Page 16

Chapter

Sixteen

LUNA

M axim’s words rip right through me.

A mom. I could have a mom.

When I was stuck in the lighthouse, I always dreamed of what my parents would be like. I knew parents existed from the books I read, but whenever I asked God about it, he would deflect and change the subject. I kept asking until he finally told me to never ask him again. That I didn’t have parents.

“What if she’s not my mom?” I ask, drawing the blanket around my body. For some reason, I can’t be naked for this news. I’m too vulnerable.

“Then she’s not your mom, and we’ll deal with that. And I’ll keep searching.”

“What if you never find my parents?”

“Luna, let’s just see what the results are and go from there, ok?”

I inhale deeply and slowly let it out. “Ok.”

Maxim sits on the bed and opens the box. Inside is an envelope, and inside that envelope is a piece of paper.

And on that piece of paper …

“She’s your mother.” He shows it to me. It says she cannot be excluded as my mother. “That means she’s your mom.”

My hands shake as I set the paper down. “I have a mom.”

“I tried to ask her husband to do a test, but he refused. So, we don’t know for a fact if John Walker is your father, but we know for a fact that Ashley Walker is your mother.”

“I have an actual mom. I always wanted a mom. I wanted someone to take care of me when I was growing up.”

Maxim pulls me into his arms. “How are you feeling?”

“Excited. And … scared. But why do I feel scared? I don’t get it.”

“You’re probably scared because this is all new. You don’t know who she is. You don’t know if she’ll be happy to see you. But, Luna, I think she will be. She wanted to take the test, meaning she wanted to know the truth. I think she’ll be happy to know that her long-lost daughter has returned.”

“You think so?”

“I think so. All we can do is reach out and see what they want to do. See if they want to meet up. Ashley gave me her number to call when the results came in. We can set up a meeting.”

“I’d like that.” As I speak, tears slip from my eyes.

I know without a doubt that they’re happy tears.

Maxim calls Ashley for me and tells her the news. “She’s your daughter.”

I can hear her on the other end exhale loudly before saying, “She’s my daughter?”

“She is, and she’d like to meet you. Can we come over?”

“Yes! Yes, please. I want to meet her. I want to see my baby again.”

I cling to Maxim tightly as we drive to my mother’s house. I can’t risk falling off the bike and getting hurt now. Not when I’m so close to rediscovering my family.

The house is beautiful. Red brick and white paneling on the sides. It looks like something out of a movie. I never even knew movies existed until Rose showed me one a few weeks ago. Everyone looked so perfect in it.

This house looks perfect.

Maxim doesn’t get a chance to knock on the door before it opens. And there she is. Ashley Walker. Her hair is faintly red with gray in it. But it’s her eyes I recognize. They’re so like mine.

“Oh, Sarah.” She throws her arms around me, and I tense, not expecting it. She notices and quickly lets me go. “I’m sorry. I’m just …”

“It’s ok.” I stare at her for a moment before slowly hugging her. “I was just startled, but it’s ok.”

She sobs as she clings to me. No one has ever been this happy to see me before. “Oh, Sarah. I’d given up hope of ever finding you. But here you are.” She pulls back, her eyes searching my face. “You’re so beautiful.”

A man appears behind her. John Walker. I recognize him from the funeral home.

“Sarah?”

“I’m Luna, remember? I told you that before.”

He shakes his head once. “Right. Forgive me. I … I know I didn’t take a test, but that was because it was too hard for me. But if you’re really Ashley’s daughter, then you’re my daughter, too.”

“He’s your father,” Ashley says. “I can say that for a fact.”

“I don’t understand.”

This makes her blush for some reason.

Maxim clears his throat. “I can explain later. But why don’t you spend some time with your parents? Get to know them.”

“You’re not staying?”

He looks uncertainly between my parents and me. “I just thought you might want some alone time with them.”

I grab his hand. “I want you to stay. Don’t leave me.”

“Of course,” he says, his eyes softening. “If you want me to stay, I’ll stay.”

