The room blurred. I blinked hard, trying not to cry. From the corner of my eye, I saw Nancy quietly slip out of the room, giving us some privacy. Mom was still staring at me as though I might disappear if she looked away for too long or took her hands off me.
"Mom," I started.
“Shhh...” she whispered, placing her finger over my mouth. “They may hear you. I don’t want them to know I’m your Mom. If they don’t know who you are to me, if they don’t know you’re my weakness, they won’t hurt you.”
I shook my head, too choked up to speak. My mother wiped my tears away.
“It’s okay, Little Flower. I’ll protect you,” she whispered. “I won’t let that family hurt you. It’s me they want. I’ll protect you from the Cattaneos, Little Flower. So don’t be scared. Mama’s here.”
Unable to hold back the tears, I wrapped my arms around my mother, holding on to her as sobs wracked my body.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BLOSSOM
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We stayed that way for a moment, mother and daughter, holding each other, crying for very different reasons. She was crying because she feared I was in danger. I was crying because if there was one thing I hoped she’d forget, it was the Marcel incident.
She was the first to pull away, looking over me again, before clasping my hands in hers and sighing heavily.
"I thought they’d gotten you,” she whispered.
“I’m fine, Mom. I promise.”
Her gaze drifted behind me. Then her panicked eyes locked onto mine again.
"You came alone. They didn't hurt Kelly, did they? Please tell me..."
"No, Ma. No one has hurt Kelly. She’s at home, doing just fine."
"They didn't follow you here, did they?"
“No. I wasn’t followed.”
“I’ve put you in danger. I’ve put my baby in danger. What kind of mother am I?”
“I’m not in danger, Mom. I have security cameras at home. I’ll see it if someone comes for me. I’m safe. I swear.”
"If anything happens, you run."
"Mom..."
"Promise me, Little Flower."
“I will, Ma. I’ll run if anything happens.”
Her eyes squeezed shut, another look of relief washing over her. For a second, she swayed. I placed my hand on her shoulder so she wouldn’t fall off the bed.
“You shouldn’t come here anymore,” she told me. “If you keep coming here, they’ll find you, Little Flower.”
"No one will find us, Mom. Don’t worry, we’re safe. All of us are. I’ll protect all of us.”
"You always try to protect everyone," she whispered. Her hand lifted to my cheek. "Just this once, let me protect you."
“You’ve protected me more than once. You protected me all my life.”
“But I put you in danger.”
