But all I can see is the blue-eyed boy who used to climb into my bed and snake his fingers through mine when he was scared.

“Let me go,” he whispers. “Let me go and I swear, I’ll be better… I’ll do better…”

All I have to do is lift the gun and take aim. Pull the trigger. Watch him fade. And then, it will truly be over. Then June and I can make a fresh start.

I just have to say goodbye to that little blue-eyed boy first.

“Bogdan…”

I lift my gun, but Adrian moves at the same time. I feel something sharp pierce my side. I hear June’s muffled scream right as I pull the trigger.

When I fall backwards, it’s with a deep sense of relief. Because I know it’s over now. He got me, and I got him. We hit the floor together, side by side.

Brothers in life.

Brothers in death.

“Kolya. Kolya!” June gasps. Her face appears over mine like some blinding light calling me forth. “Oh God, oh God. Please… stay with me.”

I said the same thing to Milana not so long ago. She’d laugh now that I’m on the receiving end, I think. It’s funny, if a little depraved.

“You’re gonna be okay. I’m gonna go get help. Please, please… keep breathing. Stay alive. For me. For our baby.”

Our baby.

Our. Baby.

Those are the last two words I’m capable of thinking.

And then it all goes black.

55

KOLYA

I fade in and out of consciousness for days on end. Adrian’s knife had cut deep.

Every time I open my eyes, she is there. Waiting, watching.

Praying.

I feel her hand on my arm even in the throes of the darkness. I feel her kiss on my brow and her breath on my skin. She is everywhere in those foggy hours, coaxing me back to life bit by bit by bit.

And then one day, I open my eyes and they stay open. I pull myself upright, and everything comes into sharp, glorious focus. I’m in my bedroom, in my mansion. But there’s evidence of June everywhere. Her books are strewn about the room. Her robe hangs off the foot of the bed. Fresh flowers stretch tall in the vase by the windowsill.

And there’s a half-empty lemon soda by my bedside.

I look down and examine my body. I’m in black silk boxer shorts and nothing else. The top half of my torso is naked except for the giant bandage. The pain is muted and distant. Not the white-hot sun of it I felt when I tumbled down next to my brother’s dead body in that godforsaken mausoleum of a house.

The door opens and June walks in with her nose in a book. She’s halfway into the room before she realizes I’m awake.

“Oh my God,” she cries out, freezing in place. “Kolya!”

Then she flings the book onto the floor and runs at me.

“Fuck,” I groan when she throws herself on top of me.