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I won’t argue that. If I could resurrect the prick from the dead, I’d do it just to send him back to hell myself.
“Does Bianca know about her father?” Maria asks.
“She knows he’s gone, but she doesn’t know he killed himself.”
Maria nods and lowers her gaze, avoiding mine. “I won’t pretend to be innocent in this situation. There were so many things I should have done differently. But you weren’t the only one he fooled with his lies, Madden. He fooled us all.”
“What do you mean?”
“That last night you saw Bianca, did she tell you why she was so upset?” she asks.
My gaze drifts behind her as I consider if I want to answer that question, even though it’s plagued me for years. I knew something was off that night, even as fucked up in the head as I was.
“She wouldn’t tell me,” I acknowledge reluctantly. “She just said she wanted to leave.”
“That was the day she found out the truth about her father,” Maria says. “That was the day we both learned he wasn’t even sick. He never had cancer.”
I stare at her in disbelief. Even though Luis had proven himself to be a compelling actor, it’s hard to convince myself that he could do something like that to his own family.
Maria wipes away a fresh onslaught of tears as she begins to explain. “I’d started to have my suspicions when the finances weren’t adding up. The amounts he’d allocated for his treatments kept getting bigger and bigger, and he’d never let us attend any of his appointments with him. He was a proud man, so I thought he just didn’t want us to see him that way. But that afternoon, some strange guy showed up at the house. He told me how much Luis owed him for illegal gambling debts, and he threatened to hurt both of us if it wasn’t paid. It had been going on for years under my nose, and I had no idea.”
“Jesus.”
I scrub a hand across my face as I recall the devastation in Bianca’s eyes that night. She was desperate and frantic, and I couldn’t make sense of it at the time, but now it all has haunting clarity.
“I shouldn’t have told her the way I did,” Maria says. “But I was upset, and deep down, I knew Bianca wasn’t happy. She was with Adam because she wanted to save her father, not because she loved him. I wanted her to know so she could make the choice for herself, but now I can’t help thinking I should have done more. I should have protected her, stopped her from going back… something.”
“We both should have done more.” A thousand regrets lance through me as I admit the painful truth.
Silence and misery engulf the space between us until Maria finally speaks again.
“Do you think she’ll ever remember who we are?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, my voice completely devoid of hope.
“If she does….” She leaves the rest unsaid.
“If she does, I’ll let her know you want to see her,” I tell her. “What she does with that information is up to her.”
She offers me the first smile I think she’s ever given me. “Thank you, Madden.”
She gets back into her car, and I get back onto the bike and watch her drive away. It feels like something has shifted in me as I consider the events that triggered Bianca’s emotions that fateful night. I never thought I’d be able to relate to Maria on any level, but one thing she said rings true. I will carry that guilt for the rest of my life.
I reach for my helmet, and my phone rings. When Jackie’s number shows up on the screen, I answer right away.
“Hey, I’m sorry I’m running late. I’m on my way—”
“Madden,” Zoe blurts through a mouthful of tears.
“What is it?”
“Grandma won’t wake up,” she sobs. “They’re taking her to the hospital.”
Chapter 74
Madden
—PAST—
After about two weeks of bickering, Lilith shows up one afternoon when the guys are down at the beach. It’s clear as soon as I meet her gaze, she didn’t come here to see all of us. She parks on the patio lounger and lights up a cigarette while I finish my physical therapy exercises. Neither one of us says a word for about a minute, and it’s awkward as fuck with her watching me.
“Do they know how much pain you’re in?” she asks.
I flick my gaze away and shrug, annoyed that she’s picked up on it so easily. “We’re all in pain.”
“That may be true.” She exhales, a cloud of smoke dissipating into the air. “But you can barely hold your guitar by the end of the night. How do you think you’re going to pull off this tour?”
“What I can and can’t pull off is my business.” I toss her a glare. I swear all this chick does is try to provoke me.
