“He wouldn’t have listened even if you’d tried.”

“D-did he hurt you?” she asks, gulping and paling.

“He tried,” I admit. “But Kolya got to me in time.”

I decide to leave out the part where I had then run from him. As far as I’m concerned, it’s unimportant now. Geneva picks up her glass, but she doesn’t seem interested in drinking.

I wish I could tell her to relax, that the worst part of what I came here for is over. But there are so many skeletons in our closet to unearth. So much water under our bridge we could drown in it.

I inhale and dive into the next part. “The night you brought the cops to Kolya’s place… I said some things to you that I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for that, too. I was just tired and emotional and—”

“You asked me not to trust Ravil and I did anyway,” Geneva interrupts. “I told him secrets that you trusted me with. It’s okay, June. I get it. You don’t owe me anything. Definitely not any apologies.”

“Sometimes, I think we don’t know how to love each other like family.”

“Well,” she snorts, “we didn’t have much of an example to follow.”

“Forget Mom and Dad. It’s about time we set our own example,” I say. “Because I do want a relationship with you, Gen. I want my daughter to know her aunt.”

Geneva’s eyes go wide. “‘Daughter’? You’re having a girl?”

I smile shyly. “Yeah. I just found out.”

She sets her glass down and cups both my hands in hers. “Oh, wow! That’s amazing, June! And you’re…” Her joy fades. “You’re still living at the mansion with… with him?”

Just like that, all the warmth in the room gets sucked right back out. “Yeah,” I say. “I am.”

Slowly, she withdraws her hands. “Oh.”

“Genny…” I begin, nervous that I’m about to undo all the progress we’ve made, backsliding into the frosty acidity that used to be what I thought sisterly love was. “Genny, Kolya is important to me. And I know the two of you don’t like one another, but I really wish you would try. For my sake.”

Her eyes flash dark, a cloud passing over the sun. “Have you asked him for the same thing?”

“He knows that I’m meeting you today and he was very encouraging.”

She squints suspiciously. “I have a hard time picturing that.”

I sigh. If things are going to go badly, I might as well let them go all the way. Rip the Band-Aid, as they say. “There’s one more thing.” I suck it up and power through. “Adrian’s alive.”

Her eyes bulge, but it’s a second too late. Too fake. Too forced.

My gut churns cold, like my body knows the truth before my mind can accept the fact.

“Oh my God,” I breathe. “You already know.”

Her eyes flicker past me, towards her bedroom door. I twist around on the stool to see Adrian standing on the threshold of the living room.