Page 139 of Don't Look Back

She grabbed it from where it had fallen to the floor.

Please, Kira, know that I love you, and I never stopped loving my son. But I made the choice for us both to leave him and your father because neither of us was safe with them. I hope Reuben has grown into a good man, but I fear his father isn’t an example there. Conrad has used his visits to Malta to keep an eye on Reuben over the years and says he is fine, but I fear he’s lying to make me feel better about my choices.

I’m so sorry to share this with you in a way that means I can’t hold you when you receive this news. I hope you are not alone, that you have Conrad or a friend or a partner as you read this. But know that even if I’m long gone, you will always have me. I love you my sweet Kira, and I’m so proud of the woman you have become, even though adulthood was forced on you far earlier than it should have been.

Love,

Mom

She set down the letter and faced Rand, who opened his arms. She stepped into them and pressed her face to his chest and cried. “Do you think it’s true, about Angelina? I mean, if she died while Mom was pregnant with me, Reuben would have been only five. How could it be anything but an accident?”

“We’ll never know for certain,” Rand said. “It’s possible your mother was irrational, and it tainted how she viewed Reuben after that.”

“The eternal chicken and egg question. There’s no doubt Reuben resented me, even when we were children. He said as much.” She touched her ribs. The bruises had finally faded, and thankfully, none of her ribs had cracked from his kicks. “And he more than made it clear how much he wished I’d stayed dead.”

She raised her head to meet Rand’s gaze. “I wonder if that’s why he didn’t want me talking to Luka. Was he afraid I did—or would—remember the truth? Would it have changed things with his father if Luka knew Mom and I were fleeing Reuben as much as him?”

“I’m sorry you’ll never be able to know the truth there.”

“I am too. And I’m not. Maybe it’s better this way. I’ll never know if my mom unjustly accused and feared her son or if she was right to protect me from him. I wish I’d known about Angelina.” She shook her head. “Nothing has changed, really. My brother and all my parents are still dead. I’ve now gained a sister, but she isn’t even a memory.”

“You have me.”

She smiled. “I have you.”

“And my family. Maggie loves you already.”

Rand might be overstating things, but now that she’d met Maggie, Kira understood why Rand had been certain his sister would accept her into the fold. Maggie was warm and kind and shared her brother’s sense of humor.

“And you have Freya,” Rand added.

She nodded. She and Freya had dinner, just the two of them, two nights ago and it had been everything they both had needed for the last twenty years. They’d laughed and cried and looked at photos from their shared childhood.

Kira had confessed that one reason she’d desperately wanted to be a Valkyrie was to win Freya’s respect. Freya had tearfully said Kira had always had that, and she was sorry she never made it clear. She’d been too afraid to address what Apollo had done out of fear of embarrassing and hurting Kira. And so the chasm that separated them grew wider.

Freya had also assured her that Valkyrie assignments that fit Kira’s skillset were hers for the taking.

At some point, Kira would probably take her up on that offer, but for the next few months, her focus was going to be settling her parents’ estate and moving to Virginia Beach. With her inheritance, she could afford this time off to focus on her relationship with Rand and her mental health.

Questions had been raised by government officials investigating the Kuliks and Laskins about whether or not she intended to attempt a claim on the Kulik billions, and she’d assured everyone she had no interest in Luka’s money or name.

She was Kira Hanson, daughter of Conrad and Anna Hanson.

She stared at the portrait of herself her mother had painted five years ago and felt Anna’s presence, the love that had infused each brushstroke.

As her mother had hoped, Kira wasn’t alone. Her mom and dad would always be in her heart. And she might not have living blood relatives, but she had Freya and the Valkyries. Rand and his SEAL team.

She’d gone to Malta in search of family connections and had found them—unfortunately—in spades. But it really hadn’t been until she returned to Virginia that she’d identified the people who comprised her real, true family.

Epilogue

It arrived in the mail eight weeks after they’d returned from Malta and just days after the two men who’d abducted Kira last December cut a deal with the prosecutor and entered guilty pleas in the matter of her abduction. They would each serve a minimum of fifteen years. Twenty-five if they never made parole.

The main trial still waited, but at least she’d only have to testify about her ordeal once. And then, when that was over, Kira and Rand could take a trip.

Anywhere in the world.

She ripped open the cardboard envelope and turned it to the side. Her new little blue book of freedom fell into her hand.

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