Page 52 of Maxim

She nods, leaning forward as she pulls her hands from mine. Then she shocks me by wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me. I hug her back to me tightly.

“Thank you for telling me everything and for making my siblings your priority. I know you will do everything you can to bring them back to me safely. You don’t know what that means to me.”

I let out a relieved breath. “???????, I would do anything for you.”

“I don’t know if I believe that, but thank you,” she whispers.

“You will. One day, you will.”

She pulls back, so I reluctantly let her go.

“My grandmother would have loved you,” I tell her.

She smiles. “Oh, really?”

“Yep. Sweet, kind, self-sacrificing. Everything that she was.”

“She sounds like she was an amazing woman.”

“She was. I miss her every day.”

“When did you lose her?” she asks.

“When I was fifteen. She had escaped the horrors of my grandfather and was living her best life. A damn heart attack took her from me. She raised me like you are raising your siblings. She was basically my mother and grandmother all in one.”

Olena gives me a soft smile. “She did an amazing job. You turned out to be a great man.”

Hearing her say that is like receiving a medal.

“Thank you. I think I really needed to hear that,” I tell her.

“You’re welcome. It’s the truth. Your cover story is good because I believed it, but I can see you now.”

“You’re the only one,” I tell her.

“That’s the way it needs to be. How about I make us some dinner?” she asks.

“Oh no. I can cook.”

She shakes her head. “Let me do this for you. It makes me feel good to have tasks. You focus on my siblings, and I will take care of our home.”

Our home.

“Okay.”

She smiles, leaving me on the couch to head toward the kitchen.

She called it our home.

I like the sound of that a little too much.

Waking up, I feel better than I have in a long time.

I still don’t have my siblings, but the future is looking brighter than it ever has, and it’s all because of him.

Maxim.

My angel dressed as a monster.

---