I suck in my breath. I can almost hear the dramatic music swell. The true villain is unmasked. The lies are unraveled. The truth is revealed.

“I was eavesdropping,” she admits in a slow, halting voice. “I went to find out where you were. Kolya said you might be up in your room. But when I couldn’t find you, I came back down and… and heard them arguing. So I stayed behind the door and I listened.”

“What did you hear?” I ask.

She shudders. “Everything you told me, and more,” she says. “A-Adrian… he really was trafficking women. He’s a liar, June. A monster and a liar.”

I take a deep breath. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m not, I guess. Not really. I was just… hopeful. I wanted to believe.”

I stop talking. I don’t know what else to do.

“I’m sorry…” Geneva whimpers. “I wish I could—take it all back.”

“I know,” I say with a broken sigh. “I know. It’s okay.” I stroke her cheek. “You should get cleaned up. Get some rest. There are plenty of beds upstairs. Just pick one and try to breathe.”

I say it with such an air of confidence that I take myself by surprise. You’d almost think that this was my house, my world. Beneath my blouse, I feel my engagement ring resting cool and delicate against my skin.

“Go on,” I encourage. “Everything is going to be okay.”

I wonder if she thinks that sounds as bullshit as I do. If so, she makes no sign of it. She gets to her feet and I watch her slink towards the staircase. When she’s gone, I stand, too. The smell of the blood is starting to make my stomach twist.

I walk out of the blue room to find a cluster of men standing near the main entrance. Knox is one of them. When he sees me, he comes forward immediately.

“Milana’s undergoing surgery in the medical wing as we speak,” he explains. “We’re just waiting for the doctor to give us an update.”

I stare at the throng of men waiting around, and I realize that this isn’t a vulture’s vigil. They’re here because they care about her.

I fight back tears and give him a curt nod. “Where is Kolya?”

“He disappeared into his office a few minutes before you got here.”

I head straight to his office, finding it odd that Kolya is there and not waiting outside the room that Sara is using as an operating theater. I don’t bother knocking. He doesn’t so much as flinch when I make my entrance.

He’s sitting in his massive wingback chair facing the windows, though the dark velvet curtains are drawn tight. I walk around his desk, grab the edge of the wingback, and swivel it to make him face me.

There’s a spark of something when he sees me, but it’s snuffed out as soon as it appears.

“Kolya,” I say softly. I can smell alcohol on him. His fingers twitch as though he wants to reach for me, but he doesn’t. “What are you doing here? We should be waiting outside the operating room. Sara—”