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“We’ll figure it out, Riley. You’re not alone in this,” he assured me, his voice low and perhaps the gentlest I had heard since meeting him.
Maybe even as gentle as his voice had been when he held me last night after my spanking.
I swallowed hard.
I stared at him, his words echoing in my mind. I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to curse him out and tell him exactly where to stick it, but it was hard when he was literally the only person who cared about what happened to me. Ever since my parents died, no one else had seemed to give a shit.
Until him.
That made the anger simmer down and fade away.
I nodded, letting him know that I heard him, and his shoulders relaxed.
“Now, please eat something,” he instructed, gesturing to the plate in front of me.
I picked at the food at first before I finally started to really dig in. The flavors were delicious, spicy and hot and all the things that a home-cooked breakfast should be.
Maxim watched me for a moment, then set his own utensils down, his demeanor shifting to something more inquisitive.
“Riley,” he started, his tone gentle yet carrying an edge of curiosity, “what exactly brought Gregor into your life?”
His question hung in the air, and I hesitated. Talking about Gregor felt like opening a can of worms that I wasn’t ready to sort through just yet, but Maxim waited patiently, his gaze not pressing but expectant.
A part of me wanted to please him.
Honestly, it felt weird.
“He was… a means to an end,” I said finally, my voice low. “I used him to get here to America.” My fingers twisted in my lap under the table, betraying my nervousness about revealing too much.
For some reason, it mattered to me what he thought.
“A means to an end?” Maxim echoed softly, urging me to continue.
I sighed, a long, weary sound. “I grew up bouncing around orphanages and foster homes in Ireland,” I began. “No one really cared what happened to me. I was just another kid in the system.”
Maxim’s expression softened, his eyes conveying a depth of understanding that surprised me. He didn’t interrupt, just gently motioned for me to go on.
“I wanted out. I wanted a fresh start, a new life somewhere far from where my parents died. Gregor… he promised he could get me to America. I didn’t know much about him, only that he had the means and the willingness to help me leave.”
“And you had no idea about his… affiliations?” Maxim’s voice was carefully neutral.
I shook my head. “I just saw an opportunity and I took it.” I paused, looking up to meet his gaze squarely. “I guess I didn’t think about the consequences, not really, not until it was too late.”
Maxim nodded slowly. “I understand,” he said finally, not as an accusation, but as a simple statement of fact. “You did what you had to do.”
I don’t know what I expected, maybe for him to be angry? Maybe for him to turn his back on me like everyone else?
Like a cooling balm, his understanding washed over me, easing some of the tightness in my chest. I took a deep breath and chanced an uneasy smile in his direction.
He smiled back, and I swear my heart did a little flip in my chest.
Dammit, Riley. Get a grip.
Trying to cover up my blunder, I dug back into the plate of food. We ate in silence for a while, but it was a comfortable silence.
By the time we finished, I was stuffed, but satisfied. When I finally put down my fork, I glanced back at him to find him watching me.
“Better?” he asked.
