Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
The doors let us out on the lobby floor. To our right was the guard station and the room they held me and Sienna in when we first arrived. The left led to the swimming pool and Oasis. That wasn’t my word. Oasis read on the sign beside the greenhouse.
Every part of the Fairfield screamed luxury, but to me the most beautiful corner of this complex was Oasis. Marigolds greeted us at the door, tickling my ankles as I walked past. Tucked within the greenery were little ponds bearing lotus flowers, and in one, the family of frogs that delighted Laurel the first time she saw them.
I paused beneath the apricot blossoms, pointing them out to her. Laurel rested her head on my shoulder, breaths evening out as she relaxed in her favorite place.
“How old is she?”
I felt Adeline’s presence at my side. “She’s almost ten months.”
She hummed. “When I was your age, the thought of kids was so far off. Cinco was a dangerous place. Corrosive. Everything and everyone pure and innocent were stained by this city. You couldn’t live here and escape that reality.”
I blinked at her, not understanding what she was saying. Not knowing why she was saying it.
“It’s hard to believe, but the things I did all those years ago were not for power. It was to give Cinco a new start—free it from the shadow the ledger cast over all five boroughs. I truly thought by the time I had my children, I had made the city safer for them, for you”—she stroked my daughter’s fist—“for the innocent.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am to discover I was wrong.”
My heart squeezed.
Adeline knew. About Luca. About Laurel’s kidnapping. About the terrible reason the Merchants flew to New York.
“That wasn’t your fault,” I whispered.
“An enemy I created used you and your baby to get to my family. How could that not be my fault?” She motioned to a bench beneath the magnolia tree. “How are you? Both of you?”
“We’re much better now.” Together we sat. “Sunny rescued her within hours. She wasn’t hurt and she’ll never remember that woman touched her.” I sighed. “As for me, I think I learned the lesson you did when you were my age. To survive in Cinco, you have to be strong.”
“To survive in the underground, certainly,” Adeline replied, “but I’ll tell you what I told each of my children: this does not have to be your life if you don’t want it.”
I smiled softly. “I know that. I truly do. But I also know the easy life isn’t guaranteed for any family. When I was young, my mother shot and killed my abusive father. She went to jail, and my sister and I went into foster care.” The truth fell easily from my lips. It didn’t occur to me Adeline wasn’t someone I could talk to. “Fast-forward several years, one ex-boyfriend cost me my job and reputation. The other took my home and safety. I was living on the street, separated from my daughter and thinking about suicide long before I met a Merchant.
“Now I’m happy, loved, and, even though I can’t say I’m completely safe, I’m surrounded by people who’ll cross the country to save me. I didn’t have any of that before.” A thought stretched a smile on my lips. “When you find a machine that gives you free money, you don’t walk away, you get every last cent out of that bitch.”
Adeline’s laugh rang like bells through the courtyard. “Well said. I see why my sons are so taken with you.”
My ears quirked up. “Sons?”
“Oh yes,” she replied, amused grin coming back. “They’ve all told me about you in great detail. Want to know how many women my three committed bachelors have told me about before you?” She pressed her finger to her thumb.
Zero.
I was proud of myself for not cheesing and giving away that I was a complete lovesick dope. “Whatever they said, I promise they exaggerated. By the way, Sunny also greatly exaggerated how far along we are in our wedding plans.”
We cracked up, struggling to shush ourselves and not wake Laurel. “Now that you mention it, he is now exclusively referring to you as Mrs. Bellisario.” She squeezed my hand. “Let’s hear it from your lips. Tell me all about you, Mackenzie Blaine.”
We stayed in the gardens for so long, Laurel had her full nap and woke in time to demand dinner. The whole time, I told her about me—not just the bad days, but the happy ones too. The best part, Adeline listened, understood, and opened up to me.
A weird feeling gripped me as we headed upstairs. It’d been so long since I had this—the warmth and attention of a mother. Adeline even kissed me on the temple the same way she did Genny when the elevator stopped on Sunny’s floor. “Wonderful talking with you, Kenzie. And meeting you, Laurel.