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It’s a lie. But now is not the time for confessions.
June needs sleep. She needs peace of mind. She needs to be able to trust me. I see that happen the moment relief floods onto her face and she relaxes back into her seat. She mutters something under her breath that sounds a lot like “thank God,” and her eyes flutter closed.
Milana appears at the plane door. She gestures for me, and I get to my feet. “I’m going to go see how things are going. Stay here. I’ll be back in a moment.”
I follow Milana off the jet. “We should have been in the air by now,” she murmurs as we make our way down the steps towards the tarmac. “But the woman won’t get out of the fucking car. She goes into hysterics every time I get near her. If this was anyone else, I’d have punched her in the face and been done with it.”
“There will be no punching,” I say firmly.
Milana throws me some sharp side-eye. “No one ever gets special treatment with you.”
I don’t bother explaining myself.
We reach the car and I rip open the door. As soon as I do, Geneva is there, filling up the space with wild eyes and froth at her lips. “No! No! Are you going to kill me? What have you done with my sister? Did you kill her? You won’t get away with this! I’ll—”
“Jesus Christ,” I hiss. “You were only restrained because you were stalling our getaway. Shut up for two seconds and you’ll be free of the cuffs.”
She stops talking, her eyes moving from Milana to me. “Where’s my sister?”
“She’s on the jet, waiting for you. If you get a hold of yourself, then I can take you up and you can sit with her.”
She narrows her eyes suspiciously. “You haven’t hurt her?”
“Are you really so blind that you missed everything that happened at the party?”
“I saw plenty,” she spits in disgust. “You murdered a man in cold blood.”
“I saved your sister from being raped, is what happened.”
Geneva sucks in her breath. Whether or not to believe it is the question she’s struggling with. She wavers back and forth, but in the end, she settles on defiance.
Guess it runs in the family.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Then ask June yourself,” I say dismissively. “Are you ready to come aboard, or will you need to be bound and carried?”
She sidles to the edge of the seat and props her legs on the tarmac. I move forward to help, but she jerks away from me violently. I reveal the small penknife in my hand. “Just to cut your restraints,” I explain.
She goes still, but she allows me to step closer. She doesn’t breathe the whole time I’m sawing off the zip ties. I hear her breath release only when the plastic hits the ground.
“Come on,” I say, offering my hand. “We’ll be in the air in five.”
34
JUNE
I wonder if I look as bad as Geneva does right now.
Her dress has ripped at the hemline, so now she has two slits instead of one. Her hair is one giant knot, and the sweat has caused her makeup to run so badly that it looks like her face is melting off.
I appreciate the fact that Kolya and Milana sit at the back of the jet, giving Geneva and me some privacy. My first instinct is to clean her up. I can credit that to years of practice dabbing blood and spit off a drunken Adrian, I guess.
I grab a wet towelette and lean in to try cleaning up Geneva’s face the same way that Kolya had cleaned mine. But the moment I move in her direction, she flinches away from me like she’s not sure who I am anymore.
“Genny…?”
Her eyes focus on me, uncertain and anxious. Then they flicker to the side, loose and wild in their sockets once again. She doesn’t look back at Kolya or Milana, but it’s clear that she’s all too aware of their presence.
