Page 58 of Sapphire Tears

“It was this beat-up, secondhand piece of crap,” she continues. “And I probably spent too much on it. But I was obsessed with making it my pet project during my pregnancy. I wanted it to be the best crib on the planet. I wanted my baby to see that the world could be beautiful.”

I’m quiet for a moment, my breath fogging in the damp, cool air. “What did Adrian think about that?”

She laughs cruelly. “He told me I wasted money on a useless piece of junk.”

Her cheeks turn pink with shame, as pink as the rose bushes surrounding the gazebo. We’ve gravitated together during the conversation, and she seems to be realizing just now how close together we are.

“Um, it’s cold. I should—” She steps back quickly. When she does, her bare foot collides with one of the cans of paint. It tips, tumbles, and soaks her ankles and the bottom hem of the blanket with off-white flecks.

“Shit!” she gasps as she stumbles forward too late to dodge it. Her foot catches the edge of the blanket, throwing her off-balance, and she trips right into my arms.

I catch her out of pure instinct. But once my hands are on her, it’s like they’re fused there. I couldn’t pull them off if I tried.

“You’re freezing,” I whisper.

“You’re warm,” she whispers back.

There it is again—the pulse of a moment that feels significant in a way neither of us can possibly explain. We’re just looking into each other’s eyes, all too aware of the physical contact. All too aware that we should break it off.

All too aware that neither of us wants to.

In the end, I do the deed. “Here,” I say gruffly, grabbing my shirt where I’d tossed it over the railing and handing it to her. “Wear this.”

“Isn’t that against the rules?” she teases.

“I’ll make an exception today.”

“Such a gentleman.” Smirking subtly, she steps back, eyes me deliberately… and drops her blanket.

My breath seizes up in my chest like concrete. I stare at her body, drinking in the soft curves of her breasts and her hips. The pregnancy is starting to show now, but it only makes her more beautiful.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,medoviy,” I say without thinking.

She smiles, shy and stunning all at once. “Are you going to give me your shirt, or just stand there gawking?”

I feel like someone else is piloting my body as my arm stretches out to give her the garment reluctantly.

She slips it over her head and lets out an adorable little giggle as it falls down to her knees, swallowing her perfect curves. “That’s better,” she says with a little sigh and the tiniest shimmy of her hips. “I guess if I can’t have my own clothes, yours will have to do.”

Then she sashays down the gazebo steps and slinks back inside, with white paint dotting the backs of her legs.

I watch her until she disappears.

25

JUNE

There’s a lightness in my step when I walk away from Kolya. A buzzing in my veins, a thrumming in my heart. I feel alive andhopefulin a way I haven’t felt in a long, long time.

Then I get back to my room, check my phone, and it all comes crashing down.

It’s still buzzing as I pick it up. Text messages. Videos. Pictures.

ADRIAN: Baby, I miss you so damn much. I hate the idea that you’re with him now. It fucking burns me. All I can say is, don’t trust him, June. He might pretend to care about you, but it’s all an act. It’s a fucking act!

ADRIAN: Don’t forget what we have, Junepenny. Don’t let him make you forget. It’s you and me against the world.

ADRIAN: Look at the photos and videos I’m sending you. I’m not the one who’s lying. The guy in the video, his name is Iakov. He worked for Ravil until Kolya killed him in Mexico.

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