Page 66 of Sinful Promises

She answered instantly. “I’ve got my coffee. I’ve set me and Kane up on the lounge so we’re all comfy. I’m ready. Tell me. What happened with your mom? And I want to hear everything. I’ve been dying with curiosity.”

It was pretty sad that my horrible life was the highlight of hers. Maybe I would go visit Zali when this shit blew over. Lord knew we were overdue for a real get-together.

My wine arrived, and I accepted it with a smile and took a gulp. It was tart and a little nasty, but I took another sip all the same. Then I told Zali all about my discussions with Mother and what had happened to her sister, Lily.

“Oh shit. That’s terrible.”

“I know. I couldn’t believe it. She says she named me after Lily. Two flowers.”

Zali moaned. “Awww, that’s really sweet.”

“Yeah, but she could’ve told me that ages ago. All this time I’ve been thinking it was because she was pissed at my naming ceremony.”

“She probably was.” Zali chuckled.

I laughed along with her. My garlic pizza arrived, and with the amount of large chunks of garlic on the top, I’d need to scrub my teeth for a solid hour before I went to bed. As I nibbled away at the delicious starter, I relayed the beatings Mother got and her story about running away from home.

“At fifteen!”

“Yeah, she said she never went back.”

“So, what did she do?”

“I don’t know yet. But I plan to find out.” I sipped on the nasty wine, wishing it was a glass of Louis Roederer champagne instead. I didn’t even know if my favorite French champagne was available in Australia. It was just another thing I was going to miss about Europe.

“It’s weird that she never told you,” Zali said.

“I was thinking about that.”

Mamma stepped up to my table with a steaming plate in her hands.

“Hang on, Zali.”

Mamma slotted the plate in front of me. “Would you like parmesan?”

“Yes please. Lots.”

She grated the fresh cheese on top of the steaming pasta. “Enough?”

“Prego.”

She flashed an enormous smile, showing off a gold tooth, then nodded and left my side.

“Sorry,” I said into the phone. “I’m just having dinner.”

“I can tell. Italian, by the sounds of it. You trying to channel Roman through your meals?”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

“You were going to tell me your theory about why your mother didn’t mention Lily.”

“Oh, right.” Twirling the fork in my pasta, I said, “I guess there could be a few reasons. First up, it would be really hard to talk about it, and it would make it harder because I was a child. When is the right time to talk to a kid about that type of stuff?”

“That’s true. But how come she never put the photo out?”

I forked a sliver of pasta into my mouth and the first bite was delicious. “I don’t know. But you know what else I’ve been thinking?”

“Oh, here we go.”

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