Page 90 of Sapphire Tears

“Go on,” I encourage. “Let’s hear it.”

She hesitates for a second, and then swallows her doubt. “It looks like Adrian is back in the city.”

My hands ball into fists instantly. “So he was following us.”

“It could have been a coincidence. But you and I aren’t the type to believe in coincidences, are we? So yeah, I think it’s likely he was following your movements.”

“Two separate teams and they can’t even find one fucking man. What is he, invisible?”

“Adrian is no fool, Kolya,” Milana reminds me. “He can be quite resourceful when he needs to be.”

“Um… sorry, have I misunderstood something?” June interjects. She turns her accusatory gaze on me. “What’s this about your men trying to catch Adrian?”

I can feel the dread unfurl in my stomach. “That was always the plan.”

“Well, yes,” June says with a concerned nod. “But that was before you knew about your mother.”

“Why should that change anything?”

“Because now, we have a reason to explain why Adrian was involved in the ring in the first place.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “Do you really think his activity in the ring was devoid of ulterior motives? He was just a good ol’ mama’s boy, looking for the one woman he ever loved?”

“Why else would he have been there?”

“To buy and sell women, June!” I roar, my voice hitting its high mark before I can think to rein it in. I hate the way she cowers, the way she flinches, the way I make her look like all she wants is to curl up and disappear.

She doesn’t, of course. She swallows that fear down and stares back at me, proud and fiery. “I would think that you’d want to give Adrian the benefit of the doubt,” she says icily.

“Come on, June,” Milana chides, joining the fray. “There’s no reason a man would descend into that world unless he was there to buy or sell.”

“Unless he was trying to find his mother!” she says fiercely. “Why can’t the two of you believe that maybe he isn’t the villain you want him to be?”

I can’t fucking believe we’re having this conversation. I’d assumed that the last few days had put all that uncertainty to bed. But apparently, we’d just misunderstood each other.

“He didn’t say a word to me about finding her,” I growled. “According to Milana’s sources, he found her years ago. He could’ve said something. Why would he hide her existence from me?”

“You weren’t exactly honest with him either, Kolya,” she points out. “You didn’t tell him about your suspicions. You let him believe she had abandoned the two of you to move to France!”

“That’s not remotely the same thing. I was trying to protect him.”

“Maybe he was trying to do the same for you.”

“He’s never done anything for me in his entire miserable life.”

She grimaces and gets to her feet. “You know what? Suddenly, I’m not so hungry anymore. Can you ask Knox to be ready in an hour? I’m meeting Geneva at one. I’ll see you both later.”

She turns on her heels and storms out, leaving me seething in my seat.

Milana is wearing an expression that’s a cross between amusement and worry. “Well, that kind of blew up in your face, huh?” she says. “I knew it wasn’t a good idea to give you a report in front of her.”

“I’m not in the mood for an ‘I told you so,’ Milana.”

She holds her hands up in surrender. “Fine then. Maybe instead, we can discuss business.”

“What business?”

“Establishing another trade partner,” she finishes. “I had to look through a pretty extensive list of suppliers, but I’ve narrowed it down to three options. All of whom are aware of the situation we’re in right now, and who’re willing to sign a contract with us anyway.”

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