Page 104 of Blue Moon

He realised that Elene herself had given him the answer.

Why would she die for the money?

Why would he kill for it?

Why was he here in Georgia at all? For love. He was here because he loved Luna, and he wanted her to be happy.

Who did Elene love?

What if between the many lies, she’d told fragments of the truth?

A sister.

A sick nephew.

“You gave the money to your sister, didn’t you? To take care of your nephew?”

When Elene was stripped of her mask and still woozy from the drugs, her face really was quite expressive. She gasped, and before she slammed the shutters down, he saw the truth in her eyes.

“Nice,” Ana muttered.

“There is universal healthcare in Georgia,” Khatia said from the doorway. “You don’t need ten million dollars to care for a sick child.”

“He has a rare illness,” Elene whispered, so quietly that Ryder had to lean in close to hear the words. “There’s no treatment available here.”

“Where is the treatment available?” Ryder asked, already ninety percent sure he knew the answer.

“In the United States.”

God bless for-profit healthcare.

Over the next half hour, the story came tumbling out. Once Elene—she claimed that was her real name—realised they’d find the details anyway, she spilled her guts. Her nephew had a rare genetic condition, one of only three hundred children in the world to suffer from it, and if he didn’t get treated fast, he’d carry on deteriorating until he was fully paralysed. Without medical intervention, his life expectancy was less than ten years. Bio-D Pharmaceuticals had developed an experimental gene therapy that could potentially stop the disease in its tracks, but the stay in the hospital would be lengthy, and for an overseas citizen, there were no subsidies available. If Misho wanted to be a part of the trial, he’d have to pay his way.

Mariam, Elene’s sister, didn’t even know the money was stolen. She thought Elene had sweet-talked a wealthy benefactor into donating it.

And the kicker? Elene had hoped to use Tripp’s connections to get a visa so she could be close to her sister, but thanks to a couple of minor blips as a teenager, she had a criminal record, so she couldn’t go through the usual channels. She hadn’t wanted to bleed him dry; she’d wanted to marry him.

Sheesh.

Ryder had to speak with Luna. Yes, he’d wanted to get her money back, but if they simply took it from Mariam’s account, a young boy would die. Not today, not tomorrow, but soon. Ryder wasn’t sure he could live with that, and he was certain Luna couldn’t either.

What a damn mess.

Khatia was supervising Hill as he made coffee, and Ana was awkwardly comforting Elene as she sobbed on the couch. There was no doubt in Ryder’s mind that if Ana’s daughter had been in the same position as Misho, she’d have done the same as Elene, or possibly robbed Fort Knox because that was also within her capabilities.

“I need to make a call,” he told her, and stepped outside.

The phone rang once. Twice.

“Ryder?”

What the fuck? “Who is this?”

“Romeo Serafini.”

Why the hell was he answering Luna’s phone? If this was some power play, a demonstration that he could get close to Luna while Ryder was out of town, then Ryder wasn’t biting.

“Put Luna on.”

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