MIKHAIL
“Tell me,what brings you to Utah?” she asked.
I took her in, wanting to remember every single little thing about her.
She was here.
She was actually sitting here in front of me, and I felt like the little lost boy I had been when they separated me from her.
I hadn’t been like that in years. Defenseless. Weak.
But in front of her, I could see all my confidence waning.
She looked okay.
But there was something haunted about her eyes that I knew well.
It told me that no matter how good and peaceful her life seemed to be right now, it hadn’t always been that way.
I focused on Catalina’s touch to keep myself grounded.
“Just visiting family.”
Her eyes searched mine. “I hope you found her.”
I didn’t tell her who I was visiting, and she’d already assumed the family I was looking for was a woman.
“I have,” I said softly.
She smiled at me.
She had been through a shit deal in life. No way she would have let three men in her house alone … not unless she knew she would be safe.
Not unless she knew we were coming.
I didn’t know what relationship Ricci had with my mom, but I realized now that he was protecting her. He had been protecting her.
He hid her in an isolated mountain in Utah, and how well he did it. It took me nearly two decades to find her whereabouts.
“This … this might be a weird request,” she began, looking nervous. I waited patiently for her to tell me. “But can I … hold your hand?”
I felt Catalina tense beside me. She tried to pull her hand away, but I held on tight, squeezing it gently before I placed it on my thigh and moved my hand up for Mom—Rachel—to take.
Slowly, she leaned forward and grasped my hand in her much smaller one. I wouldn’t have noticed her bottom lip trembling if I wasn't paying close attention.
I gave her a chance to compose herself.
As for me, I was feeling numb.
Of all the ways I thought it would go once I saw her again, this wasn’t the scenario I had in mind.
Not one where we both pretended we didn’t know who the other person was.
She moved her thumb mindlessly over the back of my hand, pausing when she got to the slightly raised skin of a scar there. I couldn’t even remember how I had gotten that scar.
“Is this your wife?” Rachel asked, nodding toward Catalina.
I turned over and met warm brown eyes. “No, but if I’m lucky, perhaps one day she’ll agree to be mine.”