“Well,” Ashley starts to speak.

“Yes?”

“It’s just …” She and John share a look. “We thought it would be nice to speak to Sarah alone.”

“Luna,” I correct them. “My name is Luna.”

Ashley flinches slightly. “Right. Of course. I just don’t want any distractions in getting to know you.”

“Maxim isn’t a distraction. I want him here.”

“But he’s …” She waves a hand at my leather jacket with the Knights logo on the back.

“A biker,” Maxim states. “You want me to go because I’m a biker.”

She flushes. “I didn’t say that.”

“We just want to talk to our daughter alone,” John says.

“But I want Maxim here. So, he’s staying. That’s one thing I’ve learned: I need to stand up for myself.”

John finally nods and opens the door wider. “All right. We just want to get to know you more, and if you need … Maxim … here, then he can stay.”

“Thank you. We’re together, after all.”

Both John and Ashley look taken aback.

“Uh, what do you mean?” Ashley asks.

I look to Maxim for confirmation. “We’re together, right? I mean, we had sex.”

Maxim turns a little red while John and Ashley both seem scandalized. I realize too late I shouldn’t have said that. Both Maxim and Rose have told me that sex is a private thing. I’m just not used to all of this yet.

“Right.” Maxim clears his throat. “Yes, Luna and I are together.”

“Well, then,” Ashley gasps. “I … guess I didn’t think of my daughter having a boyfriend. We never got …” She chokes up, pressing her hand to her eyes, and John holds her closer.

“Why don’t you come inside now?” he asks.

We’re led to a living room that’s so cozy and comfy, and I just want to stay here forever. The couches are an off-white. A fireplace is going. The walls have pictures on them.

They’re of my parents and a little girl. Me, I realize. That’s what I looked like as a child.

“You were so cute,” Ashley says, hovering beside me. “Your red hair was wild. I never knew what to do with it.”

“I just comb it.”

“Of course.” She looks between me and the photo. In it, I’m smiling, my face covered in chocolate. “You were just four there. We lost you when … we lost you just a few months later.”

John lays his hand on her shoulder as she cries. “It was not easy, losing you. I can’t believe you’re back in our lives.”

“I never even knew I had parents. It was kept from me by the man who kidnapped me. He made me call him God, but his name was just Ed.”

“Was?”

“He’s dead now.” I almost tell them that Maxim killed him, but I hold back. I know enough now to know that telling my parents that Maxim killed a man probably won’t go over too well.

“Good riddance,” John grumbles.

“How did he die? Do you know? Were you left alone?”

“No. Maxim saved me from the lighthouse before Ed died. He, uh …”

“He killed himself,” Maxim says. “I think when he found out that Luna wasn’t his prisoner any longer, he couldn’t handle it.”

“How did you know he killed himself?”

“I saw him do it.” That’s all Maxim says.

Both John and Ashley seem to accept that answer.

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” she says, patting my arm. “Did that man hurt you? Please tell me he didn’t.”

“Honey,” John says. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about that.”

“No. He didn’t hurt me.” I look into my mom’s eyes, wanting to give her comfort. “He never touched me, if that’s what you’re wondering. He kept me in a lighthouse all my life, but he spoke to me through an intercom. I didn’t meet him until after Maxim saved me.”

Ashley turns to him. “Thank you. For saving our daughter.”

“Of course. I would save Luna again and again if I had to.” There’s an unspoken part to his words—he probably will have to save me again. Jasper is still out there.

And so is Anton, and who knows what that madman will do?

“Shall we sit?” John asks, motioning toward the couches. They sit on one couch while Maxim and I take the other. “How long have you been free?”

“For a few weeks now. I’m learning so much. Everything is brand new for me.”

“And yet you’ve had sex,” he says flatly, giving Maxim a hard look.

“We have. I don’t understand. Is that a problem?”

Maxim places his hand on mine. “I know what Luna and I have is unconventional. But I can assure you, I’ve never taken advantage of her. Everything has been Luna’s choice. Her consent. She has female friends that have helped teach her things. I’ve never manipulated Luna. I’m nothing like the man who took her.”

