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"I still remember when you told father that Abuela would be getting the vineyard when he planned to move there after you took over," Sofia whispered, smiling at the memory.
"It was always a pleasure when we got to see his displeasure," I hummed in agreement. "Plus, Abuela deserved to finally have peace after her life with Abuelo."
My father learned his corruption from someone, and he called him father too. The lineage to pass down the toxic trait of cruelty would stop with me, but I had former family members who needed my umbrella now. My grandmother always came to mind, constantly reminding me that she couldn't believe I was strong enough to come out different, thanking my mother in her prayers for her love that shielded this evil world partly from me.
"I bet she'd love to meet Millie," Sofia added.
"I have no doubt, but I know it's not the right time for it. Abuela wouldn't be able to rest with a new guest coming, and she's distraught from whatever happened."
"Who do you think is targeting us?" she asked, blinking her long lashes slowly upward to look into my eyes beside her in the back of our private car.
A large part of me wanted to keep shielding my sister from this life, but she'd been proving what that sheltering could lead to, trusting the wrong person. If I truly wanted to help my sister heal and learn, she needed to know enough about our precarious situation. "We have an idea, but it's not concrete yet. When I return, we're planning to go to a gala we've been invited to. Our father is the host of this event."
"You think it's him? He's the one undermining everything you've been doing?"
"We're not entirely sure, but a few sources have been reporting his involvement that puts him in compromised positions to suggest it. We also have a mole among our ranks, so we're trying to solve that while no one else knows." Readjusting myself, I stirred in this uncomfortable conversation.
"So that's why we had to leave the compound when you left with Tony. Someone wanted to attack, didn't they?" Her keen mind had my eyes widening. She shrugged like my reaction was answer enough. "I'm not dumb, hermano. Tony's mom came days before you left, and Costas moved all the females out of what should've been the most protected location. You were planning on someone coming."
"While I enjoy your astute awareness, it's all a little scary to see," I commented.
"I was a fool once." She crossed her arms and sank into herself. "I'll never let it happen again."
"We've all been fools," I whispered. "I remember sneezing and farting in class one day only to be told I was a gross little boy by the girl I had a crush on."
"Letting a man proclaim his love to me in secret and being tricked into his ploy to harm my body feels bigger than the time you farted in class," she scoffed.
"I also kidnapped a woman I couldn't live without," I countered.
"Yeah, you did that," she snickered with a smile, easing her bitterness. "But I'm glad you did. I like Millie, a lot. She and Kasey have really helped me through some of my harder moments."
"I'm glad you finally have someone to talk to. I was so worried, and I didn't see my mistake until after Gustav released that video."
"Yeah, you going to prison gave me less reliance, and I couldn't call Abuela." Using her hands, she did it to show me why. "Videoing and having to sign what happened just felt like too much."
"She knows, Sofe. I had Tony tell her when I couldn't because I knew you weren't well enough to do so."
She nodded her head, knowing our grandmother might focus on her more to make herself feel better. "I thought about moving out there by her, you know. Part of me wants the same solitude she gets from being on the vineyard. No one bothers her, and she roams the nature of the land... it sounds heavenly."
"Then maybe you should stay out at the villa, Sofe. Maybe spend the next year there helping Abuela. I bet she'd love the company, and there’s a great school nearby." My thoughts came to the reason we were coming. "But let me make sure its secure before I leave you there."
"Deal," she laughed. "I'll probably come home for a bit and finish somethings up, but I want to spend at least the summer here."
Looking out the car window, we began traveling upward just enough to see the change in scenery. The view turned into lines of our grape plants and fencing holding them up better. Even though we'd planted all of these, they were still just as beautiful to take in as the natural scenery.
Letting out a breath, this place brought back so much ease. My mother loved the vineyard, and she enjoyed her mother-in-law's company too. Seeing them get along made me desire the same thing whenever I settled down, but Tony's parents weren't that. His father ran the second his son was coming, and his mother never stopped being selfish.
"It's good to be back," I said to the grapes outside the car.
"And remember all the summers we spent here with mom." Sofia's fingers lingered on a sapling nearest to the car. "Millie was right when she told me I'd feel her more in a place she often walked."
"She said that?" It didn't surprise me, but I loved hearing my sister repeat such a happy thing. The connotation of having my mother closer felt settling in my soul. I felt a similar bond by being in the library again.
"You know she did. She's wise beyond her years." Sofia let her gaze swing around the lines of fruit growing and being handled by the workers we handsomely paid. "She reminds me of mom. Gentle but able to handle the hardships."
My mother didn't have the easiest time coping with what her life became after being beguiled into my father's careless arms. She lost herself to his madness, but she fought through long enough to see me out the door, knowing I'd never let my sister fall into their resentful hands. Something sour filled my throat, spewing from my core. Swallowing the self-loathing that begged me to let it consume and fester, I closed my eyes and thought about what Sunshine said to me about my mother's choice. She'd been planning her end for longer than I knew, and the timing of her choice made more sense, but she'd roll in her grave because I failed my sister.
Sofia did fall victim to the corrupt men in our lives. Studying my sister beside me, she had her eyes closed, breathing in the warm air under the heat of the island sun. She looked at peace for the first time in a long time, and it soothed a little of the bile threatening to take over now. I'd miss her by letting her go to come here, but she needed away. She needed a sense of normalcy my manor could not offer.
