31. Anton
ANTON
I slip my hand into hers as she steps out of the car and give it a squeeze as she stares nervously up at the building in front of her.
“You sure you want to do this?” I ask her softly, and she presses her lips together and nods.
“Yeah, certain,” she replies. “I know I can help. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t do anything.”
I nod and lead her away from the door to the large building before us, which we have turned into a part-hotel, part-office for the women who are emerging from Artem’s auction ring.
We have been shaking loose all the ones who are left, figuring out all the places that he kept them over the years—a few had been more or less abandoned there after the attack that had taken Artem out, but I’m not going to leave them there alone, not after what they have been through.
Luna has been at the front and center of this aspect of their recuperation; my men have been leading the attacks on the outposts of Artem’s that still stand around the city, but from there, the women need grounding, a chance to rebuild, or we are just tossing them back out into the same life that has gotten them into this in the first place.
Maya has been curious about it for a few weeks, and has asked to come with me a few times to see the work that’s being done, but I have held off until I’m sure we have something solid to show her.
I know that it sits heavy on her heart, everything that she has been through and everything that those other women were exposed to, and she will do anything in her power to soften the blow for them.
She is really starting to show now, nearly six months gone; we have decided not to find out the gender of the child, because, in truth, it doesn’t really matter to either of us. How could it, when I know I will love this kid as ferociously as I can regardless of what gender they are.
It’s inspired so much of this, in fact, the thought of what legacy I will leave behind for my child. The one my father left with me, as stained and as black as it was, is something I have always been proud of, but I don’t want to hand off the same thing to my child, not a chance in hell.
No, I want to give them something they can look at and know is making a different in the world, and this is the first step to making that happen.
Inside, Luna is waiting for us, and she greets me with a smile. She has cut her hair short, and more often than not wears cargo pants and a baggy tee, but she seems more confident than ever.
“Hello, Pakhan,” she greets me, and she lowers her head to say hello to Maya. “And Maya. I’m so glad you could visit us.”
“Me too,” Maya replies, as Luna guides her to a seat in the large entry room. I notice a woman huddled over by the desk at the door, still looking as though she is waiting for the penny to drop.
Luna follows my gaze and grimaces slightly, lifting a hand to let us know she will be right back. She heads over to the woman’s side and touches her arm, causing the woman to jump. But, as Luna lowers her voice and begins speaking with her, she seems to unwind slightly, some of the tension easing.
I glance over to see Maya watching them curiously, and I rest a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at me, her eyes shining.
“You have all this space just for the women who got taken by Artem...?”
“They need it,” I explain. “Luna pointed it out to me, unless we get them out of the situations they were in before and give them a good start somewhere new, they’re only going to get drawn back in again and again and again. This is the best way we can protect them from it.”
She reaches up to give my hand a squeeze.
“It’s amazing, Anton. It really is.”
“You guys want to have a look around?” Luna asks, as she steps back to join us, and Maya, with a slight wobble, gets to her feet.
“I’d love that. Where should we start?”
“I know that Olivia was hoping to meet you, Anton,” she replies, glancing back at me. “She’s in one of the apartments on the top floor, why don’t you join me and you can see her in person...?”
We catch the elevator upstairs, and Maya slips her hand into mine, giving it a tight squeeze like she is still trying to make sense of everything going on here.
I know it must be a lot, realizing how close she came to all of this being her life, but she is smiling as the door opens and we step out into a corridor that leads off into a few apartments surrounding it.
Luna steps forward and knocks on one door, which opens a moment later, to reveal a skinny, malnourished-looking teenage girl on the other side. She peeps around nervously, but when she sees that Luna is there with us, her face brightens.
“Is this…?”
This is the Pakhan, yes,” Luna replies, gesturing back to me. “The man who saved you.”
The woman presses her lips together for a moment, like she’s almost too overwhelmed to know what to say, and then she begins to gush.
“I... I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for all of this,” she tells me, her voice bubbling over with emotion, speaking quickly like she might think better of it if she isn’t speedy.
“When I first started working for Artem, you have to understand, I never thought that something like this would happen. I was just desperate, looking to make any kind of money I could, and then I was caught up in all of this shit and I didn’t know how to get out of it and—”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I tell her, lifting a hand to steady her. “I’m only putting right what my brother should never have been allowed to do in the first place.
“Still,” she replies, twisting her hands around themselves. “I... thank you, Pakhan.”
