Lost in my thoughts, a small body runs into my chest. I huff in annoyance and place my hands on her shoulders to steady the stranger I just walked into. Normally having a stranger in my home would get them killed, but with the ball tonight, there are many walking the halls right now.
“Shit, I’m so sorry,” she says in a strong voice that contradicts her size.
When she looks up at me, my knees nearly buckle and I am speechless. Long, white-blonde hair cascades down her back and shoulders, hazel eyes I have not seen in over twenty years stare back at me, and pouty lips adorn her face that pull at my memory.
I close my eyes, opening them again to make sure I am not just seeing things. My heart hammers in my chest.
Her eyebrows pinch together, and she tilts her head to the side, causing my breath to hitch. She looks so much like Alya did all those years ago. Elijah said she had a daughter, but what would she be doing here?
“Uncle?” I hear a muffled, familiar voice that breaks through my heartbeat in my ears.
My brows furrow, and I clear my throat. Lion wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her to his side.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” My voice comes out more controlled than I feel at the moment.
I look over the blonde again to make sure I have not lost my fucking mind through all this madness lately, but there’s no mistaking what I’ve seen.
Lion keeps his eyes on me, knowing something is off. But does he know who this woman is?
“Akila, this is my Uncle Nate, Malia’s papa,” he says, gaze narrowed. “Uncle, this is Akila, my…uh… this is Akila Lorenzo.”
My eyes snap up at the telling way he says her surname. I see Elijah coming up behind them, and his gaze drops to Akila before meeting mine.
“I can see the resemblance. It’s nice to meet you,” Akila says with a smile, and my heart nearly stops. She is stunning, just like her mother. The irony in her words makes me smile back as I shake her hand.
It makes me wonder what mine and Alya’s children would have looked like if I had not married Tawny instead. Where we would be if things had not transpired the way they did.
Elijah stands next to his son and places his hand on Lion’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go check on Malia?” He keeps his eyes trained on me. Elijah was there through all of it. How much has he told Lion? I have never hidden anything from Malia. “Make sure she’s not torturing anyone before the ball starts.”
Lion scoffs at that. His hand drops, grabbing Akila’s before he pulls her in the direction of Malia’s room.
“Nice meeting you!” Akila yells to me as Lion drags her down the hallway.
“Was no one going to warn me?” I rasp, looking at the man who has been like my brother for as long as I can remember.
He gives me a soft smile. “That’s what I was coming to do now, but it appears I’m too late.”
I run my hand down my face, so many questions forming in my mind that I want to ask, but I know I do not deserve to know the answers.
When I left Alya, she ran off to New York, and by happenstance, she met Marcus Lorenzo, Elijah’s right-hand man at the time. Elijah knew who she was. I’d kept Alya separated from the mafia, but after being together for four years, she’d met Elijah a few times.
If I believed in a god, I would say he is cruel for the things I have dealt with in my life. Like having the woman that I loved dangled in front of me with another man she’d fallen in love with, while I’ve spent the last twenty-six years punishing myself over it.
Marcus and I could not be in a room together, so for the sake of Alya, my visits to New York became less frequent until he and Elijah ultimately had a falling out. So, I am curious how Lion and Akila crossed paths.
“You and Marcus?” I question.
“No,” Elijah growls, then rolls his eyes. “Lion and Akila met on their own. Imagine my surprise when I found out who my son had hidden in his penthouse.”
I snort. “Much like my own, I imagine.”
He gives me a soft smile. “Less pain, brother.” Elijah pats me on the back. “She doesn’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past Lion to have put things together by now. He hasn’t told the girls about their connection. They bonded while Malia was in New York.”
I chuckle at that, knowing my daughter does not “bond” with others. She would try to keep her mouth shut for Lion’s sake if there is something there with the girl, but bonding is hard to believe.
“How is she?” Elijah raises an eyebrow at my question, and I scoff. “Malia, not Alya.”
He hums. “I didn’t see her much, unfortunately. Saria had me by the balls trying to help plan this ball so it fit Malia.” He smiles. “Since your wife was in a prison cell and couldn’t make the arrangements herself.”