Chapter 37
SAMAIRA
W e stood across the street from my parents’ home. My legs trembled as I tried to keep myself standing, with my eyes glued to the front door. It was only Dominic’s arms wrapped around me that kept me from sprinting away or falling right here in a puddle. “It’s time you let them in, baby.”
My head shook, fear choking down my throat. “No. Dominic, it’s too dangerous.”
He pulled me around so I faced him. His eyes churned with so much anger and so much helplessness, my shoulders shrank within themselves.
“Maira, they deserve to have you in their life. They deserve to see the strong, powerful woman you’ve become.
I’m not asking you to tell them about the Wildcats.
But they deserve to know that you’re alright.
They deserve to hug their daughter. They deserve to love their daughter. ”
My hands shook as I clutched his shirt. “They don’t need me, Dom.
They’re doing fine with my younger siblings.
They’ve got a nice little life set up here.
I can’t bring all the trouble here. You know how dangerous it is right now.
If we’re only going to aim for bigger criminals, you know I’d put their life at risk. ”
“I asked Tara to do some research. Your father has made donations to a charity that helps sexually abused women every month for the past thirteen years. Your mom talks to her sister about how much she misses you every single day. Your brother, Sameer, has googled your name every single day for the past thirteen years. Your sister, Arya, is learning computer science and goes to boxing. Her goal is to find her sister. You are wrong, Samaira. You are not protecting your family by staying away. You’re hurting them.
You’re denying them the right to love their daughter, their sister, the way they want to.
I know it hurt to see them suffering during your case, baby.
But you got your revenge. You’ve got your purpose.
But what about their purpose? I know you secretly go and watch them.
I know you’ve seen the smiles on their faces.
But you refuse to acknowledge the sadness in their eyes. Why?”
“I’m afraid,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t be able to survive if anything happened to them.”
“Then we protect them. Together. I promise you. I’ll never let anything happen to them.
Their safety is my responsibility. When you’re on a mission, they’ll be protected.
I’ll do whatever it takes for you to feel secure in their safety.
But don’t punish yourself and them just to keep them safe.
I know when you did that to me, and I’m telling you, it just makes me mad when you do that. ”
“What if they reject me after all these years?”
My voice was so broken, so scared, as my heart broke for my parents, for Sameer and Arya.
They were so young when I left home. Tears slipped down my cheeks as terror unlike anything tried to pull me under.
But suddenly, I was pulled into Dominic’s arms as he pressed a kiss to my head. “Why don’t we find out for ourselves? ”
I nodded against his chest and mumbled, “You’ll stay with me?”
“Couldn’t get rid of me even if you tried.”
He pulled out of my hug and dragged me across the street, closer to the house. “Let’s go.”
My steps faltered, but Dominic was having none of it. “I’m not going to run away, Dom.”
He slowed his steps just a tad and raised his eyebrows at me with a smile. “I’m not risking it.”
I bit my lip as I stopped my heart from bursting out of my chest and shook my head at him. “I’m going to kill you after this.”
“I think you’re going to thank me after this. On your knees, Tigress.”
I scoffed, but the conversation stopped me from spiraling. Before I was even prepared, we reached the front door, and Dominic—the impatient asshole—pressed the doorbell.
My knees trembled, and my heart pounded in my chest as I heard movement on the other side. Suddenly, the door was pulled open, and a young woman with glasses perched on her eyes—eyes that matched mine—stood across from me. “Hey, Aryu,” I whispered, using the nickname I always used for my sister.
A sob broke out on her face, and she launched herself into my arms, crying and screaming my name.
Her familiar strawberry-shampoo smell hit my nose, and I wrapped my arms tightly around her, lifting her off the ground.
My sister’s loud cries were like shards of glass tearing my heart apart, but her arms and legs wrapped around me and her mumbled “ I missed you ” were a balm to my soul.
A loud glass shattering had us turning. There stood my parents and my baby brother.
My lips wobbled as I looked at my mom and dad in the eyes for the first time after thirteen years.
“Maa.” I thought I’d never get to say that word again in my life.
I didn’t realize when my feet moved, but I was in my mother’s arms as her tears slid down my neck.
A solid, warm embrace, smelling of Old Spice aftershave, enveloped us, with two more sets of arms completing the circle, and I was finally home.
Tears and snot ran down my face as my dad held me in his arms, as Maa kept caressing my back and my arm.
I pulled Sameer into a hug, crushing him in my arms. “Oh my god, you’re so muscular, Didi.”
I laughed, tears sliding down my face, as my ears ached to hear Didi from his mouth again. I flexed my muscles at him and waggled my eyebrows. “Bet I can beat you in arm wrestling.”
He was a pretty muscular twenty-two-year-old young man, and he immediately flexed his own muscles and turned to Arya. “Arya, who’s got better muscles?”
Arya chuckled as tears slid down her own cheeks. “Didi, obviously. Just look how sexy she looks.” I smiled mockingly at Sameer when she finished her sentence, “For a thirty-two-year-old.”
My shocked, outrageous gasp had Sameer and Dominic chuckling.
I turned to Dominic. “What are you laughing at? You’re older than me.”
Arya gasped at Dominic, and I knew she was joking—she had to be—when she said, “No way you’re older than my sister. You look so young.”
The smile on Dominic’s face at that moment could make a weak woman faint. He immediately stretched his hand forward to shake with Arya. “I’m Dominic. Your sister’s boyfriend. Here, take this key.”
Arya frowned and turned the key in her hands. “What’s it for?”
“My Range Rover. It’s yours now. I don’t think I’ve received a better compliment in my life. This is the least I can do to thank you.”
My jaw dropped. My mother’s jaw dropped. My father’s jaw dropped. My brother’s jaw dropped. Only, he quickly pulled it back up and rushed to Dominic and started shaking his hand. “You’re the most beautiful person and the strongest man I’ve ever seen in my life.”
That had Arya snorting and my dad physically pulling him away from a laughing Dominic.
Maa clutched my hand and pulled me inside the house. “Come on in, Mr. Dominic. Come on, beta , tell me all about where you’ve been. Are you alright?”
And then, with my mother’s hand in mine, my family’s warmth surrounding me, and Dominic’s love in my heart, I let my family in.
I told them all about my revenge. All about the Wildcats.
Not in any gory details. But I shared my life’s goals.
I told them what I did for a living. I explained to them why I had stayed away from them.
We cried, and I apologized. After thirteen long years, I finally ate my mother’s food. I sat with my father and watched television with him. I saw my sister’s room and how she’d asked for two twin-size beds. “I knew you’d be back one day. And I needed you to have your own bed.”
I burst into tears and apologized for abandoning her. She was twenty-six and refused to leave Mom and Dad to find a place for herself. It was the same for Sameer. Both of them knew how fragile my parents were after losing me.
I spent the entire day and the evening with my family, and the entire time, Dominic stayed by my side. He invited my parents to our home. He offered to move them into the brand-new apartment in the building we were moving into. My dad promised to consider moving at my insistence.
I sat on the floor as Maa applied oil to my hair, her fingers massaging my scalp just the way she used to. And when my sister sat in front of me to get me to put oil in her hair, I knew I was complete.
And I only had one person to thank for it.
My home. Dominic Park.