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“I believe that. Life is a long game of craps. In the blink of an eye, I could’ve been one of the innocent girls in Evin Prison. It could’ve been worse in that situation. Dar and Mona would’ve been alone, with no one to look out for them.”
I looked at Zeke, admiring the structure of his handsome face, which was even more attractive with his black eye patch. His gaze was focused on Maman’s room. She looked like a peaceful angel, thanks to the drugs. My brother sat by her bed, elbows on his knees, while Mona was curled in a ball beside him.
I sighed wearily. “She was so angry when I chose to study martial arts in Japan instead of going to school and becoming a doctor. She told me I was ruining my life and spitting on all the sacrifices she’d made for me. She was right, you know. Not about the martial arts. But about me spitting on her sacrifices.”
Zeke turned me to face him, gripping my shoulders. “Az, that woman loved you. She left everything she knew, traveled to the other side of the world, sacrificed everything familiar, and worked herself to the bone so that her kids could live. What would make your mother proud is for you to keep doing exactly what you’ve been doing. She’s raised such a beautiful, strong, independent, and loving human, Az. I think the reason she said what she said wasn’t because she was disappointed in you. It was because she was scared.”
Zeke was a bridge. He never tried to keep me from soaring. Never tried to hold me down or in place. Since we were kids, Zeke had bent until he broke so I could walk an easier road without fear of falling.
I tilted my head and gazed up at Zeke. He looked like he had a halo under the fluorescent hospital lights, which was fitting because he’d been my guardian angel for years. “What would she be scared of here?”
Zeke smiled and sighed, the type of sigh a parent might give their child when they purposely misunderstood their point. Usually, that would’ve gotten Zeke a knee to his balls, but I was too miserable to be insulted. “She escaped Iran with her three kids so they would be safe, and you work in remote parts of the world rescuing girls from the same kind of men she ran from.”
Tears poured from my eyes as my brain soaked up every syllable like a sponge, and Zeke’s words sank in. I'd helped a lot of women over the last few years, but the one person I desperately wanted to rescue was the only person I was bound to let down.
My mother had saved my life, but I couldn’t save hers.
“Got you some hot chocolate,” Cyrus said, holding out a white and yellow Styrofoam cup with a plastic lid.
I’d been so lost in conversation with Zeke that I hadn’t noticed Cyrus had left, which seemed impossible because everyone was always aware of Cyrus.
“It doesn’t have whipped cream. What kind of beverage place doesn’t stock whipped cream?” he demanded, outraged.
“A hospital that doesn’t concern itself with fancy drinks and Instagram-worthy photo opportunities,” Lev’s deep baritone answered behind me, making me jolt and causing the hot liquid to bounce out of the cup onto my hand.
I opened my mouth to scold him about sneaking up on people when I saw two nurses and an orderly enter my mother’s room.
“Excuse me, what’s happening?” I asked, marching back to the room.
One of the nurses smiled. “Your mother is being moved to the executive floor.”
My heart accelerated. The last thing we needed was a bill for tens of thousands of dollars for my mother to sleep in a fancy hospital room. I knew the hospital wouldn’t care that it was their error; they’d push and pull until they could squeeze something out of my family. “There must be a mistake. We don’t have that kind of money.”
“It’s already been paid for in full, Miss Baran.”
“Who would possibly pay for this?” I demanded.
“Whoever it was is a very good friend, it seems.”
No one I knew had that kind of money. No one, except… I turned to the guys waiting in the hallway, and my gaze zeroed in on the moody man in a hoodie.
Levinston Cartwright.
Chapter 7
Azadeh—Age 29
Present Day
Conflicted emotions burn within me, ranging from homicidal rage to sympathy and compassion. I despise every single one of them except rage. I hold on to anger and let it consume me until it flares brightly in my mind and heart.
My gaze moves to Lev’s face. I note the dullness in his gray eyes and his stiff stature. Unlike Cyrus and Zeke, Lev’s never been able to relax fully. That’s probably why he’s assumed an image beyond reproach. Prim and proper, the perfect facade for a man who wants to keep his darkest secrets hidden from prying eyes. Lev has always presented as hard and cold, but underneath, he has moments of altruism.
I squash down any fondness lingering in my heart for Lev. He deserves an ass-kicking for what he’s done. I still think this is a nightmare I’m about to wake up from. “Is that why you took my sister, Lev? Because you weren’t getting enough attention? Ever thought about seeing a professional for that? Therapy works wonders. Trust me, I did it for years.”
Lev steps forward, using his immense height as a fucked-up intimidation tactic as he towers over me. I reach behind me, grabbing Cyrus’s shirt and tugging him forward.
“What’s happening here? You wanna get naked?” Cyrus asks, lifting the hem of his shirt.
