Chapter 29
MAYA
My mom calls the next morning, just as I come out of the shower, with wet hair and slightly damp skin covered in a white fluffy oversized towel.
“When are you coming to visit?” she asks gently.
Guilt washes through me, because I haven’t called her in a while, and it’s been months since I last visited her. I always managed to visit her once a month. But then Zach came along and …
“Soon,” I tell her, trying not to squirm when Zach unfurls my towel. I squeal.
“Who is that?” she asks. “Where are you?”
My cheeks redden. I don’t want to lie, but also, I’m with the son of her enemy and it doesn’t sit right. Especially when she tells me she misses me, and worries about me, and asks if Katherine has been nice to me.
I assure her that she has, because Katherine truly has been a different woman lately, ever since that phone conversation I overheard. Her sharp brittle edges have softened, a little.
I don’t tell my mom about Zach. I don’t tell her I’m stepping back into the world of the Knights.
Guilt slathers all over me, long after I hang up, and Zach is on his knees, my legs over his shoulders, thighs wide apart, letting him feast on me hungrily.
***
We spend the next few days together, hiding our relationship at work, but as soon as we get back to the apartment, work and professionalism disappear. We belong to each other, body, heart and soul.
Being able to go to his party has shifted things between us. I asked Zach to meet me at the diner because I missed him, and because I could see that he wasn’t convinced by my flimsy excuses. I wanted to do something to make it up to him.
But his father not being there has changed everything.
A world without Paul Knight is so much easier to navigate.
I'll be able to go to the party, and I'm glad, because it makes Zach so happy. I get to do the right thing by him without worrying about breathing the same air as the man who quietly ruined our lives. A man who never paid a price for his depravity and deceit. I won’t have to steel myself for his voice, his cutting gaze, his slimy smile. I won’t have to think about how he must have trapped my mother that time in the library, and how he must have looked at her, like she was something he could take.
This means that the original gift I had in mind will now have to wait.
I'd planned something that had been almost ours once. I’d wanted to recreate something small, but precious, and real; something we’d talked about but had never gotten around to doing.
Years ago, on the Knight Estate, we’d planned to go down to the boathouse by the water just before dawn.
Zach said the sunrise was a thing to see.
I remember kissing him then because which teenage boys marveled about sunrises?
That’s when I knew he was different. Special. That’s when I knew I was lucky to have him. But we never got around to doing that because we left the Knight Estate in a hurry.
No goodbyes.
Nothing.
We’ll take the sunrise boat ride on another day.
I find it comforting that Zach is excited for me to meet his brothers.
He makes me feel like I fit in his world, and this thought is both comforting and terrifying at the same time.
He’s not tucking me away in the quiet corners of his life, or pretending I don’t exist when it counts.
What terrifies me is that he wants me standing beside him, in the Knight family, and that’s something I don’t want to think about yet.
***
Fleur takes one look at me and grins. “This isn’t just a birthday,” she says, rifling through my wardrobe like a woman on a serious governmental mission. “This is your red-carpet moment, and you need to make a big splash.”
“Please don’t call it that, and I don’t want to make a splash.” I feel a touch of anxiety. I came home a few hours ago, telling Zach I needed to get ready. He’s coming later to pick me up, because I told him there’s no way I can turn up alone, to the yacht.
She snorts. “Too late. People are going to want to know who you are.”
She hands me a dress I hadn’t dared to consider.
It was something I bought for a friend’s gallery opening a few years ago, when I convinced myself I needed to look like I belonged in a space like that.
But I never wore it, and it sat at the back of my closet ever since, the tags still on it, waiting for when the time was right and I was brave enough to put it on.
It’s an olive-colored midi silk slip dress, with a clean neckline and thin spaghetti straps.
It’s cut on the bias so it moves when I walk.
It also has a back that exposes more than I feel comfortable with, but Fleur insists.
I quickly put it on and almost don’t recognize myself when I stand in front of the mirror.
I’m stunned into silence because the woman staring back at me looks softer and stronger than I feel.
“This is the one,” I murmur. I’ve finally become the version of me that can carry this dress without wanting to hide. It’s the perfect dress. I take it off, and head to the bathroom, announcing to Fleur that I’ll be in here for a few hours. I want to take my time getting ready slowly.
