“Take me back to the island.”
Gio smiled, hugging me. “How about we spend our honeymoon there. One month, just you and me.”
“And whatever guards you bring,” I replied petulantly.
“No. Just you and me. Alone. No one else.”
I quickly turned and faced him. “Really? Just you and me?”
“I promise.”
Smiling, I whispered, “I would like that.”
“OhTesoro, you look exhausted. I should be taking better care of you. I am already failing,” he said as his fingers lightly touched the dark circles under my eyes. There was no way to hide them. They’d been there since I returned from the island. No amount of make-up would cover them, and, in the end, I just didn’t care anymore.
“It’s beautiful out here.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I wish sometimes I could live out here where everything is untainted and pure. It’s so peaceful here. No violence, no deception, just beauty and blissful quietness. My mother loved to garden. On the mountain, she would plant all kinds of flowers. She would spend hours outside with her hands in the dirt, trying to create a veritable garden of Eden. She almost succeeded, too, before they took her.”
“Who took her?”
“The Black Vultures. Vain, their president, knew he couldn’t get to me. I always had someone watching over me after Dylan left for the Marines. I was in my senior year of high school when they came. They destroyed her garden. They ripped it apart just like they did her. After that, my Uncle Moonshine put me on a plane to California. He told me to hide. To never come home. I never did.
“Did you not graduate high school?”
“No. I couldn’t even transfer my records. So, Dylan called around and set me up with someone who helped me get my G.E.D. I was so close to graduation that it didn’t take me long with my G.E.D. I enrolled in college. That’s where I met Kitty.”
“What flowers did your mother plant?”
“Her favorite was Belladonna, but she also planted primroses, all kinds of wildflowers and daisies. Those are my favorite.”
“She planted belladonna? The nightshade plant? Isn’t that poisonous?”
“Yes. She believed that just because a plant was deadly didn’t mean it didn’t deserve love and attention. She planted them all around the house.”
“She sounded like an amazing woman.”
“She was. She was happy on the mountain. She loved the quiet solitude the mountain gave her. Who planted the flowers here?”
“I’m sorry to say I hired a gardener. My mother wouldn’t know a rose from a carnation, and Illyria only likes the white ones.”
“The white ones?”
“Yes. My sister doesn’t care what flower it is as long as it’s white. She doesn’t like anything to attract too much attention. Would you like to take over the garden? You can plant anything you want? You could make it just like your mother’s garden on the mountain.”
“You would let me do that?” I asked, shocked at the possibilities.
“Yes,Tesoro. Anything you want. Rip it all out and start again. I just want to see you happy.”
“I wouldn’t need to rip it all out. I like how it looks now. I’m sorry I haven’t been more helpful to you about everything. I just need to get my head right again.”
“Take all the time you need,mia Amore. There is time.”
“Really?” I questioned then asked. “And when do we leave for Italy again?”
“In three days.”