Page 46 of My Merciless Don

Then I remembered that I wasn't wearing a wedding ring and tensed in panic. Those were the kind of details that could ruin a con. I cast about for a good reason why I wouldn't be wearing a ring if she asked. My eyes met Marco’s as I tried to communicate the problem, but he just looked at me uncomprehending.

If she asks, I'll say it's gone to the jewelers’ to be cleaned. The sand of a Maldives is sticky and that. That should satisfy her.

Instead of asking, her finger caressed the birthmark I had just beneath the curve of my hand between index finger and thumb. The furrow in her brow deepened and she looked up at me, staring intensely into my eyes.

“Audry?”

It was my turn to freeze.

Had she just said what I heard her saying. Did she just call me by my name?

I looked at Marco and he looked back at me with wide eyes. Clearly, he wasn't going to be much help. I looked back at Sophia, who was still staring at my birthmark, but it was as if she was seeing something that wasn't there. “I remember giving birth.” she said sadly. “Audry was the first to be born. She had a birthmark on her left hand just like this. Then Amy came out. Her birthmark was on her right hand.”

Sophia continued to caress the mark, her eyes far away. Then she closed them. “I-I went to sleep. I shouldn't have done that.” Her voice broke. “When I woke up, Audry was gone. The nurse said that she didn't make it.” Sophia shook her head violently, “I didn't believe her. I didn't want to. I screamed and screamed for my daughter. But then Claude came. He said it was true. He said that he had buried her. He took me to her grave.” Slowly Sophia looked up and met my eyes, “so how…?”

“That I'm here?” I finished her sentence for her.

She nodded slowly.

I shrugged, pretending a nonchalance I was far from feeling. “That's a very good question.”

We stared at each other in silent wonder.

Marco touched my shoulder, and I looked up at him. “Are you all right?” he asked gently.

I shook my head, feeling as if I was in a daze. “How could I possibly be all right?”

He pursed his lips, looking solemn. “I don't know.”

Sophia's hand fell from mine and I turned back to her. She was back to staring out the window, her eyes vacant. This had probably all been too much for her. I ran my hand down her arm softly, “S-Sophia? M-m-mom?” I whispered.

She didn't seem to hear me. Wherever her mind had gone to, it was far, far away from me. Marco sighed. “She was with us a lot longer than she usually is.”

I frowned at his words, tightening my hold on her hand. To have come this close… I stared into Sophia's honey brown eyes, so similar to my own, and felt something I never thought I could ever possibly feel.

Connection.

“Oh my God, this is my mother.” I was about to start screaming with just how boggled I was. I had not allowed myself to imagine this moment. At most, I had thought that maybe it would turn out that Amy was a relative. That may be her folks knew who mine were.

I never expected to be sitting opposite my mother. To hear her say that she didn't give me up. To infer from her words that I was trafficked as a child. Maybe that's why I hate human traffickers so much - some subliminal knowledge that I was one of those humans.

I caressed Sophia’s liver spotted hands, so thin, the veins showing through. “Is she eating enough?” I asked with concern.

“I suppose you could ask Nurse Hernandez to be sure, but I haven't heard anything about poor appetite.”

“Can she get out of here? What if I wanted to take her for a cheeseburger?”

Marco put his hands on my shoulders, gently urging me to rise to my feet. “I'm sure we can figure it out.”

I couldn't take my eyes off of her. A nurse stepped into the room. “Time for her medication,” she said. I knew she was inferring that we should leave, but I didn't think I could physically make myself move from the spot I was in.

Marco turned and smiled at the nurse. “We understand. Can we wait outside?”

“Of course. But one of the drugs is a sedative, and she will likely be falling asleep soon after it is administered.”

Clearly, she was telling us to go. I looked at Marco with pleading eyes. I didn't want to go. “Hey,” he said soothingly, “we'll come back. I promise you.”

I nodded in agreement. Somewhere in the back of my mind my voice was clamoring to know why I believed him so easily, but at the moment it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other as Marco propelled me from the room.

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