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I caress her cheek with my knuckle. “Genesis, I think I started falling in love with you years ago, that day in my mother’s kitchen. I pretended to glare at you, but the truth is, watching you was all it took for me to ignore the pain as she stitched me up. You’re my peace, my chaos, my everything.” I press a light kiss to her lips and wipe blood off her cheek. “If something had happened to you, I’d have lost a piece of myself.”

She settles her cheek into my palm, and a tear falls down her face. “Let’s go home. I want to show you your surprise.”

47

Julian takesmy hand as he makes a U-turn out of Dima’s driveway. We pass cop cars and dead men. As we’re pulling out onto the street, two EMTs speed toward Dima’s house.

We’re quiet, and I shut my eyes.

I immediately open them as the memory of me stabbing Dima’s man floats into my mind. At that moment, I zoned out, disassociated, and all I thought about was my baby’s and my lives.

After killing Dima’s guy, I had to either sit there in his blood or clean myself off. I was too scared to get in the shower, in fear that another one of his men could come after me, I had to scoot Dima’s body to the side to wet a washcloth in the sink and clean the blood from my body.

I changed out of his robe and back into my clothes, and I waited for the police. My body shook as I slouched in a corner, hiding, in case someone tried to kill me before they arrived.

Julian’s hand moves from mine when his phone rings. Grabbing it from the cupholder, he checks the caller ID before answering.

“Hi, Lora,” he says. “Yes, she’s safe.” Peering over at me, he mouths, “Are you okay to talk?”

I nod, taking the phone from him.

“Hi, Lora,” I say around a gulp.

“Oh, Genesis,” she says, her voice hitching with emotion. “I’m so sorry. Going forward, I promise, I’ll do better at vetting who stays with us here. This should’ve never happened to you.”

“Lora, this wasn’t your fault,” I say. “You were only trying to help Sage. We all were.”

“I’m glad you’re safe, honey. Please keep in touch.”

“Of course.” After ending the call with her, I glance at Julian. “How’d Lora know Sage wasn’t innocent?”

“We watched the camera footage.” He clenches his jaw, tightening his fingers around the steering wheel. “Sage met with the men before she lured you out of the restroom. At first, we weren’t sure why, but as we started putting the clues together, we figured it out.”

“So, you know why?” I ask, my voice wavering.

He gives me a look, waiting for me to answer my own question.

“I know she was my sister,” I say with sadness. “Dima made a show of telling me before he shot Sage in the head.”

Not one expression passes over his face.

I swear, I can almost see him fighting back a smile.

“Ah,” he says. “I was wondering what had happened to her.” He makes a right at a Stop sign.

“You wondered, but didn’t care?”

“I hoped she’d faced the same fate as Dima.”

I frown. “That’s not very nice, Julian.”

His strong hand takes mine again. “It wasn’t nice for her to set you up.”

“That doesn’t mean she deserved to die.”

“She knew what would happen if Dima got to you. Had it not been for her actions today, you wouldn’t be shaking in my car after murdering two men.”

I stare down at our joined hands, noticing for the first time thatI amshaking.