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“Whatever happens, you—we need to put our daughter first.”
“I don’t understand.”
I run a hand over my face. “I had a life before I became a Blackthorne. A life I don’t like to talk about. Hell, if I could figure out a way to erase it from my memories altogether, I would.”
“I’m sorry.”
I grip the phone tighter. “It’s not your fault, dove. The world is a fucked up place, but I got lucky. At least I ended up somewhere better.”
“I’m glad you did,” Isabella whispers, her voice catching toward the end. “What was your life like, before I mean?”
“Fucking depressing,” I admit it, with a frown. “But I know that what could’ve made it better was if the people who brought me into this world had put me first. If they hadn’t been so fucking selfish, then maybe…”
I try to push away the memories to the back of my mind, but they still threaten to pull me under.
When I blink, I see a woman with bottle-blonde hair peering at me from behind a cloud of smoke. When she stands up and walks over to me, she shakes me hard enough to make my teeth rattle. Then I see a man with greasy dark hair and pit stains under his arms and heavy circles under his eyes. I blink again, and the two of them are standing a few feet away and arguing.
When she shoves him, he frowns and throws his hands up in the air.
“Carter?”
I blink, and the memory drifts away, leaving me with a strange ache in the center of my chest. “You’re going to be a great mom, dove. I don’t doubt that.”
“You’re going to be great, too,” Isabella insists in a clearer voice. “I know you don’t see that or feel it, but I’m sure.”
“You have too much faith in the world and in people.”
“Sometimes people need faith.”
I sit up straighter as the car pulls to a stop outside of City Hall. Through the tinted windows, I can make out the vague outlines of a few reporters standing on either side of the path leading up to a makeshift stage and podium set up in front of the double doors. Cameras flash and voices rise and fall as I push the door open and step out.
“What’s all that noise?”
“I’m with our dear mayor,” I tell her, pausing to switch the phone to the other ear. “I have to go.”
“Let’s talk about this some more when you get home. Be safe.”
“I will.” I hang up and shove the phone into the pocket of my pants. Slowly, I unfasten a few buttons on my jacket before shoving my hands into my pockets. Ernesto and Tristan fall into step on either side of me, and we walk up the path in the center.
Mayor Hughes is standing behind the podium outside of City Hall, a team of burly uniformed security men standing behind him, with a strange twinkle in his eyes. He stands up straighter when he sees me, and his smile is almost smug. I don’t break my stride or falter as the press turns and notices me walking up to him.
Suddenly, questions are being thrown my way, and spots of light are dancing in and out of my field of vision. Ernesto and Tristan are unfazed as they close ranks around me, and we quicken our pace. Once I reach the mayor, he holds his hand out and gives mine a firm shake. Then he pulls me in for a quick hug, but I can’t hear what he whispers into my ear.
As soon as he draws back, a flood of unease washes over me. What is he up to?
“Thank you for joining me today, Mr. Blackthorne,” Hughes says into the microphone. The top of his head is glistening underneath the bright lighting of the stage, and the overpowering stench of his cologne wafts up my nostrils. “I know the two of us have had our differences, but I’m happy to put them aside for the sake of our city.”
I flash the crowd a quick smile. “I agree.”
Hughes twists so he’s addressing the crowd directly. The afternoon sun is waning now, bathing the world in hues of pink and purple and giving everything a strange but ethereal glow. A low buzz starts in the back of my head, but I ignore it and focus on the mayor.
I hate not knowing what the little weasel is up to. But at this point, I can’t afford any more bad press. If I need to stand here and rub elbows with the mayor to get my businesses back on track, so be it.
It’s not the worst thing I’ve had to do, but it is the strangest.
“Mr. Blackthorne and I have had several talks since I became mayor,” Hughes continues, with a lift of his chin. “I know some things were said, and I apologize for my behavior in all of this. I’m only human, after all, and I’m so thankful to my constituents for continuing to take a chance on me.”
Scattered applause rises through the crowd.
