“I just wanted to say…” he trailed off, looking embarrassed, before forcing himself to turn back and make eye contact. “You inspire me. I’m ready to build a life. Like yours.”
I had to look away and blink the sting out of my eye.
“You’ve been through a lot,” I told him, clearing my throat. “We all have. But I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“All twelve of them?” he joked, and we both laughed at his lame attempt at humor.
“You’re gonna do great things,” I assured him. “Just take it one day at a time.”
“I haven’t been very adult about any of this,” Luka said, shaking his head. “When I found out about everything—about who Dad really is, the kind of business he was running—I didn’t know what to do. I just stuck my head in the damn sand.”
“It’s not your fault,” I told him. “You just reacted poorly to a bad situation. But it doesn’t define who you are. What defines you is how you get back on your feet, and look at you now.”
Luka smiled. “You think well of me. Which is good news, because…” He took a deep breath. “The thing is, I didn’t used to think I wanted any part of the company—even before I knew about the trafficking stuff, I always thought Dad was a tyrant who didn’t treat his employees well. But now that he’s gone, I was thinking…I want to be involved.
“I want to work for you. Help the agency thrive. Branch out into more diverse models, start promoting inclusivity, rebrand ourselves as true advocates and allies of our talent. I have ideas, Stefan. I’m ready to do this. I mean, if you’ll have me.”
I leaned back against the seat, mulling over my brother’s breathless proposal. If Luka was willing to come on board and do some of the heavy lifting, bringing with him all the enthusiasm he’d just shown me, I’d be able to step back from agency’s business even more. Spend more time with Tori, maybe start working on building a family. The thought was thrilling.
“Let me be honest with you, Luka,” I told my brother.
I could see the apprehension in his eyes.
“You handled the truth about Dad and the models way better than I did. Maybe it looks like I’m some kind of hero in all this, but it took meyearsto work up the balls to reach out to the DOD. I’ve known about KZM for a lot longer than you have. And for so long, I did nothing.”
“You were figuring out a plan,” Luka said, defending me.
“That’s the worst part,” I said, still disgusted with the naïveté of my youth. “Iwasn’t. I stood by the prostitution for years, because I told myself they were willing. That it was a great way for them to make extra cash to send home to their families. I made excuses on top of excuses, as if I actually believed any of these women had a choice.”
“I’m sorry,” Luka said.
I let out a breath. “You know what finally changed my mind? When Dad made Anja disappear, right before I left for U Penn. If I’d been a better man, I would have cared about the models because what we were doing to them was wrong, not becauseIgot hurt.”
“What matters is that you made it right in the end,” Luka insisted. “You took him down. It’s over now.”
The car had gotten hot and uncomfortable, or maybe I was just overly worked up. I cracked a window and let the ice-cold Chicago air flow over my face. Thinking about all the time I’d wasted, how many lives had been ruined before I started making moves against my father.
Luka was staring at me, silent but waiting.
“You’re right. It’s over. The nightmare is over,” I echoed him. “I’m glad you have the same ethics I do. And I’d be honored to have you by my side from now on. In fact, I’ve been considering how to move forward to rebrand the agency, and I’m leaning toward a new name.”
His brow creased. “What is it?”
“Danica Rose Management,” I said. “Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“Mom’s name,” Luka murmured. A grin spread slowly across his face. “She’d be proud.”
It was a lot of emotion for the two of us to share, so I think we were both grateful to leave it at that and spend the rest of the ride in silence. When we got to my condo, I stepped out of the car and turned back to Luka.
“See you at the office tomorrow bright and early,” I told him. “We’ve got a fuck ton of work to do.”
He laughed. “See you there, man.”
There was a light in his eyes that I hadn’t seen in a long time, a fire that I had missed. I grinned at him, glad that I finally had my brother back and fully present. Glad that we’d be cleaning up this mess together. Who knew, maybe Emzee would want to join us as well.
As I headed into the building, laser-focused on seeing the woman I’d missed most while I was in prison, I realized that I was finally ready to start my new life.
Tori