“Anton, please.”
She smiles slightly. “Anton.”
“Would it be okay if they had a look around your apartment?” Luna asks. “I know Maya wants to get a feel for this place...”
“Oh, of course,” she replies, stepping aside at once. “I’m sorry, it’s kind of a mess, I’m still getting used to living in a place this big...”
As we head inside, I glance around; there is nothing more than a few items of clothing strewn around here and there, a coffee cup sitting out on the table, hardly any mess to speak of.
But, I suppose, a woman like this, one who has been taught to make herself small in every way she can, must feel like her very presence is an imposition she has to make right.
“You’re way tidier than me,” Maya remarks, with a slight laugh, and Olivia begins to untense slightly.
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m a mess,” Maya replies breezily. “You should see the state of my wardrobe, I just can’t keep on top of it.”
Olivia bites her lip.
“It’s just that this is the first real place I’ve had of my own,” she admits suddenly. “And I...I want it to look nice, that’s all.”
Her voice is laced with sadness, and Maya frowns, shifting towards her slightly.
“You never had a place of your own before?”
She shakes her head. “I got kicked out of my foster home when I was fifteen,” she explains. “And I just... had to figure it out from there.”
Figure it out.
Those words hold a whole lot of weight, even if she does not seem to realize it.
My chest aches for her, thinking about the shit a young woman like that might have had to go through on the streets just to survive.
I can tell that Maya’s mind is in the same place, that she knows better than I do what it takes to make it in this world that seems so set on destroying so many of the young women who pass through it, but I don’t pry for more.
“Well, you’re here now, and that’s what matters,” Maya tells her firmly. “Anything you need, just let us know, and we’ll help, okay?”
We. She talks about us like a unit now, and I guess we are. That connection between us has only intensified in the last few months, as I have offered her more and more freedom, seeing her come back to me each and every time.
“I know, thank you,” Olivia replies. “Luna—she’s already been such a help to me, I don’t think I would have been able to make it through if it hadn’t been for her...”
“Oh, you’re stronger than you think, Olivia,” Luna replies, shaking her head.
“You really are,” Maya agrees. Olivia glances over to the small kitchenette, as though something has just crossed her mind, and perks up at once.
“Can I make you coffee?” she asks proudly, as she heads over to gather some cups. Luna goes to help her, and Maya glances up at me, giving my hand a squeeze.
“She’s going to need a lot of help to get back on her feet,” she murmurs, and I shrug.
“Anything she needs, it’s here.”
She looks around for a moment, nodding, as though something is lingering at the back of her mind.
“I... I think I’d like to work here, too.”
I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. Can’t say this comes as much of a surprise, given how much she has been asking me about it, but I guess seeing it in person has thrown it into sharp relief.
“You do?”
She nods. “I... I know what it’s like to feel like you haven’t got any way out,” she explains.
“And I think I can relate to these girls. Show them that there’s a life on the other side of this, and that they just need to stick it out and everything will be okay.
If I’d had someone like that when I had first gone through this... ”
She shakes her head.
“I want to turn all the shit that happened into something worthwhile,” she finishes up. “I feel like I can do that here, right?”
She turns to me, and I know she is waiting for my permission; in all of this, she still hasn’t stopped seeking it out, even as I try to convince her that she doesn’t have to anyone.
But if she is going to come work for me, I guess that it makes sense that she would run it by me first—as more than just her partner, but the head of this organization.
“Let me get this straight,” I ask, as I loop my arms around her waist. “You’re saying that you want me to be your boss...?”
“Hmm, I bet I’d get the best benefits,” she giggles, as she leans into me. “You think I could do it, though?”
“Of course you could,” I reply. “You can do anything you want, Maya. I’ll make sure of that.”
She drops a kiss on my lips, not taking things too far, given that there are other people in the room.
But I know that she is excited. And that this is something she is seriously passionate about; making the world a better place for the people who come after her, using the memories that keep her up at night to turn the world around her into a kinder, more decent home for our child, by the time they come along.
All the reasons, pretty much, why I love her as much as I do. She gazes at me for a moment, and then we both catch the scent of coffee, looking around to the kitchen.
“Uh, sorry that the cups don’t match,” Olivia apologizes, pulling a face. But Maya just smiles as she takes her from her, shaking her head.
“No need to be,” she replies, as I put my arm around her waist again. “They’re perfect.”