Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“She was pregnant with your baby?”
I study her eyes, the golden brown so warm, so full of emotion. So honest. “It was a long time ago now.”
“What was her name?”
“Alexia.” I take her hand, then move around the desk to sit on my chair with her on my lap. “Her father killed her the night he found out she was pregnant. And I killed him for it.”
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“Like I said, it was a long time ago.” Her gaze moves to my empty plate and her stomach growls. I smile while she blushes. “Come. I’ll make you a sandwich.”
We stand and when I reach for the letter, I see her scan it. “What’s that?”
I put it back into its envelope. “My father’s cryptic letter to us, read by the executor of the will.”
“Who’s it intended for?”
I shrug. “My mother or brother. Hell, maybe me. No one knows.”
“Or they know and they’re not saying.”
I nod in agreement. That is the most likely scenario.
The image of Madelena’s face in my dream as she plunges toward those cliffs, the waters of the raging ocean, flashes before my eyes, and I have to close them for a minute.
“What is it, Santos?”
“Nothing.” I set the envelope back into the safe and remember the stone in my pocket. I take it out, turn to Madelena. I open my palm so she can see it and I watch her, wondering if it will jog a memory.
She looks at it and tilts her head, forehead creasing. She looks up at me. “Where did you get that?”
“Do you know it?”
She pushes a hand into her hair. “It makes me think, makes me remember, the hand on Thiago’s chest. And then hearing the popping sounds like when a necklace or a bracelet breaks and all the beads scatter, the sound they make.” She shakes her head. “It makes no sense.”
“Actually, it does. I found it on the catwalk when I found you.”
“Wait.” She takes my arm and pushes my sleeve up. She touches the bracelet. “You and your brother have them.” Her expression changes like she’s just realized something. “Oh my God, it was him?”
“No, Madelena. It wasn’t. His bracelet is intact. I saw it.” I take a minute because I’d thought the same thing.
“But…”
I turn to put the stone into the safe along with the letter and lock it. “Let’s go get you a sandwich.” I take her hand to walk her out of the study and into the kitchen.
“You kept all my letters.”
“I wouldn’t call them letters,” I say with a wink, switching on the light and pulling out a chair at the counter. “Chicken sandwich okay?”
“Sounds great, actually.”
I take out what I need and begin to assemble a sandwich, then set it in front of her.
She picks it up but doesn’t bite into it. “My mom’s memorial service is next week. It’s been sixteen years.”
“I know.”
She meets my eyes. “I want to go. There’s a ceremony at the church, then my dad hosts a lunch in her memory.”
“Do you think I’d say no?”
“It’s at my father’s house.”
“It’s the anniversary of your mother’s death, Madelena. Of course you’ll be there, and I’ll be at your side.”
She smiles. “I’d like that. You being with me, I mean.”
“Can I ask you a question?” She nods as she eats a bite of her sandwich. “You said once you wouldn’t have a baby.” Alarm has her stop mid-chew. “Don’t worry, I’m not talking about now. I was just curious because you said, if I recall, you wouldn’t have one ever, not with anyone.”
She swallows the bite in her mouth and puts the sandwich down.
“Why not?”
“Santos—”
“I just want to know your reasons. That’s all.”
Her face flushes, and her eyes fill up with tears. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Tell me.”
Her eyes grow darker, and she doesn’t hold my gaze as she answers. To hear her say it, to watch her muster up the strength to, makes my chest tighten and my throat close up.
“What if I hurt her?” she says so quietly I almost can’t hear her.
“Madelena—”
She shakes her head. “You couldn’t be sure. I could be sick too, you know? Damaged goods. Hate to break it to you,” she adds, trying for a smile but shifting her gaze down to pick at the bread of her sandwich as a tear drops onto the countertop.
I walk around the counter to take her face in my hands. “You’re not damaged goods. And you’d never hurt a child, not yours, not anyone’s. You are incapable. It simply is not in you. Not at all.”
12
SANTOS
The next week passes strangely peacefully. My mother and Caius stay away for the most part as they settle into life at Augustine’s. Thiago is still absent, and the Avery family is quiet. But it’s not as though they would call the police or file a missing person’s report. I’m sure Bea Avery has been in touch with the Commander’s old friends, but if they couldn’t find the old bastard’s body, they’ll never find Thiago’s because I have a feeling it’s at the bottom of the ocean by now.