Vronsky wasn’t sure if Beatrice remembered confessing this to him, because they never spoke of it again. To be honest, he hadn’t remembered it when he woke up twenty-four hours later in a stranger’s hammock two miles from the beach house they were renting. But when the memories of that night came back to him on the flight home, it was her inconsolable sadness that hit him like a flash flood.

She had cried for a long time as they lay on the beach looking at the stars. Eventually Beatrice announced in a pitiful voice that she, too, was a murderer because she had already had two abortions. “I hate condoms. Can’t stand the smell of them,” she said. “Oh my god, that makes me a selfish spoiled brat just like my mom! Do you think I’d be different if I had sisters, Vronsky? Do you think I’d be … happy?”

“They missed out on not having you for family,” he told her. “I know I’d be lost without you.” Beatrice was like a sister to him.

Vronsky thought of this sentiment as he grabbed his helmet off the table. He walked around Beatrice’s seat and gave her a warm and loving hug from behind. “I adore you, Bea, I hope you know that.” Beatrice tensed up at his touch, but then relaxed into her cousin’s embrace.

“Back atcha, handsome; you’re my favorite person in the world,” she murmured, not taking her eyes off her computer screen. “I’ll text you when I talk to your bae tomorrow. If you see her tonight, don’t mention the party, okay?”

Vronsky gave her a wink as he walked off, but Beatrice didn’t see. She was already busy on thesaurus.com, trying to figure out the minimum number of words she’d have to change to make the stolen paper her very own.

XVI

Vronsky pulled up to a four-way stop on his way to the stables where Anna took her riding lessons. Across from him a blue 2010 Mercedes wagon yielded at the stop sign, and he waved it ahead, despite his right of way. Bikers made other drivers nervous, and his mother warned him that his first accident, even if it was tiny, would be the last time he ever sat on a motorcycle. (Most mothers have jurisdiction over their children until they hit eighteen or so, but rich kids whose families have teams of lawyers to draft their trust funds can get all sort of pesky provisions slapped on their freedom, if they’re not careful.) So Vronsky kept his daredevil nature in check when riding in the city.