You Don't Own Me (The Russian Don 1)

‘Why do you want me to stay and not any of the other girls?’

‘Because you are not like all the others. You alone can find a way to his heart.’

I look at the table sadly. ‘I don’t know if I want to. I’m not Russian. I was brought up in a different way. I can’t forgive him just like that for what he has done to my family.’

‘The path of love is a thorny one. Fight for your love.’

I smile wistfully. ‘He doesn’t love me.’

She fixes me with her dark eyes. ‘You do.’

I bite my lip. ‘What good is that? He won’t even let me close to him. When he caught me watching him playing the piano you wouldn’t believe how furious he was. He ordered me never to enter that room when he’s in it again.’

Olga walks away from me and switches off the oven. She dons oven mitts, pulls open the door, and takes out a tray of little buns.

‘Learn from the national symbol of your country. The eagle does not fight the snake on the ground. It picks it up into the sky and changes the battlefield. The snake has no balance, power or strength in the air. Take the fight into the air where you are strong and he is vulnerable.’

‘But I don’t know how to fly,’ I say.

She takes the mitts off her hands and looks at me, and quite seriously says, ‘Then you must learn how to.’

Oh God! How the fuck do I learn to fly?

To be continued …