Chapter 10

In this exhausted, conflicted afterglow, Annie nearly drifted off to sleep. The thing that jerked her back to her senses was the memory of that pitiful teen, Lubya.

God, she thought—what if Miloz did the same to her? Lurid visions of being dumped out in the middle of Belgrade, leaking semen and stark-naked, drove Annie to her feet in a panic, determined to get her clothes on before it could happen.

Miloz only continued to recline on the mattress, however—savoring her nudity with a cat-eyed smirk. Once she had drawn up her panties and shorts, he broke the silence. “Running away with your tail between your legs? That’s ok, I’ve got places to be. Come back tonight, though, so we can do it again.”

Annie was midway through pulling her bra back on before the words registered. When they did, she froze for a moment, before rasping out a protest. “What the hell are you talking about? I did what you asked—now we’re through.”

His laugh was scornful. “Dear, sweet Annie ... think of this morning as the paradigm for our new relationship. I have no interest in monopolizing your time. Just come over every evening, say around 10pm, ready to fuck. The rest of the day is yours, Only—if you and Tom ever mess around, be sure to shower afterwards. I’m not into sloppy seconds.”

Annie’s blood boiled and her stomach churned. “No.”

Miloz chuckled again. “A little late to get a backbone now. It won’t make it any easier in jail knowing that you let me have first go. Anyhow, it’s not forever. I’ll get tired of you after a while. Once I’m done with you, and you’re for sure pregnant, then you can be my Deyana. It’s easy work—mostly on your back. And you’ll be popular. I don’t know anyone with an American whore on the payroll.”

Annie was tongue-tied. She had no intention of giving in to any more of this man’s demands. But she struggled to formulate a reply. For one thing, it was hard to muster righteous indignation after a part of her had relished intercourse with Miloz so completely. And for another thing, she was no closer to finding an escape from her predicament than before.

Lacking a strong retort, she decided there wasn’t much point in spluttering out futile complaints. Mute and red-faced, laboring to keep her breathing even, she turned back to fixing her bra and pulling on her halter-top.

Miloz took this as acquiescence. “Good girl. I’ll see you tonight. But tell Tom to come by tomorrow to discuss the financial side of our new arrangement. Hell, you come with him. I think I’d better fuck you in front of him, just so we all know what’s what.”

She felt tears returning to her eyes as she tugged on her shoes.

“Oh, and don’t even think about making a run for it. I’ve got contacts in the security forces. If you and Tom try getting on a plane or a train, they’ll snatch you up before you can blink. Add evading arrest to all the other charges? That’ll earn you a few more years of prison abuse for sure.”

Wordlessly, Annie fled the apartment.

Annie’s legs felt numb and wobbly as she staggered along the boulevard. Back in college, she and her friends had laughed at slutty girls doing the ‘walk of shame’ after some ill-advised tryst. Now the slutty girl was her. The physical sensation of ejaculate seeping from her vagina merely added poignancy to the feeling of lost innocence that haunted her. Always before, Annie’s husband had been her ‘only’—but never again. How could her life have been changed so dramatically in the course of just a couple hours?

In Annie’s mind, these thoughts of her own degradation were linked with the pathetic images cut by Deyana and Lubya. Gloomily, she calculated that Miloz had fucked Deyana two days ago ... Lubya last night ... and this morning ... her. Hopeless misery swelled in Annie’s chest—dear God, she was Miloz’s third conquest in three days. Just one in a line.

How was it possible, Annie fretted, that with all her vaunted education and empowerment, she’d ended up in the exact same boat as those wretched women? Just one more victim of male lust and her own poor decision-making. Silently, she cursed the naïve, sunny, overconfident American she’d been when she came to Belgrade. Believing she could dabble safely in a foreign culture she neither knew nor understood? Believing Tom when he said his can-do capitalism would spin gold from grubby Serbian straw? What a pair of fools they’d been.

Of course, it wasn’t so surprising that she’d been blind to the dangers. All her life, Annie had viewed herself as the captain of her own destiny, and she was used to feeling safe. Even coming here to support Tom’s dreams had still been her choice to make. If she’d put her foot down and said no, he’d never have forced it.

