Chapter 5 What Comes After
Milan POV
The way Avi attached himself to this man catches me off guard.
He looks so calm holding him.
Avi’s cheek is pressed against King’s chest, one tiny fist curled into the front of his shirt like he’s known him longer than a few hours.
Daniel was never this calm around them.
Even when the boys were babies, he always felt tense. Like every cry irritated him. Every little hand reaching for him was an inconvenience.
Avi isn’t autistic, but he can tell when someone isn’t calm.
He always has. If somebody is frustrated, irritated, too loud, he picks up on it fast.
King looks over at me from the seat.
“May I ask a question?” he asks.
“Sure,” I say.
“It’s actually two.”
“Okay,” I say quietly.
“What do you want to do now? And how far are you willing to go?”
My eyes lock on his.
I don’t answer right away.
What do I want?
Nobody has asked me that in so long that the question feels harder than it should.
“I never thought I would actually get out, so I never thought about after,” I say.
Getting out was the whole plan. Save money. Wait for a chance. Grab the boys. Leave.
There was never anything after that.
“She’s good with numbers, King. She went to school to be an accountant,” Yana says from the wheel.
His eyes go wide.
“Really?”
I nod.
“Well, when and if you are ready, I may have a job for you,” he says.
“May?” I ask.
He chuckles.
“Well, I do, but I didn’t want to put too much on you. I do need a bookkeeper. A loyal one.”
A job.
The word sits strangely in my chest.
Something that would be mine. Something Daniel didn’t choose for me.
“No rush,” King says. “Take your time. Get settled.”
“Okay,” I say.
He doesn’t ask for an answer. Doesn’t tell me I should be grateful. Doesn’t make it sound like I owe him because he offered.
I look over and Avi has fallen asleep in his arms.
“You must have a strong calming energy. He’s always the hardest one to put to rest,” I say.
Yana snorts from the front seat.
“Never thought I would hear King and calm in the same sentence.”
“Yan,” he says in a warning tone.
“Sorry,” she says.
I look between them and almost smile.
King catches it.
His mouth pulls up like he noticed too, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Well, if you ever need help, I’m a phone call away. If you need it,” he says.
I look at him for a second.
“Why are you being so nice?”
The question comes out before I can stop it.
I don’t know why kindness makes me more nervous than anger sometimes. At least anger is familiar.
He’s quiet for a moment.
“My little sister was killed by her boyfriend a few years back. He killed himself right after, but we all ignored the signs. So when I see them, I try to help.”
My stomach tightens.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I say.
“It’s cool. We learned from it.”
There’s something in his face when he says it that tells me it isn’t cool at all, but I don’t push.
He didn’t push me yesterday.
So I won’t do it to him.
When Yana finally stops the car, I look out the window.
We are in what looks like an industrial area.
Brick. Metal doors. Warehouses. Nothing about it looks like somewhere somebody would live.
“There is an apartment somewhere in this?” I ask.
He laughs.
“Yeah. It’s hidden in plain sight. Come on.”
He repositions Avi before climbing out.
Avi barely moves.
King comes around and holds a hand out for me as I have Adonis in my arms.
I look at his hand for a second before taking it.
His hand is warm and calloused but somehow still soft.
His fingers close around mine just enough to steady me, not enough to hold me there.
We walk into one of the buildings and get on the elevator.
"I need your key to start the elevator" he says
I hand him the key and he inserts it into the keyhole next to the PH button.
King pushes the PH button.
The doors close, and I watch the numbers climb.
Adonis rests against my shoulder while Avi stays asleep against King.
When the doors open, we step directly into a beautiful penthouse apartment.
I stop walking.
Floor-to-ceiling windows. Clean furniture. A huge kitchen. More space than I expected hidden inside a building that looked almost abandoned from outside.
“Oh no. I can’t stay here,” I say.
King looks at me.
“You can and you will.”
My body stiffens before I can stop it.
He pauses.
Then his voice changes.
“This is yours. And when you are ready to move out, I got you.”
I look at him again.
Not you’re staying because I said so.
Not you owe me.
Just somewhere safe until I decide I don’t need it anymore.
“Thank you,” I say again.
I feel like I’ve said those words a hundred times today, but I don’t know what else to say.
King looks down at Avi.
“Now that little man is asleep, I’m going to take my leave.”
He carefully shifts Avi toward me, moving slow enough that he doesn’t wake.
I take him, and King waits until I have him settled against me before stepping back.
“Be safe, Milan. Yana will give you my number, and if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”
I nod.
He turns toward the elevator.
Something in me tightens.
“I still want the tattoo,” I say softly.
He stops and looks back at me.
Then he smiles.
“Okay. You know where to find me.”
The elevator doors open behind him.
He steps inside.
For some reason, I keep looking at him until the doors close.
“You free, baby,” Yana says, smiling at me.
I look around the apartment again.
Free.
The word doesn’t feel real yet.
I’m standing in a place Daniel doesn’t know about, holding my babies with both of my feet still under me.
Nobody is telling me what room I can go into. Nobody is asking where I’ve been. Nobody is waiting to punish me for saying the wrong thing.
I look down at Avi sleeping against my chest and then at Adonis leaning into my side.
Maybe I don’t know what comes next.
But for the first time, I get to decide.
