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I questioned his honor as a son, godson, and best friend when I kissed him and confessed my feelings under the mistletoe.
So I’ll have to pay the price with mine.
If there is one thing Florian Price follows…
Is an eye for an eye.
And God help me figure out what he will find equal enough to wipe away the offense.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“If you come to our carnal den designed for gore and sin, don’t ever look back.
For vices offers many things…
Freedom is not one of them.”
Florian
From Jimena’s emails to Florian…
Hi Florian!
Do you want to know a secret?
You’ve been gone all summer…and my brother right along with you, which made my parents sad and cast the Cortez castle into mourning.
My parents are incapable of being happy unless Santiago is around, and I know I shouldn’t resent them for it…but I do.
Why am I never enough for them?
Why can’t my presence alone make Mom happy and Dad at peace?
My parents exist for the rare occasions they can interact with their son, and without him, their lives have no meaning.
A bad man kidnapped Santiago all these years ago and did horrible things to him, so that’s why he lashes out and acts the way he acts. He has scars, and my heart breaks when I see them. Just imagining someone hurting him fills me with pain so strong it’s hard to breathe.
My brother, who is the best of the best, who never looks at me with anything but love…my brother who finds the strength to push through his demons and spend time with me, even if I bore him to death talking about my harp.
I could not wish for a better brother than him, so how can I not hate myself for being jealous of him?
Or, rather, of what he represents in our parents' marriage.
Everyone loves to tell us stories about Pápá and Mama meeting for the first time and how Pápá was smitten right away, so Santiago was born less than a year later.
My brother is a manifestation of their obsessive love for each other during the happiest moments of their lives.
However, every time I look in the mirror, I flinch because I can’t hide from the truth…
I’m the manifestation of my parents’ sorrow, born during the hardest time of their lives when they lost their beloved child and couldn’t handle their grief.
Mama wouldn’t even leave our house during the eight years Santiago was gone because she wanted to be home when he came back. This is how much she believed in him.
Or couldn’t fathom the notion of losing him.
You and Remi were the ones to take me to my first trip to the park. First day in preschool.
They missed it all.
