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His footsteps echoed.
Because the house was empty.
He frowned when he reached the bottom of the stairs, spinning in a circle.
No armed guards.
No Seraphina.
How the hell had he slept through her leaving him? She’d fucked him to sleep last night. And it was a testament to just how comfortable she made him, how much he trusted her, that he’d let his guard down to truly sleep.
He went room by room, but he was the only one in the house. The furniture remained, but there were zero cars in the garage. No one around... except him.
He stood in the kitchen, chest heaving, staring at a piece of paper that sat on the otherwise bare countertop, held in place by an empty wine glass. He swallowed around the ache in his throat, ignoring the blinding pain in his chest as he snatched up the paper and read the two words scrawled there in black ink.
“Goodbye, Julián.”
26
Toro stayed out his month.He didn’t leave the house, not once.
But emptiness surrounded him and echoed inside him. He missed Seraphina as if she’d been a part of him his whole life. He didn’t chase her, even though he could. He didn’t ring off her phone line even though he should have.
He gave her what she wanted because that was his mantra, his goal in life from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her: give her what she wanted. She wanted space, he’d give her that. Didn’t mean it didn’t make him sick that she’d turn away from him so easily. He let his anger at her actions keep him company for the final week he lingered in that house. He remained not because he thought she’d change her mind and come running back. He stayed because he’d given his word that he’d be there for a month.
His word was everything to him.
He checked in regularly with his mother but didn’t reach out to his uncle. He wasn’t in the frame of mind for that. Instead, he spent his days lazing around, remembering the time he’d spent with Seraphina under that same roof.
When his month was officially up, he left, calling his mother as he backed his newly acquired rental out of the driveway after one last look at that house.
“My son.”
The effort it took to smile made his face hurt. It’d been too long since he’d had the chance to do the simple gesture. “Mom.”
“You’re coming to see me?” Patricia asked.
He nodded even though she couldn’t see. “Yeah, I need to see Tío first, then I’m coming to Cali.” With his mother living out in California, he tried not to stay away from her for too long. She refused to move to Atlanta where he and his uncle had their base of operations and he didn’t push. He spent a whole lot of time flying back and forth, but it didn’t matter. Whatever made her happy.
“Hmmph.” While his mother would never tell him outright just how much she disliked his Uncle Daniel and the life he led, Toro understood it was just her worry for the work he did with his uncle. “You sound off.” Concern laced her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s—” He stopped himself from brushing off her question and heaved a sigh, releasing the steering wheel with one hand that he used to rub the back of his neck. “She left me.”
His mother made a sound. “Who isshe?” Her voice rose about a hundred octaves, making Toro flinch. “There’s a she?”
Right. He hadn’t told her about Seraphina. Shit. Toro blew out a breath. “There’s a she, yes. That’s who I’ve been with for the last month, but…” He swallowed, fingers gripping the steering wheel tighter. “She left after I did something for her.”
“Okay, that’s a lot of information you’re dropping there, but let’s start with why she would leave if you did something for her. What did you do?”
As he drove to the airport, he gave his mother the rundown on Sera’s hunt for her son, him finding Israel, and Sera’s subsequent abandonment.
Patricia remained quiet on the line until he was finished and then asked, “Why?”
“I don’t know why she left, Mom. She just disappeared while I was sleeping and I’m—” The thought of her sneaking out while he’d lain there in her bed, cluelessly sleeping, had him grinding his molars.
“No. I mean, why didn’t you bring the information to her?” His mother sounded genuinely curious.
Toro took a moment before he answered. “I wanted her to see that I could give her whatever she wanted.”