“But still. She was raised in a lighthouse. You have to see how wrong it is to …”

“Have sex?” Maxim prompts.

John flushes. “Yes.”

“But I wanted to,” I explain. “Maxim never forced me. Trust me. I know what it’s like to have men force me to do things I don’t want to do.” My parents suddenly look very sad. “Maxim has been great to me. He saved me from God. Ed, I mean. He’s saved me from other men, too. He’s a good person. You can trust him.”

“This whole thing is unorthodox.”

Ashley cuts in. “I think we should just get to know one another. It doesn’t matter who’s having sex. What matters is that our daughter is home and with us. Nothing else could be better than that.”

“I understand that, Ashley, but I still think it’s inappropriate that the man who saved our daughter is now having sex with her.”

“I’m not a child,” I snap. They both flinch. “I know I was a child when you lost me, but I’m not a child anymore. I’ve learned so much. Yes, I’m still learning, but I’m not stupid. I know what feels right and what doesn’t, and being with Maxim feels right. It’s always felt right. Don’t treat me like a child, please.”

“Of course,” she says. “Of course. You’re not a child, Sarah.”

“Luna.”

“Right. Sorry. Of course. You’ve just always been Sarah in my mind. It’s hard for me to think of you any other way.”

John nods. “Hard for us both.”

“It was hard for me being stuck in a lighthouse all on my own.” A sudden anger flares through me. “Why didn’t you find me? Why didn’t you save me from Ed?”

Ashley’s jaw drops open. “You were taken out of your room at night. By the time we realized you were gone, there was no finding you. There was no evidence. There was nothing.”

“But we looked and looked and looked,” John adds. “We never stopped looking. But eventually, we had to come to terms with the fact that our daughter wasn’t coming home.”

“But I’m home now.”

“We know. And we want to make the most out of it.”

“Please stay for dinner,” Ashley offers. “Please.”

I look at these people who are my parents, and I have a ton of questions. What was I like as a kid? Did I have friends? What did my room look like? I want to know everything.

But I also feel … nothing for these people. They may be my biological parents, but they’re strangers to me. Strangers I feel are judging Maxim and me.

“I’m sorry,” I gasp, standing up. “It’s too much for today. I just need time to think.”

“We’ll see you again?” There’s so much hope in Ashley’s eyes that I don’t want to let her down.

“You’ll see me again,” I promise. There’s still so much I have yet to learn.

The new clubhouse is starting to come together, but there’s a shadow over everything. Colin’s death, along with the deaths of the men who went after Anton, still lingers. It makes everything sadder despite the clubhouse looking nicer.

I find Rose behind the bar, taking bottles of alcohol out of a box. “So, Maxim and I had sex.”

She almost drops the bottle then composes herself. “Well, good for you, sweetie. Just tell me, was it good? You enjoyed yourself?”

“I did. Very much so. Maxim was so sweet. He made me feel amazing. It was a little scary at first, but now, I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

Rose chuckles. “I’m glad. You deserve some happiness. And I’m glad Maxim has finally stopped holding you at arm’s length. He’s crazy about you.”

“Why did he hold me at arm’s length before?”

“Because he didn’t want to hurt you. He’s only ever wanted to take care of you.”

“I met my parents.”

This time, she does drop the bottle. It crashes on the floor, spilling glass everywhere. “Damn it.” She grabs a mop and starts cleaning. “How was that? Meeting your parents? You could have given me a little bit of a warning, you know.”

“I just did. I just told you.”

“So, tell me how that went.”

“They didn’t like Maxim.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Did they say that?”

“No. But I could tell. I think they want to treat me like a child still, but I’m not that way anymore. I’m a woman who’s had sex. I’m a woman who’s seen more of the world. Who’s experienced danger and passion and friendship. I’m not the same girl who was locked in that lighthouse.”

“I know. And I’m so proud of you, sweetie.”

“How do I get my parents to see me like that?”

