Page 107 of Sapphire Tears

Knox fidgets, looking extremely uncomfortable for a man as calm as he usually is. “By the don’s brother. He came with your sister.”

I freeze. “Adrian. He came with Geneva? Where is she now?”

“In the blue room where it happened,” he says. “She’s been stuck on the same chair for the past fifteen minutes. She hasn’t moved or said anything. The shock… It got to her.”

I move past him and charge into the blue room. Geneva is exactly where he said she would be. She’s perched on the edge of an armchair with her hands on her lap. Her expression is blank, a frozen rictus of haunted anxiety.

I drop down on my knees in front of her. “Geneva?”

Nothing.

“Genny?” I say softly, trying again. “Genny, it’s me. It’s June.”

She blinks. It’s pathetic how much that one simple gesture makes me feel so much better. The catatonia seems to fade as her eyes focus on me and she blinks a few more times. “Juju…?”

“Yeah,” I say urgently, grabbing her hands. “I’m here. Genny, what the hell happened?”

Geneva shakes her head. She opens her mouth, but instead of words, sobs come barreling out. She leans forward, throws her arms around me, and starts crying.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my sister cry.

She holds me like a child would hold her mother, with that deep trust that comes from instinct. So I hold her back and wait for the tears to slow.

They don’t. Not for a long time. When she finally pulls away, my legs are numb with pain. I force myself up and onto the coffee table in front of her.

“Genny,” I say gently, “can you tell me what happened?”

Her eyes are wet, her cheeks creased from where she had her face pressed into my shoulder. She doesn’t make any move to wipe her face clean, so I do it for her.

“It’s okay,” I encourage. “Just tell me.”

She looks down for a long time, trying to find the courage through her sobs. “I-I-I… I’m sorry,” she finally manages to choke out. She looks up at me, her eyes pale and translucent. “I should have believed you. Not him.”

I suck in my breath. I can almost hear the dramatic music swell.The true villain is unmasked. The lies are unraveled. The truth is revealed.

“I was eavesdropping,” she admits in a slow, halting voice. “I went to find out where you were. Kolya said you might be up in your room. But when I couldn’t find you, I came back down and… and heard them arguing. So I stayed behind the door and I listened.”

“What did you hear?” I ask.

She shudders. “Everything you told me, and more,” she says. “A-Adrian… he really was trafficking women. He’s a liar, June. A monster and a liar.”

I take a deep breath. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m not, I guess. Not really. I was just… hopeful. I wanted to believe.”

I stop talking. I don’t know what else to do.

“I’m sorry…” Geneva whimpers. “I wish I could—take it all back.”

“I know,” I say with a broken sigh. “I know. It’s okay.” I stroke her cheek. “You should get cleaned up. Get some rest. There are plenty of beds upstairs. Just pick one and try to breathe.”

I say it with such an air of confidence that I take myself by surprise. You’d almost think that this was my house, my world. Beneath my blouse, I feel my engagement ring resting cool and delicate against my skin.

“Go on,” I encourage. “Everything is going to be okay.”

I wonder if she thinks that sounds as bullshit as I do. If so, she makes no sign of it. She gets to her feet and I watch her slink towards the staircase. When she’s gone, I stand, too. The smell of the blood is starting to make my stomach twist.

I walk out of the blue room to find a cluster of men standing near the main entrance. Knox is one of them. When he sees me, he comes forward immediately.

“Milana’s undergoing surgery in the medical wing as we speak,” he explains. “We’re just waiting for the doctor to give us an update.”

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