Page 64 of The Stalking King

Maksim stands and gently steps toward the door. “Ms. Quinn,” he says. “I don’t know you very well, but I know enough to understand what you’ve lost. And I know enough to understand that feeling never goes away. I just want you to understand, you’re not making me uncomfortable if you need to feel it. Whatever that means. You don’t need to be embarrassed.”

A knot forms in my chest, full of emotion, but all the best kind.

Mom sits, interlocking her fingers. “I don’t know what to say. How lovely. Are you a psychologist, Maksim?”

“It’s a benefit to my career if I know what makes people tic,” he answers smoothly.

I take a sip from my cup to hide my smile.

“How very mysterious,” Mom says, lighting up like her old self. She seems to have taken to Maksim after his speech. And I can’t blame her. He’s such a conundrum, savage one minute and gentle the next. “What do you think makes my daughter tick, then?”

“Mom!” I say, but I’m laughing too.

This is almost normal, well… on the surface. This is the sort of mother-daughter banter I’ve missed ever since Evan passed.

“If I were a smart man, I wouldn’t answer that question,” Maksim says, winking at me.

I smile, feeling lightheaded for a blissful moment.

“Maybe I’m asking you to be a fool for a little while, then,” Mom says, with some of her old wit.

He chuckles. “What do you think, Lia? Can I dare to answer?”

I place my cup down, my hand shaking slightly. “As long as you know I have access to serious surgical implements.”

He laughs harder, then turns to Mom. “The only thing that makes Lia tick is helping other people. It’s wired into her brain, into her heart. Your daughter is the most caring person I’ve ever met. She can’t help it. She can’t switch it off. It’s just who she is.”

Mom looks at me with glistening eyes. “That’s true. Yes, that’s her. That’s my girl.”

My stomach goes warm and fuzzy.

“I sometimes wonder…” Mom trails off with a loud swallow.

“Mom?” I whisper.

She looks at me. “I should be there for you more.”

“Mom, it’s fine.”

“It’s not,” she says. “And it shouldn’t take the words of a stranger to make me understand that.”

I walk across the room, bending down and hugging her. When I return to my chair, Maksim is looking at me with a soft expression.

He’s my watcher, my stalker, the man who’s obsessed with me, the man who lied, and yet I can’t downplay how special this is.

“You must be very good at your job,” Mom says. “You got into my head like that.” She laughs as she snaps her fingers.

“There’s always room for improvement,” Maksim mutters, glancing at the window. I know he’s thinking about security, about dead Daniel, about his enemies and threats. “But thank you, Ms. Quinn.”

“Evelyn, please.”

Another flurry in my belly. It feels like my boyfriend is meeting my mom. Which, of course, isn’t exactly what’s happening here. But I can’t deny how special it feels⁠—

A backfiring car interrupts my thoughts. Then another. And another.

Maksim looks up and rushes across the room, taking a gun from his waistband. I realize I’m wrong. It’s not a car.

“Down!” he bellows.