“Sarah Greene. She was a daughter of the Disciples of the Word. I don’t know who her parents were. Carmine looked, but the records were minimal at best. After the birth, baby Emma was sent back to Oregon, where she was taken care of and raised within the cult. At the age of five, she was handed over to Ari, who from that time raised and cared for the little girl. As I said, I knew of Ari because of my biological father’s meetings with the cult leader. At the time, I didn’t know the child Ari was caring for was your daughter.”
All eyes turned to Ari, who cowered deeper into her chair as she softly added. “My uncle asked me to take care of Emma. I didn’t tell him no. She was a sweet little girl and I liked having her around. About a month before my uncle told me it was time for me to take my place in the cult, I found some documents regarding Emma. It was her birth certificate stating her mother and father’s name. I didn’t think anything of it until Ghost brought me here and I met you, Max. When I realized my Emma was your daughter, I didn’t know what to do. Then everyone rescued Layla and brought her here. I remembered her. She was nice to me. A couple of nights after her rescue, she snuck into my room. We talked. That’s when I told her about Emma. She asked me to keep quiet until she could confirm everything. So, I did in case I was wrong. I didn’t want to scare Emma.”
Ghost turned to look at his wife. When Ari looked up at him with tears in her eyes, Ghost’s anger faded as he pulled her into his arms, hugging her. “I didn’t know, Balthazar. I wasn’t sure. I would have told you. I promise I would have.”
“I know Angel. I know.” he soothed.
“I was the one who contacted Ari when Carmine found the documents. He also found an extermination order. The head of the Society was planning to kill the little girl. I knew I had to get her out of there fast,” Layla continued. “I knew that Ari lived in that cult, that she cared for the little girl. I also knew the only way to get the girl away from the cult was with Ari’s help. Ari told me once that she promised the little girl she would come for her one day. All I needed was a way in. That’s when Ari told me that Gadget snuck into the cult and got her out without too much fuss.”
Phantom huffed, leaning back in her chair as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Little fuss? He was shot full of holes.”
“Woman,” Ghost groaned, rolling his eyes.
“Anyway, because Gadget was familiar with the layout of the cult’s compound, I told Ari to only tell Gadget. Why she included Phantom, I don’t know. I told Gio once we were in the air and asked him to make a small detour to Oregon. That’s it. The whole story.”
Ari sniffed adding more. “I knew that Phantom was protective of her brother. She hasn’t forgiven Baltazar for what happened to Gadget the last time he was there. I thought if she went and there was some kind of trouble, she would blame me instead of Baltazar. He really didn’t mean for Gadget to get hurt. It was my fault, actually. I refused to jump. He had to make me.”
Several of the men hid their smiles, even Ghost, who kissed the top of her silvery white hair. Ari really was a sweet woman. Too damn good for this club.
Layla stood, then walked over to stand before Max and me before kneeling. She handed Max a picture and softly said, “She looks just like you, Max. She’s safe now. No one can ever use her against you again. She can’t wait to meet you.”
Max’s hand shook as he took the picture, and we looked at the little girl smiling back at us. She really did look like Max. Long blonde wavy hair, his electric blue eyes, even her crooked smile matched his. She was perfect.
“She knows about me?”
Layla nodded, turning to Ari. “You can thank Ari. She told Emma who her real parents were and that someday, she would help her find them.”
Max turned to Ari and whispered, “Thank you.”
“Where is she, Layla?” I asked, needing to be sure she was really safe. I hadn’t even met the girl, but I felt a strong, deep protectiveness come over me seeing her smiling face. She was Max’s daughter. Soon to be my daughter.
“She’s safe. That’s all you need to know for now. I know you want to go to her, but you can’t. Not right now. Right now, we need to take care of what’s coming. Because tomorrow, all hell is going to break loose.”
“And that’s where I come in,” Giovanni said, speaking clearly. “If you lovely ladies wouldn’t mind giving us the room, there are some things we need to discuss.”
Nodding, I turned and gave Max a quick kiss before hopping off his lap. He grabbed my arm. Looking at him, he said, “Thank you baby. For everything.”
Leaning over, I took his face in my hands and said, “I love you, Max. No more secrets.”