Page 21 of From Angel to Rogue (Four Foxes #6)

KATY

“I think I’m going to adopt Luka,” I announced later that night as we all settled down in the living room post-dinner.

Matty and Sierra stilled, their shocked eyes flying to me.

“I mean.” I swallowed, inhaling sharply.

“I still have to ask Lan. I can’t do this without him, but even then, I want Luka to be mine.

I’m also planning to move to New York, particularly to Mikey’s apartment next door.

The place is empty since he moved in with Lily, so he should have no problem giving it to me. ”

“Whoa, K, slow down,” Matty huffed. “You can’t just spring everything on me at once.”

At the same time, Sierra flashed me a wide smile.

“We get to be neighbors, and I get to be Luka’s aunt.

That’s the best news ever.” Her eyes widened.

“I mean, not officially since Matty is just my boyfriend for now. Not that I’m saying it would change anytime soon, or I’m putting ideas in your head, Matty.

I’m totally the cool, non-clingy girlfriend,” she rambled, her cheeks pink.

Matty and I exchanged knowing smiles. I knew he was going to propose soon. I helped him pick out a ring and he’s even secured her parents’ permission. He was very secretive about what he had planned. Knowing him, it must be something very special to both of them.

“You’re the best girlfriend.” Matty pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Sierra blushed.

Matty left her side and took the seat next to me. “Is this something you really want to do, K?” he asked me. “Adopting a child is not easy, but if that’s something you want to do, I’ll support you one hundred percent with or without Lan. No questions asked. I love Luka like my own already.”

“I’m sure, Matty.” My lips curved into a smile. “For the first time in a long time, I’m absolutely sure about something. I’ve always wanted to be a m-mother, and now I finally get to.” My voice cracked.

Matty wrapped his arms around me. “I’m so proud of you, Katy. You can do anything you want to do. Remember that.”

I nodded, smiling.

He was right. I didn’t want to fit into a perfectly manufactured version of how life should be.

Instead, I’m going to do what I want.

I wanted Luka and I wanted my Lan back.

I wanted my second chance at a family again.

“Thanks for doing this, Mikey.” I slid him a smile as he opened the door.

“Anything for you, K,” Mikey said, rolling my one lone suitcase inside his apartment. Well, now my apartment.

Only last night I requested his apartment and he already had it fully cleaned and ready for me to move in.

“You don’t really need to get anything, K. I never used half of the shit,” Mikey explained.

It was similar to my brother’s, only the orientation was different with the living room and kitchen attached. The living room was expansive, with white marble floors, sleek modern furniture, and full-length windows to the left.

The kitchen continued the muted gray and white tones to the right. It was fully equipped with polished marble counters and shiny cabinets.

“Which room do you want to take, K? How about mine?” He grinned. “I have the best bed.”

I didn’t have it in me to roll my eyes. Ignoring him, I trudged down the hallway between the kitchen and the living room. I poked my head inside all the five bedrooms and for some reason, forgo the master and chose the smaller one in the middle.

“I like this one,” I muttered, my eyes roaming over the soft brown decor. It felt warm and I needed some warmth to soothe my cold insides.

“Done.” Mikey dragged my suitcase and carefully laid them on the table by the bed.

“Thanks, Mikey,” I whispered softly.

He hugged me goodbye and I lingered, basking in his strength for a second.

“Welcome home, K,” he muttered, smiling softly. His thumb dragged along my cheek as his green eyes met mine. “Whatever it is, it will be fine,” he whispered. “Nothing painful lasts forever.”

I nodded, my throat too thick to speak. I loved how my friends understood me more than I did myself, without even knowing the reasons.

He gave me one last of his signature Mikey smiles before pressing a small kiss on my cheek and dashing away.

As I stood in the middle of my new apartment, I felt more at home in mere minutes than I ever did in all the years I spent in that glass house back in LA. Maybe it wasn’t the house itself; it was all the painful memories those clear walls saw.

Sighing a heavy breath, I ordered some food and padded to my bedroom, stalling the next thing I have to do.

Call him.

It wasn’t like we completely ghosted each other. We still communicated here and there.

It was weird to break up with someone you’d been with for eleven years. I spent almost half my life with Lan, and we lived together for half of that. And there was no clean slate from something like that.

I was so used to his constant presence, beside my bed, in our home and in every second of my life that it felt like I was almost missing an arm being away from him.

Like a phantom pain of a lost limb, the ache dug deeper and deeper every day.

I missed him.

I had no clue how he was going to react after I tell him about Luka and asked him to move in with me and be a family with us.

He said he wouldn’t come back unless I found me.

But what if this was the only way I knew how?

Could Lan accept that part of me?

I halted my thoughts and started to empty my suitcase.

A soft smile played on my lips at the sight of the pretty dresses and cardigan. Looking at it almost made me feel like myself again. Almost.

Instead of bringing in my old wardrobe, I popped into the first store I found and picked a few dresses I liked. I didn’t want to wear any of my old clothes anymore. It only reminded me of the plastic reason behind each one I purchased.

I threw everything else away. I didn’t want them anymore.

I had a whole wardrobe that people would be jealous of back in LA and I had already told Chris to donate every last one of them.

Humming under my breath, I hung the row of ten dresses I brought, all flowy dresses with flowery patterns, almost all of them having a tinge of red in them.

Because red was my favorite color. Not even the fake Katy could take that away from me.

It was only when I put up the third dress on the wooden rail that I noticed something and my blood chilled.

What the fuck?

The familiar nine-carat solitaire diamond on my ring finger was missing. How could I not even notice the weight of it missing from my finger?

Panicked, I rummaged through my purse and my suitcase. But it was nowhere in sight.

Fuck, did I leave it in the hotel room?

For the next thirty minutes, I called the hotel, the place I donated my things, and even swept inside my brother’s apartment next door, but no fucking luck.

Deflated, I crashed on my couch, my eyes stuck on the gleaming windows showing off the glittering city line. It wasn’t the loss of the ring itself that made me sad; it was the thought of what Lan would think of me for losing the one ring I insisted he buy me.

It was flashy, almost close to a million because I needed to appease a certain crowd that Lan proposed to me with a one-of-a-kind ring.

But it wasn’t really my favorite.

My heart still loved the ring he got me when he had nothing.

The ring I still carried around in a secure area of my purse till today.