophie’s voice cracks on the words. “The idea that you were usingmyname as a cover story, an excuse, to do to innocent girls what had been done to me... Iwantedyou dead,Zinny. I’d have wielded the knife myself, if Bogdan and Simon had asked me to.”

The worst thing is, I can understand it. Completely.

“Whatdidthey ask you to do?” My voice isn’t quite steady.

“Gain your trust,” she says unhappily. “Infiltrate your systems. Give them as much information as I could. Simon told me that first he was going to expose you, have you brought down in the media, all your crimes revealed. Then he and Bogdan would kill you and take over your clubs, your business. He told me that I could have Sophie’s House for myself. He even promised me that I could turn it into a real refuge.”

“But surely you realized they were lying after you came to Sophie’s House?”

“They warned me you were clever. That you’d made Sophie’s House the perfect cover story.” She wraps her arms around herself. “And before I came, they told me that if I ever started to question what I was doing, to remember what they were capable of. Then they demonstrated what they meant, in case I’d forgotten.” She meets my eyes. “They said it would look morebelievableif I turned up on your doorstep beaten, raped, and with needle marks in my arm. They spent a week getting my look just right,” she finishes bitterly.

“No,” she says eventually, when I start apologizing again. “It’s not your fault. It never was. But by the time I realized that, I’d already begun giving Bogdan the information he needed to kill you. I didn’t know what to do.”

“But you didn’t, not exactly.” Luke had included this part in his briefing. “You kept making small mistakes, just enough that you knew I’d discover the assassination attempts before they worked. And you also leaked information the other way. Enough for me to discover Georgiy Ivanov, for example. And several others.”

Sophie’s head jerks up, her eyes actually shining. “Yes,” she breathes, and I recognize the dark gleam in her eyes. It’s the same savagery that drove me all those years ago, after I first killed Oleg. An almost manic desire to inflict pain on the men who had kept me caged for so long. “Once I understood what you did to men like Georgiy, I wanted you to find them. All of them. I wanted to know that they suffered before they died. I knew that, sooner or later, you’d discover Simon and Bogdan. I was going to tell you then. After they were dead.”

“Why not tell me before then?” This is the part I just don’t understand. “I could have helped you, Sophie. Made sure you were safe.”

“I was trying to protect you.” Her voice is small, defeated. “I know it sounds stupid. But I didn’t know who to trust. At first, I even thought Luke might have been one of theirs. I was scared that you would throw me out, and that then there’d be nobody on the inside who knew what Simon and Bogdan were planning. And I didn’t want you to underestimate them, Zinny.” Her eyes on mine are pleading. “I don’t want you to underestimate them now. You don’t know what they’re capable of.”

Oh, I have a fair idea.

But here and now isn’t the place for my story. And Sophie has years of conditioning to undo, an entire lifetime of captivity. I know how long it takes to move past that.

And I know the best way to begin.

“Sophie.” I lean forward, holding her eyes. “Can I touch you?”

Tears spring into her eyes. I clasp her hands, and the tears fall on our joined fingers.

“Whatever you want to do from here, it is your choice. It’s very important to me that you understand that.” I squeeze her hands. “If you want to walk out of here right now, I will give you more money than you can ever spend. Tetya Ana left her diamonds to us both. The money from that alone is enough togive you a good life, but I will give you whatever you wish to make it a luxurious one, forever. A fake identity if you want it. I can fly you anywhere in the world. If you never want to see or hear from me again, I understand, and will respect your wishes. If you want to remain here at Sophie’s House, you can do that, too. Do you trust that I’m telling you the truth?”

Sophie nods, tears dripping down her face. “I do,” she whispers.