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Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. VIOLET
  3. VIOLET
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Prologue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. Epilogue
  48. Acknowledgements
  49. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  50. Copyright

‘How long have you two been together?’ I ask, taking a sip of my drink and trying to make it vague as to whether I am still playing the game or not.

‘Since we were sixteen,’ Jared says, his voice a mixture of smugness and pride. ‘We went to different unis, but we met up every couple of weeks and we were both totally faithful … weren’t we babe?’ He turns to Leia, who shrugs. Her eyes are glazed and she is swaying slightly in her seat, despite the train being relatively smooth at this point.

‘Course,’ she says.

She won’t meet his eye, and I can see that he is hurt, but he’s also too scared to probe further. This is not something he is going to benefit from digging into.

‘I’m bored with this game,’ Carrie says, pouring more vodka into her glass. She fills it to the brim and a bit slops over the side. ‘Oops.’ She turns to me. ‘Let’s talk about our exes. Tell them about Sam.’

I shake my head. ‘I don’t want to talk about Sam.’

Carrie laughs. ‘You never do, V. In fact, despite the fact that you claim to be checking his Facebook fifty times a day, I’m not entirely sure that he exists.’

A rush of anger heats my cheeks. ‘Why would I make it up?’

‘Whatever,’ Carrie says.

Leia and Jared are ignoring her. They’re leaning in close, Jared whispering something to Leia that we can’t hear, and she is looking increasingly uncomfortable. Serves them right for trying to play drinking games with the big boys. I’m intrigued about why Leia has chosen to start confessing her sins right now, though. Perhaps their perfect relationship isn’t quite so perfect after all.

‘Can I get out please, Violet? I’m going for a walk.’

I slide out of the booth seat and Carrie comes out after me. ‘Where are you going?’ I say as she wobbles down the aisle. ‘Should I wait here for you?’

‘Do what you want,’ she calls back.

‘We’re crossing the border soon, aren’t we? Don’t we need to be in our rooms for the customs inspection?

She ignores me, and disappears out through the sliding doors. When I turn back to the table, Jared and Leia are gone, the door on the far side of the bar slides shut, and I’m alone.

Again.

Irkutsk

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