“Are you going to tell me how?”
“It’s not my story to tell,mija,or your mama’s. You should ask Toni.”
“Well, now you have me even more intrigued. Come on, Papi, how did the sweetest woman I know save Toni Moretti’s life?”
He turns in his seat and frowns at me. “Your mom might be sweet, Lucia, but she is the strongest person you will ever meet.”
“I know that too. It’s just, Toni is so…” I shake my head.
“Strong?” he offers.
“Yeah. Super strong. Like she’s invincible.”
“Nobody is invincible,mija,” he says with a sigh. “And even the strongest of us need someone who will be there to pick us up when we fall. Your mom is the kind of person who sees things that other people don’t. And when she knows that somebody is in trouble, she will do whatever it takes to help them. As much as that irritates the hell out of me, it’s also who she is, and why I love her.”
I can’t help but smile at him. My parents are so very different in lots of ways. My father is ruthless, stubborn, tough and impulsive. He acts first and asks questions later. My mom is kind, compassionate, always willing to see the best in people, she is tough in a different way to him. But they are always a team. Together – they are invincible.
I thought that was Jax and me too. I wonder what he’s doing right now.
“He’ll find out what’s going on,mija,” my father says as though reading my mind. “It’s what he does.”
“I shouldn’t have let him go alone,” I whisper.
“Yes, you should. He needs to do this with no distractions. He would only worry about having to keep you safe if you were there,” he says matter of factly.
I turn back to the window, wondering if my father is right. Jax does need to focus, but I’m pretty sure he needs me and Matthias too.
I sitat the large dining table, picking over the lasagna that Magda warmed through for me for dinner and feeling like my world has imploded.
How is it that less than two weeks ago I was getting married to the man of my dreams and so insanely happy that I couldn’t stop smiling? Now my new husband is on the other side of the country alone. My father hates him and he can hardly bear to even look me in the eye. Not to mention that I’m potentially about to have the whole world see pictures of me naked and even worse, having my pussy eaten by Toni Moretti.
Jax swears he won’t let that happen but how will he stop it when he’s in Dallas trying to find out who tried to murder his father?
I swallow the lump in my throat. I’ve wasted too many tears already on this whole sorry mess.
I close my eyes and will myself not to cry when I feel a soft hand smoothing over my hair. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” my mom asks and that’s my undoing.
I turn in my seat and bury my face against her. “No, Mom,” I sob.
“It will all be okay,” she soothes as she goes on smoothing my hair.
I cling to her and she lets me cry until my eyes and throat are raw and I have no more tears left. I pull back from her and wipe my wet cheeks with the backs of my hands. “Sorry,” I whisper.
“Lucia!” my mom scolds me as she sits beside me, brushing away a stray tear with her fingertips. “Stop apologizing for everything. You are entitled to a few tears.”
“What am I going to do, Mom?” I sniff.
“What do you want to do, sweetheart?”
“I just want this to all go away. I want to go back in time and never let anyone have a chance to take those stupid videos. I want Papi to be able to look at me again and not see… that!”
“He will,” she insists.
“No,” I shake my head. “He’s so ashamed of me.”
“He is not ashamed of you. Not even a little bit.”
“But he saw…” I shake my head as it starts to spin.