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“My grandmother hid me until she was convinced that her story, the one where I’d died alongside my mother, was believed. Only then did she bring me back to the village.”
His story is sad yet does not affect me whatsoever.
“It is a shocking story,” I agree. “But nothing I’ve not witnessed with my own eyes.”
Once again, his face becomes stoic.
“You forget, Antonio, I was once my father’s consigliere.”
“What is the point of all this, Antonio?” Alejandro demands. “And how does this relate to this woman Nereza?”
“Nereza is my grandmother,” he growls loudly, making Emily jump.
“Do you recall anything from your childhood, Hadley?” he now turns to me to ask, taking me by surprise.
“No, why would I?”
When I thought there was nothing further that could shock me, Antonio informs me that my father had me escort him on one of his trips when I was a little girl. I accompanied my father on many trips to Colombia, which I remind him of, only to be gruffly told to let him finish. According to Antonio, during one of our stays, his grandmother enlisted the help of Andres’ father to steal me away and hide me down by the Bojayá river.
“I don’t recall that ever happening,” I bluntly interrupt.
“You wouldn’t, dear Hadley, as you were no older than two years old.”
As if to deny me a chance to respond, he relays how it was just before the para-militants bombed the church, killing his grandmother. His grandmother had wanted to avenge her daughter's death, so she kidnapped me to torture me. He never understood her hatred toward such a small child at the time, but he does now. Because of the guilt Antonio felt after his grandmother passed, he gave me back to my father during his next visit.
“Did he try to find me?”
“No,” was all he said.
“The relevance is because of the person you become when you lose all control, Hadley. After hearing the stories, I believe that the torture at the hands of my grandmother somehow created another side to you, an evil side. That side of you, your Nereza, has appeared at times when she believed you to be in danger, but from what Gerrick tells me, you have her under control.”
For the first time, I am at a loss for words. I never understood where the voice in my head came from until this very moment. The last time Nereza surfaced was when I set her free so she could end my father’s life. Now I understand why she desperately wanted to do it and why I no longer hear her voice.
She became my savior after Antonio gave me back, which makes perfect sense.
She needed to protect me from my father.
She also needed to protect me from Matias, and if I’d allowed her to, she would have saved me from Lucas, my father’s lieutenant.
“Your story gives me answers, Antonio, but it doesn’t change anything.”
“I saved you, Hadley,” he argues. “I could have allowed you to die.”
“You saved me so my father could find other ways to torture me,” I angrily declare. “Don’t think your admission grants you any favors.”
Grunting, he throws his arms in the air proclaiming I am impossible.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?” he replies impatiently.
“You saved me, yet you hold Luciana prisoner. Why?”
My question aggravates him, his face reddening instantly. “What I do with Luciana is none of your concern, and you would do well to remember that.”
“Very well,” I retort.
“All clear,” Jackson’s voice echoes in my ear.
