Epilogue
MAYA
“So, this is going to be your place,” I tell Marsha, as I push open the door and gesture inside the quiet apartment.
She steps inside, her arms still wrapped around herself with a protective nervousness I have seen in so many of the girls who have passed through here, but, as she looks around, I can see a weight starting to lift from her shoulders, and I can’t help but smile.
It has only been a month or so that I’ve been working here, with Luna, at the apartment building where the girls settle for a little while until they can get back on their feet.
And it’s not just victims of Artem who land here either—no, as we have become more established, we’ve had some requests from women in other parts of the city, desperate for a way out from their sex trafficking nightmare, and it looks like our scope is only going to expand from there.
“Thank you,” Marsha murmurs, as she stands there in the middle of the room, shoulders drawn to her ears. I doubt she will be able to relax until she is alone; no doubt the stress of being on for so long for the Johns she had to deal with is still wearing off.
“Anything you need, we’ll be right downstairs,” I tell her. “Luna is on the desk tonight, and if something is bothering you, if you just need to talk, you can go to her, okay?”
She nods again, and I wish more than anything that I could give this woman a huge hug.
I know that she likely doesn’t want to be touched right now, but she is at the start of everything, trying to figure out what happens next, if anything—if there is a life beyond everything she has endured.
I wish I could convince her that it will get so, so much better before she knows it, but it’s better for her to see it for herself than to have me lecture her on it.
I back out of the apartment, pulling the door shut quietly and heading down in the elevator once more.
I check my watch. Anton will already be waiting for me, no doubt parked outside right now.
I smile at the thought of seeing him again, wondering if it will ever get old, having this gorgeous man lavish me with attention as though I’m the most important thing in the world...
Hell, there was a time when I thought he wouldn’t even let me keep a job like this. But beyond just allowing me to, he has supported me, pouring time and money into the organization that Luna and I are giving shape to.
There’s still a long way to go, but it’s really beginning to come together now; of course, we operate outside the law, which means that we do not have to worry about finding a way to get these girls out of their situation without violence or retribution.
Anton has led his men in that side of things, breaking down these pathetic businesses built on the backs of these innocent women, and I have dealt with the aftermath, helping them get back on their feet, to figure out college applications and job posts and a first month’s rent for their new homes.
As tough as it has been to see the pain so many of them endure, the comfort we can offer them is everything to me.
“Hey, Anton’s outside,” Luna calls to me, as I step out of the elevator. I raise a hand to thank her, coming over to the desk to make sure nothing else has come in.
“All good?”
“All good,” she replies, raising her eyebrows and peering down at my belly. “You need to get home. I don’t even know how you manage on your feet all day, that pregnant...”
“I’m fine,” I laugh. “But point taken. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“See you, Maya.”
I head for the door, and sure enough, there is Anton, leaning against his car and waiting for me.
I can’t stem the little flutter in my chest at the sight of him, as ridiculous as I know it is.
I have known this man for the better part of a year now, and he still sends this electric current coursing through me, as though everything in me is being pulled in his direction.
“Well, good evening,” he greets me, and I hurry over to him and wrap my arms around him to give him a kiss.
“And good evening to you to, fine sir,” I joke back. “Good day?”
“Mhm.”
I know better than to ask for the details.
He protects me from them, as much as I try to insist to him that I do not need it.
I get it, I do—he wants to keep me from any more stress, since this pregnancy has been laced with so much of it, but the baby is just fine.
The doctor—a real one, this time, not one who works for this underworld—has assured us that they are in perfect health, and now, it’s just a matter of bringing them into the world.
“Well, I’m starving, I could use some pizza,” I reply, as I pull back to get into the car. “You think we could stop for takeout on the way home or…”
Suddenly, something twinges low in my belly, and I grasp my stomach, wincing.
“Maya?” he demands, his voice written with concern, as he leans down to check on me. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, just Braxton-Hicks,” I reply through gritted teeth, as I try to breathe my way through the pain. But, just as it is beginning to ease, I feel another sensation, something entirely new.
And I look down to see that my shoes are soaked, the hem of my dress slick with fluid.
“Oh, my God,” I gasp. “I think...”
“I think your waters just broke,” he fills in for me. The two of us just stand there for a moment, the enormity of the situation hitting us like a ton of bricks—and then, of course, he springs into action.
“Okay, we need to get you to the hospital,” he announces, as he moves me into the front seat, pulling a pillow from behind to tuck under the small of my back. “Where’s the nearest one? Shit, let me pull it up...”
“Oh,” I groan, hands on my belly, as another shock of pain courses through me. I can hardly believe this is really happening, but there’s no getting away from it.
I’m going to have this baby.
Our baby.
He slips into the driver’s seat once he has the map pulled up, and grabs my hand, pulling it to his lips and pressing a kiss against it.
“Just hang on a little longer, Maya,” he murmurs to me, as he takes the wheel, letting me hold on to his other hand to squeeze on as another wave of pain courses through me. But I stop him just before he pulls out from in front of the building, and he looks over at me.
“You okay-?”
“I will be,” I reply, and I bite my lip, beaming at him. “I just... I can’t believe that we’re going to be parents...”
And with that, he finally grins, like it is just sinking in what we are doing here.
“Holy shit,” he mutters. “We’re going to be parents...”
He pulls me close again, head against mine, and for a second—perhaps the last second we’ll get like this in a while—it’s just the two of us, against the world, like it was when we first met.
“I love you so much, Maya,” he murmurs to me.
“I love you too,” I whisper back – and then, another shock of pain consumes me, and I groan and wriggle in the seat. “Okay, come on, let’s get out of here – I don’t want to have this baby in a car...”
And he puts his foot down, not taking his hand off mine for a moment.
And, even as we cut into the dark night beyond, towards the hospital where I’m going to have my baby, I know this is where I want to be.
No matter how hard this gets, no matter what comes next, I know I want to be doing it all at his side.
And nothing will sway me from that.
Because I love him, and he loves me, and this child is going to be raised with all the love in the world.
The End.
P.S. If you enjoyed reading Sold to My Ex’s Brother, then I think you’ll enjoy Marrying My Ex’s Brother! Swipe to the next page for a quick sneak peek…