Page 95 of Teach Me How To Fly

I wanted to go to her, to make sure that she was okay, but at the same time, I wanted to give her the space she needed. My little one has been through so many hard times lately that I simply didn’t know what to do best for her. So I was just waiting for her to open up to me whenever she felt the right moment to do it.

I sighed heavily as I pinned the ceiling with my gaze. The last couple of weeks started to replay before my eyes and it feltlike I was on a rollercoaster ready to break at any second. So many things I didn’t see coming happened, things I would’ve bet would never occur, like the fact that Annalise and Katya truly moved in with me.

I knew Lukyan, and I knew that even though he fulfilled Katya’s wish after she almost committed suicide, he had planned something to destroy our happiness. It was just a matter of time until we would find out what it was. It felt just like the calmness before the…

“Maksen?”

Every thought I had going through my mind disappeared and the beautiful image of my angel was all I could look at. She opened the door and stepped further into my room, her soft fragrance tickling my senses as I took in a deep breath.

I stood up from the bed, walking towards her and the moment I stopped in front of her, she raised her gaze and pinned me attentively.

“Maybe it’s not the right moment to do this, but I need answers and I need them now,” she demanded, and this was the first time I heard her being so confident in her words.

I furrowed my brows, looking down at her and trying to figure out what she was referring to.

“Ask me anything you want, Anna. Did I do something wrong?”

“Who is the little girl you’re hiding under our roof?” she said, dodging my question.

It was just a matter of time until she would find out about Lysandre, but I thought I would have more time until I would introduce her to Annalise.

“You met Lysandre I suppose,”

“Why are you hiding her? Are you keeping her locked here?”

“I’m protecting her, Anna,” I said between gritted teeth and her breath quickened instantly when she heard my words.

“Protecting her from who?” she spat, with her eyes burning with anger. “I’m done with people offering me half truths, Maksen. I want you to tell me everything, no more lies, no more secrets.”

She had a confidence I’ve never seen before, and even if I was shocked with her attitude, I loved seeing her like this. Everything that happened to her slowly transformed her into the woman I was going to love even more — if that was even possible.

“Come with me,” I demanded and she didn’t say anything but waited until I started walking out of the room.

This was the moment when I had to tell her the truth. No more lies.

She followed me down the hall, her harsh breath almost hitting on the back of my neck. When we stopped in front of the mahogany door on the right side of the hall, I turned to her and made her face my gaze. I could see the mixed feelings she had by the way her parted lips were trembling, and I wanted to kiss her so bad right now just to calm her down and assure her that I wasn’t going to hide anything from her anymore. But I could only prove this to her this.

“Do you trust me?”

“I don’t know who I should trust anymore. I just want to know the truth,” she said, not even blinking.

I took in a deep breath, then I opened the door, letting Annalise step inside. She quickly walked in front of me, and the moment I closed the door behind us, my gaze fell on Lysandre who was sitting on top of the bed with a book opened on her legs. Her blonde, straight hair was resting on her narrow shoulders and I was happy to see her this relaxed.

“Annalise, she is Lysandre, one of the children I saved from being trafficked,” I explained and I saw her not moving from her spot.

She looked at me, then she looked at Lysandre and I could see that her eyes were filling up with tears. I wanted to pull her into my arms, but I chose not to. I wanted to give her the space she needed so she could assimilate the information I just gave to her.

“Hi, Annalise!” Lysandre finally spoke and she managed to bring a smile to my girl’s face.

That was the moment I knew I had to let them be alone.

“I’ll let you two talk. Anna, you’ll find me in our room.”

Our room. It was still something new to me to call my bedroom our room. It felt strange, yet comforting.

I’d spentmy time by checking the map my IT guy has programmed for me so I could track every child I’d saved and sent to loving families across Europe. I was happy seeing all those green points on the map because I knew that for every green point, there was a child that got his second chance to a better life, away from this cruel mafia that spread across the United States.

But the moment I wanted to dig deeper into the application, my bedroom door opened and Annalise walked into my room, pulling me completely out of my work.

---