His jaw drops in horror. “That’s a vicious, filthy lie.”

“It’s the stone cold truth,” I tell him grimly. “All this money… It came from my brother, didn’t it? Adrian Uvarov is your big supporter. And the people behind him… well, they don’t use their names very often. But the blood on their hands tells the story of their wealth just fine.”

His ashen face is confirmation enough.

I laugh coldly and shake my head. “You didn’t ask the right questions, Luke. My brother got involved with the wrong people a long time ago. His money is blood money. And you are now complicit.”

“I—That—No, I…” he splutters meaninglessly at me.

I take the opportunity to drain the rest of my gin. Then I set the glass down so hard that a crack spiderwebs around the rim. “One call is all it will take for me to destroy you. Your reputation as well as your fledgling career.”

“K-Kolya… we’re… we’re family—”

I ignore his stammering. “In my opinion, June is better off without you. But I’m going to let her come to that conclusion in her own time. Until then, the only thing you have to do is treat her well.”

He looks perplexed. “And th-that’s all you want from me?” he asks tentatively. “You won’t rat me out?”

“That’s all I want.”

The poor bastard is pitiful. He looks far more worried about the threat I pose to his career than the revelation that his campaign is being carried on the backs of women sold into sex slavery. Men like him disgust me. If it weren’t for his daughter, I’d ruin him just to rid the earth of one more preening, self-important son of a bitch.

“Very well,” he says. “I’ll be a good father.”

I snort. “You’ll try, if nothing else.”

Whether he’ll succeed is an entirely different question, but I’m not concerned with that right now. It’s almost enough to make me feel sorry for Geneva, too. Almost.

I get to my feet and shoot him one final warning glare. “One more thing before I go.”

Luke freezes in place. “Y-yes?”

“Did you ask him any questions when he approached you?” I ask bluntly. “Or were your eyeballs just seeing dollar notes the whole time?”

His cheeks blot red with anger, but he knows better than to voice it. “I… he… believed in my vision.”

“He must, to rise from the dead just to back you up,” I say with a dark smirk. “Well, if you speak to him anytime soon, give him a message from me, will you? Tell him that this has gone on long enough. It’s time he and I had a conversation.”

I walk towards the door, stop at the threshold, and look back at Luke over my shoulder.

“And if he doesn’t come to me in the next three days, tell him that I’ll find him. He won’t like what will happen when I do.”

40

JUNE

I think about home as I walk up to the front door of Geneva’s duplex.