It’s a while before I emerge, fully dressed, looking glamorous and feeling like a million dollars.
I’ve paired the dress with a thin bracelet and earrings.
No necklace. I’ve done my makeup so that my eyes are smoky, making my dark lashes look heavier.
I’ve slicked on some nude lipstick and gently ruffled my thick, wavy hair, so that it falls around my shoulders.
I feel ready, and I can’t wait for Zach to see me.
My phone buzzes. It’s Zach, waiting for me downstairs in the chauffeur-driven car.
“Your carriage awaits, m’lady,” Fleur says in a practiced, and perfect English accent.
“I’m so nervous!” I take a deep breath.
“Don’t be.” She holds my hands. “Your prince awaits.”
“Stop it!”
“Have fun, Cinderella.”
When I get outside my apartment block, the sight of a black SUV freezes me. It’s just like the car Mom and I got into when we were driven away from the Knight Estate.
But this is not that moment.
And I am not that helpless teenager.
And Zach is in my life again.
My breath catches when I see him standing there, looking like he stepped out of a movie. He’s dressed all in black—black shirt open at the collar, black tailored trousers, and a fitted jacket that shows off his broad shoulders.
I’m used to seeing him in business clothes.
Crisp white shirts and well-cut suits. But like this?
All in black, he looks a little dangerous.
Less corporate, more movie star. His hair looks lighter, his eyes twinkle, and that light dusting of hair on his face renders him so breathtakingly handsome that it makes the air gush out of my lungs.
“Wow,” he mouths, as I walk up to him. I don’t need a mirror to tell me that I look red-carpet worthy, because Zach’s eyes fill with admiration and awe. He reaches for my hand and kisses the back of it, like I’m some dainty precious thing he’s fiercely protective of.
I lean into him, but I don’t need to tiptoe this time, because I have six-inch heels on. What was I thinking? Fleur convinced me they go with my dress. I press a light kiss on his lips. He cups my face gently. “I want to kiss you passionately, but I don’t want to smudge your makeup.”
I giggle. “Your all-in-black outfit would hide it well.”
We smile, because there is always afterwards.
“Shall we?” He guides me into the car, his hand resting gently on my lower back as I climb in. We hold hands as the car starts to move. He keeps staring at me.
“Is my eyeshadow smudged?” I ask, feeling a little self-conscious.
“No. It’s just that I can’t keep my eyes off you. Thank you for coming.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” I’m so glad his father is away. So glad I get to be a part of this moment. We don’t talk much. We just hold hands and occasionally look at one another.
The yacht is moored along the river, and I take a deep breath as we approach the gangway.
Zach squeezes my hand gently as staff greet us.
We walk up the gangway, and it feels like I’m literally stepping into another world.
My heels click too loudly as I board, and feel a little self-conscious.
I notice some men dressed all in black behind us. That’s when I tense.
“Who are those men?” I whisper.
“My bodyguards,” he says quietly.
My mouth falls open. I’ve never really thought about the other facets of Zach’s life, things like protection and security. “Are they always here? I’ve never seen them before.”
“They’re very good at hiding, and they’ll be out in force tonight because the family is here.”
“The family?” Fear fills my gut.
“My brothers.”
I relax. I see the yacht glowing against the dark water. It’s not quite dark yet, but the lights are shimmering and laughter drifts across the deck. Everything feels expensive and slick. Everything drips with money.
“You know all these people?” So much for a small event.
I try to estimate the crowd size as the yacht continues to fill, guests spilling across both decks and clustering along the railings.
There must be close to a hundred people here, maybe more, moving easily across the space like this is an everyday event for them.
Zach leans in, his mouth low near my ear. “Business associates. Girlfriends of business partners. Family of business partners, and so on, and, of course, my family.”
“I thought you said it was small.”
He squeezes my hand gently, reassuring me. “I’ll introduce you to everyone, and the Italian Knights.”
“I can’t wait.” I try to sound enthusiastic.
“You’ve met Dex, of course. And Jett. Don’t let him worry you.”
“Why would he?”
“His bark is worse than his bite.”
“Has he not changed one bit?”