Page 19 of The Brat: Prequel

Maxim: How do you know it’s me?

Victoria: Camille would never play with my future

Maxim: Neither would I

Victoria: I don’t believe you

Maxim: You trust me to keep you safe but don’t trust me in general?

Victoria: Not with something like this. For two years, I’ve been bullied by the likes of Stepanov. They left me alone because of who my father was, and they should still have shown me respect after his passing. Something changed. I have to assume that something is you.

Victoria: How do people know?

Maxim: They don’t. Not officially. But I treat you like my future wife

Victoria: What does that mean?

Maxim: If I’d known about the boys, I’d have stopped it. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?

Victoria: I thought I could handle it

Victoria: You didn’t answer

Victoria: How do you treat me?

Maxim: You think I go around cutting off the hands of other Russian boys for touching a woman

Victoria: You SHOULD. Nobody should have to deal with that kind of harassment.

Maxim: Isn’t that the idealism you so often accuse O’Donnelly of possessing and that you rant about, at length, in your voice notes?

Victoria: I don’t care about any of that!

Maxim: Katyonok, why are you so angry?

Victoria: Because if I’d known, I could have prepared. Forewarned is forearmed, Maxim, dammit.

Victoria: I had no real way of knowing what was happening. The few acquaintances I have didn’t give enough of a damn about me to protect me. I had to protect myself and I couldn’t do that, not adequately, with half the information at my fingertips.

Victoria: You handicapped me! I don’t even understand how this came about

Maxim: You had to know you were special

Victoria: I thought we were friends

Victoria: So, none of this was about protecting me. It was about protecting your future asset. Fucking great.

Maxim: Victoria, answer the damn phone

Victoria: NO. GO AWAY

SEVEN

MAX <3

Maxim: I understand you’re mad at me, but I have spoken with Inessa.

Maxim: You’ll be transferring to O’Donnelly’s school within the week