She sighs and props the mop against the counter. “You just have to give them time. They lost you when you were …”

“Four or five. I’m not quite sure.”

“Right. You were just a baby to them. But spend more time with them. Get to know them, and they’ll get to know you. Simple as that. In time, they’ll see you as an adult, and then you’ll have gained a relationship with your parents. It’ll help make your life more full.”

“Thank you, Rose. You’re my best friend, you know that?”

She tears up for a moment before clearing her throat. “Thanks, hon.” I can see the gratitude in her eyes, and it makes my heart feel even fuller.

Katya invites me to a tea function with Evie and Ava.

“After all that happened, I thought you could use a girls' day out,” she says, linking her arm through mine. I was told to wear a nice dress, so I’m in a simple summer frock, but it feels so underwhelming compared to how the other women at the tea function are dressed.

“You look great,” Evie says. “When I first came here, I felt intimidated, but the women are nice.”

“What’s this for?” I ask as we head into the large restaurant filled with women who clearly all come from money, judging by their dresses and jewelry.

“This is something a lot of Mafia ladies like to do,” Ava explains. “They like to get together and talk.”

“But I’m not a Mafia lady.”

“No, but Maxim works with our husbands,” she says, motioning between her and Evie. “He’s practically a part of the Bratva. And you’re our friend, so you’re welcome here.”

We take our seats at a table with a few older woman.

“Ah, ladies!” a woman with dark brown hair exclaims.

“Hi, Vera,” Ava says. I sit down beside her with Evie on the other side of me, and Katya next to her. “Ladies, this is Luna. Make her feel welcomed.”

“Of course,” Vera says, smiling at me. “So, Luna, that’s such a pretty name. Who are your parents?”

“John and Ashley.”

She blinks. “Never heard of them.”

“They’re not a part of the Bratva,” Katya says before grabbing a champagne glass from a passing waiter and practically downing it in one sip.

“Oh? So, you’re married into the Bratva.”

I frown. “I’m not married.”

“She’s dating Maxim Baranov,” Ava says. “He works with my Nikolai and Dimitri.”

“Oh. He’s that handsome biker, isn’t he?”

Another woman, wearing a gaudy necklace that shines so brightly it could take an eye out, wrinkles her nose. “A biker? I’ve never liked bikers.”

“You just haven’t given them the chance,” Vera says. “Angelica here judges everyone and everything.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Mmm?”

“Why does she judge everyone and everything? That doesn’t seem nice.”

Katya laughs as she chugs back another glass of champagne. “She has you there.”

“Slow down, Katya,” Vera says. “It’s not polite behavior to get drunk.”

She ignores Vera and drinks more of her champagne.

“Luna grew up in a lighthouse,” Evie says, changing the topic. “Isn’t that interesting?”

“Ooh,” another woman says. “A lighthouse? What is that like?”

“Boring. Lonely. I was held prisoner all my life.”

The conversation around the table goes quiet.

“Oh,” the woman says again. “Well …” She looks offended, like I said something wrong.

“What did I say?” I whisper to Ava.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re good.”

A woman approaches the table. She has long auburn hair and is wearing a suit-skirt combo. The lines around her face make her expression more severe.

“Katerina,” Vera says, nodding.

“Hello.” Her tone is not polite. She looks around at all of us and settles her gaze on me. “Who is this?”

“Luna,” Ava explains. “She’s our guest.”

“Apparently, her boyfriend is Maxim Baranov,” Angelica says. Katerina’s mouth turns into a thin line.

“I’ve heard of him. A biker.”

“President of the Knights,” Ava says.

“A biker, nonetheless. Being a king of nothing still means you have nothing.” She sets her gaze on Katya. “You look like you’ve had a little bit too much to drink.”

“What’s it to you? You’re not my mom.”

Katerina sniffs. “If I were, I would’ve raised you to have manners. Who’s your husband?”

“I don’t have one. Dimitri Ivanov is my brother.”

“That explains it. Your attitude. Thinking you can get away with anything. You Ivanovs are always trouble.”

