She heard her mother suck in a shaky breath. “We’ve been much the same, Zoya. It’s lonely without you and Miad.”
Zoya’s voice hitched as she murmured, “Oh, Maman, but I’m here. I’ve been here all along. I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“I thought you hated me,” Zoya whispered.
“How can a mother hate that which comes of her very own loins?”
“Yes…I have two now. Children. Twins.” There was silence again. “They’re beautiful children, Maman. I named them Aytan and Zhaleh. They’re three years old.” She heard Taba crying on the other end, and it made Zoya cry harder—though the tears were joy. Micah rushed to Zoya and sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as she leaned against his chest. She bravely pressed on, “I’d very much like for you to meet them.”
“I want to,” Taba said in a small voice. “Zoya…just know that I love you and I’ve always loved you. I’ll never stop.”
“I know that now, Maman. I love you, too,” Zoya sobbed. Micah wiped her tears and kissed her cheek, whispering soothingly at her side. “I know how hard it must have been for you to call. I thank you so much for reaching out to me.”
“I saved the number you called from those many years ago. I saved it all this time. It should not have taken me so long. I’m just…I’m an old woman set in her ways. I hope you can forgive me for that, my child.”
“It’s forgiven and forgotten.” Zoya smiled, and Micah nodded encouragingly. He was overjoyed that her family was trying to reconnect. He was so proud of Zoya for being big enough to bury the hatchet, too.
Taba Rao replied, “Now, about these grandchildren of mine. I think perhaps little feet pitter pattering around the house is just what Musa and I need. We would like for you to come for a visit…you and your husband.”
They were the words Zoya had been waiting to hear for nearly half a decade. She covered her mouth to muffle her cries of happiness. Through the tears, she found the words to say, “Thank you, Maman. We’ll come.” And, when she hung up the phone, Zoya realized she had truly found paradise. It was the place where love outlasted traditions. It was the place where cultures clashed and merged to create a beautiful amalgam. It was right next to her husband, with her children, and her parents finally pushing past their bigotry to try to develop acceptance. Created from one soul, Micah and Zoya’s life together was in harmony at long last, as it would remain for the rest of their days.
THE END
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OTHER BOOKS BY CLAIRE ST. ROSE
I LIVED MY LIFE INSIDE THE LINES… UNTIL HE CAME ALONG AND WRECKED IT.
Strict. Careful. Safe.
That’s how I lived my life.
But then Micah came crashing in…
And showed me how to be a bad girl for him.
I was raised to obey authority, not to question it.
So when Micah said he wanted to make me his…
I didn’t know how to say no.
Not that I wanted to.
He was six and a half feet of muscle, tats, and a bad attitude.
And God, he drove me crazy.
I’d never met anyone quite like him before.
Never encountered a man who could make me feel so many different things.
Passion, anger, panty-melting desire…
He knew how to press every button.
But everything in this world has consequences.
And if I want to be with the bad boy, I’ll have to pay the price:
With everything I’ve ever loved.
***
Saul won’t stop until he owns all of me.
I’m already sick of this podunk Texas town.
But I’m a movie star, not a hillbilly.
At least, that’s what I used to think.
Until Saul showed me what I really am: his property.
He was just another faceless muscle man on set.
Keep pedestrians out of the shot, beat back the paparazzi – that kind of thing.
Normally, I wouldn’t bat an eye.
But Saul was different.
He wasn’t just muscle – although he definitely had plenty of that.
He wasn’t just tough – although one look from his steely eyes had me trembling.
He was so much more.
He was either a monster or an angel.
A sinner or a saint.
He’s going to either bend me over his knee and break me completely…
Or make me fall for a man I never meant to notice.
But one way or another, Saul is going to make me his.
***
I’m back. Time to reclaim what’s mine.
They forced me out with a gun to my head.
I’ve spent four years dancing with the devil in cartel country.
I’m coming home now.
And when I do, I’m gonna have my revenge on the bastards who wronged me.
I’ve got a fire in my belly and fresh scars on my skin.
I’m angry.
Hell, I’m more than angry.
I am righteous fury itself.
They stabbed me in the back.
Betrayed me.
The snakes, the cowards…
They took everything I ever gave a damn about.
And I’m about to do the same to them.
But when I kick down the door, something stops me in my tracks.
A girl with a look in her eyes.
It’s a look I’ve never seen before.
Somewhere between a dare and a plea.
It says, “Take me…if you can.”
Believe me, baby:
After I have my way with you, you’ll never want another man again.
***
The more she loves me, the more I’ll ruin her.
She found a monster, not a savior.
I lose my control when I’m near her.
I wanted to break her.
I never expected her to like it.
I’m not a hero, and I don’t rescue damsels in distress.
I made it clear from the moment I met her.
From the moment I tasted her.
I’m not going to save her.
I’m going to break her.
Make her gasp.
Make her beg.
Make her scream.
Make her into something she’d never dare to imagine.
Not before she came to me.
Not before I made her my property.
***
This isn’t love, and I’m no prince charming
Once I had a taste, I had to have more.
To take her. To own her.
I want her at my mercy.
And I intend to make her scream.
