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I figured it was only right that I tried to protect the daughter she cherished until her death. I hadn’t been able to save Isabella, but I could at least save Adrienne.
“Your mother loved this beach,” I started. “She always wanted me to drive her down here so she could see the stars. Aren’t they beautiful?”
Adrienne threw her head back and gazed at the stars. She seemed lost in them and she looked so beautiful as the moonlight shone on her face.
Then, as if she remembered who she was and where she was, she withdrew her gaze. “The stars, really?” She crossed her hand over her chest. “You want me to gaze at the stars after you treated me like a can of worms you would easily throw into the ocean to catch fish?”
“I’d cut anyone’s throat before they got to treat you like a can of worms.”
She pulled her gaze to me. “Is that so? Kill yourself then.”
“Would it really make you happy if I did?”
She held back her answer and started to look at the stars again.
“Did my mother ever stand in this spot where I’m standing?”
“Yes,” I replied. “She probably stood in every spot here. She loved the way her footprints remained in the sand whenever she walked on it.”
“What was she like before my papa?”
I sighed. Isabella was a topic I had never mentioned since she died and that was mainly because no one cared for her story as much as I did. I’d thought to just hold her dearly in my heart forever.
Also, memories of her usually came with great pain. I was left regretting the things I did and wishing I had done things I didn’t do when I thought of her. My heart always stung with pain whenever I remembered how I could’ve saved her.
“Your mother was like a sunflower,” I said, thinking back to all the times I’d spent with Isabella. “She was bright, hopeful, and full of happiness. She had dreamy gray eyes just like yours and they would lighten up when she smiled.”
“Go on. I want to learn everything I can about her.”
“Being born in this dirty world and groomed to be a cruel man, she was the light at the end of my tunnel.” I paused. “I hated smiling and I never did it, not after my first kill and not even with my brothers. But whenever I saw her, my lips would twitch, and I would let them curl into a small smile.”
“Did you ever think you could have a future with her?” Adrienne asked without looking at me. She was dazed by the twinkling stars in the sky, just like her mother used to be.
“Isabella was kind and pure. It didn’t matter that she was born to a greedy underling like your grandfather. She didn’t care for our dirty life, and I never wanted to drag her into this mess so I never saw her as anything more than my sunflower.”
Adrienne looked at me now. “What if she was a dark and twisted and bloody person like me? Would you have wanted her then?”
I’d never thought of that possibility. I’d never associated Isabella with anything dark. She was a contrast to her daughter. Isabella wouldn’t even kill an ant and she was scared of roaches.
And I knew Adrienne’s question now wasn’t about her mother. She wanted to know if I could think of a future with her. The truth was that I had. Many times, in fact. And I always ended up with one conclusion: I wasn’t made for such a commitment.
“No. I’m not certain I would.” I didn’t want Adrienne to think too much or expect me to love her. I cared for her, and I liked her a lot. But love was something I could never give her. Never.
“How was she after she got married to my papa?”
“I never saw her after the wedding,” I answered. “Mainly because I was too busy strengthening my reign in my cartel. But when she first heard the news, she started to change.”
“Change?” Adrienne pinched her face. “In what way?”
“Her aura completely changed. Isabella never wore clothing if it wasn’t very colorful, but that changed quickly. She began to wear dark clothes. That was when she learned how to tattoo, and I was her first client. She changed so much in a couple of weeks. Her innocence faded slowly too, but she was still my sunflower.”
Adrienne’s eyes sparked in the dark and beads of tears rolled down her face. “I don’t even remember her, yet I feel so sorry for her.”
My insides crushed just hearing Adrienne say that. “She wouldn’t have wanted you to feel sorry for her, she would’ve wanted you to be strong and tough. And she would’ve wanted to be remembered for her strength, not her weakness.”
“Do you think she would have liked me knowing I am no different from my papa?”
“You’re different from him.”