Really, the only time she’d ever felt at the mercy of fate was when the two of them had struggled to conceive. Yet, at least that had been an act of God, an aching absence, and therefore made a kind of sense. This here, on the other hand—falling into the clutches of a malevolent soul, actively bent on ruining her? It was incomprehensible and utterly terrifying...

While her mind kept racing, her feet carried her automatically homeward. When she arrived, Zora could be heard thumping around in the bathroom, a tang of bleach in the air. Tom, however, was sitting at the kitchen table in his bathrobe, eating an apple and paging through the newspaper. “There you are!” he said. “I was starting to get worried—that was a long run.”

Annie blushed, painfully conscious of the wet patch at her crotch. Was it soaking through her shorts? “Just a minute,” she blurted, rushing past her husband to the bedroom and slamming the door. Pulling on some fresh clothes, she wadded up the semen-soaked panties and concealed them in the trash can. It was silly, but the thought of Zora coming across them in the laundry made her cringe.

Then she tried to calm herself, forcing herself to breathe deeply. She couldn’t afford to waste any more energy on what Miloz had already done to her—she needed to focus on what he was trying to do next. The key now was to warn Tom of the danger and rouse him to action. He had to put an end to this nightmare, before it could get any worse.

One thing she wouldn’t do was confess to what had happened. Well, no doubt she ought to confess—it seemed inevitable Tom would learn what she’d done, sooner or later, and better he heard it from her than Miloz. But at the moment, the idea of telling her husband was unthinkable. It wasn’t just that it would be so hurtful and humiliating (though it would be that). It would also add another random element to an already explosive situation. Who knew how he might respond? She didn’t dare take the risk...

“We have a big problem,” she said as she returned to the kitchen—aiming to convey the gravity of the situation without descending into hysteria. “I ran into your partner Miloz on the street.”

Tom’s gaze narrowed. Obviously he had an inkling of ... something. “Just ‘ran into him,’ huh? I’ve never liked the way he looks at you.”

Well that was hypocritical, Annie thought, given the Deyana situation. Still, this was no time for recriminations. “Tom, I have something to confess. I made a mistake. Miloz said he could help get you out of prison, so I let him look at your business papers. Now he knows all about the deal you made with that official. He’s seen the documents—he has copies. And I guess you did something wrong, because he says he’s got blackmail over us.”

Tom’s complexion turned a sickly ash-gray. “You did what?!” he coughed. “How could you do something so ... so fucking stupid!?”

Annie didn’t flinch. “There’s no point taking it out on me. You’re the one who screwed up; I was trying to help. And neither of us is the problem here, Miloz is. So—what are you going to do to stop him?”

His voice was subdued now, face starting to crumble. “So you’re saying he got everything? God, I don’t know what ... I mean, everyone makes deals under the table here, you know? But yeah, if you get in the wrong person’s crosshairs, and they have the receipts in black and white ... yeah, it could get bad real fast.”

Annie didn’t like the direction this was going. “Get a grip, Tom. There must be something you can do. It’s not just you who’s at risk here—it’s me too. Because of those forms you had me sign.”

He blanched. “Jeez, I didn’t even think of that. Look, I’ll figure something out. Let me go make some calls...” Tom’s show of confidence was lackluster at best.

He went off and closed the door. Annie sent Zora home, and then sat there at the table—listening to the muffled sound of her husband’s voice, and feeling the sogginess between her legs. He dialed number after number, his tone a little more discouraged and desperate with each one. Her fingers drummed nervously.

Eventually he wandered back into the kitchen, looking shaken. Slumping into a chair, he held his head in his hands. “I don’t know what else to do. Miloz got there ahead of me. He’s told all my Serbian contacts that Ricardo cut me out of the deal. Said I’d come sniffing around trying to horn back in on it, but they should shut me out. I don’t know who I can trust, but it doesn’t matter anyway. None of them will talk to me.”

“So, screw them. Ricardo’s the one with the money, and you two go way back. Give him a call.”

“Don’t you think I tried? Oh yeah, he’s very apologetic. But he wants to protect his investment. He thinks Miloz can get the negotiations over the finish line, and won’t agree to pull the plug.”