Page 64 of Sapphire Tears

“No, but you’re speaking for a man who is.”

Her hand flickers over her belly. And the small kernel of doubt that I walked into this conversation with starts to grow. She admitted to having feelings for Adrian still. What if she was minimizing what she really feels?

What if she cares a lot more than she’s letting on?

I walk over and pick up the phone I threw. “You asked me to trust you when I brought you here,” I remind her. “Well, consider that trust rescinded.”

Then I storm out and slam the door. I can hear her walking towards the door, but I’ve already locked it by the time she tries to open the handle.

“K-Kolya?” she says, in confusion. “The door…”

She tries again before she realizes that I’ve locked her inside. “Are you serious? Kolya! Kolya! Open the door!”

She starts banging on it, but I walk away, unmoved by her screams. Outwardly, at least.

Inside, I’m a mess.

27

KOLYA

I’m on my way back to the gazebo in a misguided attempt at scrounging up any peace I might have left behind there when I find Milana in the foyer. She’s still got her shades on, which means she only just walked in.

That’s strange. She’s supposed to be back in the city, overseeing the teams in charge of tracking down Adrian. She pulls off her sunglasses and glances at me anxiously.

“What happened?” I ask, dread pooling in my gut because I know the answer even before she says it.

“I’m sorry,” she sighs. “We thought we had him, Kolya.”

“Motherfucker!” Turning, I punch a hole through a sheet of plywood stapled up over a gap in the wall. The splintering and the pain is satisfying, but only for a fleeting second. Then the dread comes rushing right back in. I turn to Milana. “Tell me what happened. Now.”

“We had a team tailing him. It appeared he was leaving New York—”

“To go where?” I ask urgently.

“I don’t have an answer to that.”

“Did you see him?” I demand. “In the flesh?”

“No, but a few of the men said they got a visual. Not close enough for a picture, unfortunately.”

“So it could have been anyone.”

She lets loose an agonized breath. “Kolya, we will find him. But it turns out he has a lot more friends than we realize. Powerful friends.”

“How powerful can they be if they left him to rot in a laundromat like a fucking rat?”

Milana is unconvinced. “That could have been a calculated move on Adrian’s part. If he had accepted their hospitality or money, he might not have stayed dead for as long as he managed to get away with.”

She’s right, which I fucking despise. Snarling under my breath, I start pacing up and down the foyer. My boots clack on the cold marble. “Both teams lost him completely?”

“We have leads,” she assures me. “It’s just going to take time.”

I shake my head. “If he left the city, it’s for a reason. And I’m guessing that reason is to do with June.”

“We can only guess at this point. But if I were you, I’d find another place to crash for the time being. Or at least beef up security here.”

“And give Adrian the impression that I’m scared of him? I don’t think so.”

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