“Excuse me?” Katya stands to her full height. Katerina is a lot shorter than she is and has to look up at her. “I’m not trouble. I’m literally not allowed to do anything because I’m not married yet.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-one.”

“Then you should already be married. Your brother is doing you a disservice. You’re already becoming a spinster.”

“Who are you calling a spinster? At least I’m still young.”

That seems to strike a chord in Katerina because she points her finger in Katya’s face and says, “You’ll regret being mean to me, girl.”

“Did you not hear? My brother is Dimitri Ivanov. I’m untouchable.”

“And my son is Anton Volkov.”

Katya’s eyes widen. Both Evie and Ava freeze.

“Did you not know that?” I whisper to Ava, who slowly shakes her head.

“Your son is Anton?” Katya asks.

“Yes. And I know how much power he’s been gaining in this city. Your brother should be afraid. You just upset his mother. He’s not going to take too kindly to that.” She spins on her heels and walks away.

Katya slumps back into her seat, seemingly stunned.

“I could’ve told you she was Anton’s mother,” Vera says.

“So, then, why didn’t you stop me before I ran my mouth off to her?”

Vera shrugs, a devilish smirk on her lips. “Because it was more fun to watch.”

“Vera,” Evie says, “Katya just insulted Anton’s mother. He’s already trying to hurt Dimitri and Nikolai and Maxim. You could’ve stopped Katya from making it worse.”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” she responds, waving a dismissive hand. “What son listens to his mother anyway? My sons sure don’t listen to me; I can tell you that much. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Katya lowers her face to her hands. “I think I just made it worse. Dimitri will be so upset with me.”

“He’ll understand,” I offer.

She shoots me a look. “You don’t know my brother very well. He’s going to be so angry with me for making things worse for him and Nikolai and Maxim. If Katerina tells Anton that Dimitri’s own sister insulted her, he just might find a way to blow up the building we live in. That won’t help anyone.”

There’s nothing else I can say.

The only good part about all of this is that the women are talking about Katya now instead of me. That’s one thing I’ve learned since leaving my lighthouse—I don’t love a lot of eyes on me. I don’t need to be the center of attention.

I just want to be happy with Maxim and my friends and my new-found parents. I don’t want to feel insecure next to these well-dressed Mafia women who know so much more than I do.

I want to be confident.

Evie reassures me that everything will be fine as she drops me off at Maxim’s apartment, but I hear the doubt in her voice. Anton has already blown up the clubhouse and Dimitri’s dance club. What will he do next?

I find Maxim inside, resting his leg on the couch. “How were your friends?”

“They were … good.”

“That doesn’t sound convincing.”

“Just a heads up. Katya insulted Anton’s mother at the tea function, so we don’t know how that will go.”

He shoots off the couch then winces. “What was Katya thinking?” He pauses. “No I know Katya. She wasn’t thinking.”

“She didn’t know Katerina was Anton’s mother. It’s not her fault.”

“I swear, something even worse is going to happen.” He cups my face in his hands. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I couldn’t bear the idea.”

“Maxim, does it upset you that people judge you for being a biker?”

“Where’s this coming from?”

“I saw the way my parents looked at you. I heard the way the other Mafia woman spoke about you. I never thought there was anything wrong with you being a biker.”

“There isn’t.”

“So, then, why do people judge you for it?”

He sighs and sits down, pulling me into his lap. His hands stroke along my back, sending a shiver of desire through me. “People judge what they don’t understand. They take one look at my jacket and think they know me. But they don’t.”

“I know you,” I whisper.

“You do?”

“I think you’re an amazing man. There’s no one else I’d rather be with.”

“Luna, you know, if you ever decided you didn’t want to be with me, I won’t hold you back. I want what’s best for you.”

“You don’t want to be with me?”

“Fuck. I only want you. Now and fucking forever. But I just want you to know that you always have a choice in this relationship. Always.”

I kiss him. “Then I choose you.” It’s not even scary just how easy it is for me to say that.