Page 86 of Maksim

And me… I don’t have it so bad either.

“Two sisters. Asher, fourteen, and Bora, eight. Both my father’s, in case you were wondering. My mother only ever had children with one man.”

A scumbag, no less.

And Mami doesn’t even know it.

My throat feels like it’s been punched. I’m going to have to tell my mother, aren’t I?

“I wasn’t wondering.”

Pushing away my thoughts, I look over at Maksim.

In the moonlight, his blue eyes gleam at me, and he looks … kissable. Touchable.

Lovable.

“I’m not nearly as judgmental as you think I am.”

I blink, barely remembering what we were talking about.

“I want to know about you, Elira,” Maksim says, shifting to face me. “You know I would never hurt your family, don’t you?”

I look down, not because I don’t believe him but because I’m embarrassed.

He wants to know about me. About the world I come from. About my family.

I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I guess that he would see me the way others do, the way James did. A poor girl from Albania. From a village too outdated to impress anyone. Living a life no one would see the beauty in, that would only be pitied.

I didn’t want him to look at me like that. Look at my family like that. I don’t know, I just… I just wanted to keep my home in my heart.

This place makes me change my mind.

“I know,” I say at last. “I trust you.”

We’re quiet a long time, listening to the frogs croak while our fingers rest inches away on the tailgate.

“I’m sorry about your father,” Maksim says.

My head lowers to my lap, but I feel less empty than I did earlier. “I’m sorry about yours.”

He shrugs as if it doesn’t matter.

It eats at me, the look on my father’s face. There was no sign of remorse, no sign of joy at seeing his eldest child.

He does not love me.

I swallow and move my hands to my lap to pick at my nails. Maksim has been so open with me, so vulnerable. Summoning courage, I do the same.

“Do you think I’m lovable?”

Silence. Chest piercing silence.

“It’s a stupid question, I know,” I go on, my words rolling off my tongue. “But I just mean um…” I close my eyes. “My father doesn’t love me. Daniel didn’t love me. I’m apparently only good for being a whore, so… You spend more time around me than anyone else. Is there something wrong with me?”

“No.” He says it too quickly. Like he didn’t even consider the question.

“You can be honest. I won’t get angry. I just want to know.”