I only cared about my best friend, my dog Joker, until some bastards took him away from me.
I was on a rampage to kill them all.
I thought she was one of them.
Until I had a taste of her and something in me snapped.
Now, there’s no way I’m letting her go.
Not until she’s given me everything I wanted.
I want to make this very clear.
This isn’t love.
This is ownership.
And before this is all over, I’ll make her my property.
She’ll be at my mercy.
With a ring on her finger.
A kid in her belly.
Day after day, and night after night.
***
I’LL MAKE HER MY PROPERTY AND THEN I’LL PUT MY BABY IN HER.
She thought she could change me.
She couldn’t be more wrong.
I made her my property--put her on her hands and knees.
But that wouldn’t be enough, not until my baby is in her belly.
She was a social worker who focused on people on the wrong side of the tracks.
She was supposed to convince people like me to leave the criminal world behind.
She thinks she can fight back against a brute like me.
She thinks she can change me.
She can think what she wants.
But sooner or later, she’s going to realize that I won’t play by her rules.
Sooner or later, she’s going to realize what it means to be owned.
Once she does, I’ll put her on her hands and knees.
I’ll turn her into my personal f*ck toy.
And after her moans have turned to screams…
I’m going to chain her to my bed.
I’m going to bend her, break her, and put my baby in her belly.
***
F*CKING HER WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE PART OF THE DEAL.
I caught her snooping around our turf with cameras.
She tried to talk her way out with her innocent eyes and soft pleas.
F*cking her wasn’t supposed to be a part of the deal.
But it was the only way I can keep her alive.
Erina was looking for the person who killed her brother when she wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time.
I could have tossed her to bastards worse than me.
Instead I saved her.
But don’t let that fool you.
I saved her for all the wrong reasons.
I saved her to see her innocent eyes begging me.
I saved her to hear her soft whimpers each time I press her against me.
I saved her to take control.
To make her moan. Make her gasp. Make her scream.
Until she forgets who she used to be.
Until the only thing she knows is that she’s mine.
***
SHE KEPT OUR BABY A SECRET FROM ME, BUT NOW I’M COMING FOR WHAT’S MINE
I saved her from that den of animals and made her my property.
I marked her like an animal—took my claim and ruined her for any other man.
I thought I had her leashed. I never expected her to run.
But that was before I found her again—and the baby she kept from me.
When I first saw Callie in that den of animals, I acted purely on instinct.
I saved her from them, but I had no intentions of letting her go.
I don’t play by the rules, and I know better than to believe in love.
I made her my property, a plaything at my beck and call.
Her unforgettable curves. Her big innocent eyes.
I devoured every inch of her and marked her for myself and no-one else.
She had her own demons and her own share of secrets.
Those demons drove her to run, and made her hide everything from me.
Even our baby.
If Callie thought she could get away, she thought wrong.
Because when I get my hands on them, I’m never letting go.
***
I LEFT HER A GIFT SHE’LL NEVER FORGET—MY UNBORN CHILD.
She was looking for a way to escape.
I offered her the chance… for a price.
But after a single night with me.
I left her a gift she’ll never forget.
She was a bikini barista trying to save up enough money to escape.
I was carving up the streets of Seattle as the president of the Blue Wave MC.
I saved her when one of her customers went too far.
But I don’t work for free.
There’s a price that she has to pay.
A price she has to bear.
And my child growing in her belly is just the first step.
***
I WON’T STOP UNTIL I GET WHAT’S MINE
I’m a monster who likes it rough.
She’s soft, pure, and innocent.
But that didn’t stop me from claiming her.
And once I had her in my arms, I’m never letting her go.
I was busy running a war for my club, the Apaches MC.
She thought we left her friend bloodied and bruised.
I’d never thought I’d ever be challenged by someone like her.
So innocent.
So pure.
So unaware of the danger she’s in when she stepped into my world.
She doesn’t know it yet.
But I’m everything she didn’t know she wanted.
Everything she never realized she craves .
She chose to put herself in the devil’s cage.
And now the devil is laying his claim.
I’m going to break her walls.
I’m going to take what I want.
And I won’t stop until she’s mine.
***
SHE WON’T STAND BETWEEN ME AND MY BABY.
She was a bartender at a New Orleans bar.
I was in town to do a weapons deal for the Hellhounds MC
I thought the one night stand was where it started and ended.
But that was before I found out about the baby
I spend my days committing every kind of sin under the sun.
Moving guns for high-profile clients has left me with more money than I know what to do with.
Correction. I know exactly what I was going to do.
A reckless night out.
More girls and booze than my wildest dreams.
F*** em and leave em, I always said.
But Alexandra Berndhart was something else.
She was supposed to just be a one night stand.
But after that night, I knew I had to have more.
I had to feel her luscious curves in my hands again.
Her sweet lips pressed to mine again.
But when I saw her again, everything had changed.
I’d left a baby in her belly and now she wants nothing to do with me.
She thinks I’m a monster, a thug.
A criminal that she needs to keep away from her baby.
Our baby.
I’m not going home empty-handed.
And there’s no way in hell I’m letting her stand between me and my child.
BIKER DADDY: The Chain Gang MC Page 40