Страница 19 из 72
She nodded eagerly.
“You’ll need more clothes. If Grace can’t take you, I’ll get Sha
He reached out with his other hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. There was this dazed, tender light in his eyes, and I think it was just finally hitting him that Maia was his. She was his daughter. His voice was gruff with emotion when he spoke again. “I’d better go see your mum.”
“I’ll come with you,” I blurted out. I didn’t want him to go back out there alone. I didn’t want him to have to face it on his own after everything he’d already gone through.
“What about Maia?”
“I’m fifteen,” she piped up. “I can look after myself for a few hours. Believe me.”
Logan frowned. “How would you feel about spending a few hours with Sha
I wasn’t sure that was a good idea, considering Maia had never met her aunt. However, she spoke up before I could say anything. “Okay. I want to meet her.” I scrutinized her to make sure she was telling the truth, and as far as I could see, she was. In fact, she was positively giddy. Jittery. Like a kid on Christmas morning.
I guess, in a way, this was a bit like that for her. Instead of presents, she was getting a family.
“Here? Or at Sha
“Um…” She bit her lip. “Here, please.”
Excited she might have been, but she was also still nervous. Logan seemed to understand she’d be more comfortable meeting his sister somewhere that felt familiar and safe to her. “Okay. Let me give her a call.”
He did it right away, and we heard him telling her it was to be just her. In other words, Cole wasn’t invited this time. She must have agreed, because he got off the phone and nodded at Maia. “She doesn’t have a class today, so she’ll be right over.”
Not too long later my doorbell rang and Logan disappeared to let Sha
Without a word, Sha
I was starting to worry about that.
Sha
I nodded, and Logan murmured, “Yeah. She looks just like you, Sha
Maia’s eyes grew round at the compliment.
“Except for the hair.” He smirked.
They both giggled, the sound exactly the same, and I burst out laughing at their twin expressions of amazement and excitement. I had a feeling they were going to be fine, and I started to relax about leaving Maia alone with Sha
“Well, you two better hit the road.” Logan’s sister gestured toward the door.
Logan nodded and walked over to give both Sha
Like the last time I was in Logan’s car with him, there was total silence. Unlike last time, however, I wanted to give him the quiet. He needed it to process everything that had happened. So I gave him quiet. And he took it. For the entire ninety minutes.
When we eventually pulled up to the familiar block of flats, Logan parked and switched the car off. He looked at me.
I gave him a small, wobbly smile. “Are you ready?”
“I want her to fight me.”
He didn’t have to clarify his statement. I knew exactly what he meant, because I wanted Marya
I fought that demon, or whatever you wanted to call it, every day. Most days I won. Still… I didn’t want Maia to have that fight.
Logan gave me a militant nod. “Let’s do this.”
By the time we reached the door, I had butterflies in my stomach and not the good kind. It didn’t help that Logan banged on the door like he meant business. I stared up at his stern expression and reminded myself that I didn’t actually know him that well, and I had no idea what his reaction to this situation was going to be without Maia around as a buffer.
Oh shit.
I guess that made me the buffer this time.
Not even a few seconds passed before the lock turned and the door swung inward to reveal a tall, ski
His thi
“Aye?” he grunted, scratching his bare belly. Not that he had much of one.
“Is Marya
The ski
Logan took that to mean we could enter, and I followed him inside the flat. I was instantly hit with that stench we’d smelled last time we were there. I instinctively huddled closer to Logan as we walked down the narrow hall and into the living room. The ski
She looked up, her expression giving nothing away.
“Remember us?” Logan scowled at her.
Her eyes narrowed. “What the fuck do you want now?”
I eyed her carefully. She seemed less jittery than last time. I didn’t know enough about substance abuse to understand what that meant. Was she high? Was she not high? Who knew?
Logan forged ahead. “I got a paternity test. Maia is mine.”
“Good detective work.” She snorted, and the ski
Logan ignored them both. “I also got a copy of her birth certificate. You named me as the father on it. You gave her my name.”
“So?”
“I have legal rights, Marya
Permanently. Do you have anything to say about that?”
Marya
Ski
“What’s it to you?” Logan said, his tone quietly menacing.
I shifted a little closer to him, sensing the fight in him.
“Nothing.” Ski
Logan lunged, but I was faster. I put myself in front of him, my hands pressed to his chest.
“Don’t.”
He grabbed my wrists, glowering over at Ski
“Naw, man.” Ski
Marya
Logan was still tense.
I pressed harder against him, forcing him to look at me. Our eyes locked, and I felt all his pain and frustration and impotence over Maia’s history wash over me. I curled my fingers into his shirt and leaned closer. “They’re not worth it,” I whispered. “Let’s just go.”
He blinked at my words, and I felt him relax, his hands uncurling around my wrists. He looked over at Marya