Page 178 of Divine Obsession

I crouched down beside her, the cold from the ground seeping through my jeans. “You don’t have to decide that now.”

She shook her head, her hair falling forward in soft curls. “I spent so many years thinking about her. Wondering why she left. Wondering if she ever even loved me.” Her voice cracked, and she let out a bitter laugh. “And now I find out she didn’t really leave at all.”

“I wish I could say something to make this easier,” I said softly, my hand reaching out for hers. “But I can’t.”

She intertwined our fingers, gripping tightly, like I was her only anchor to the present. “After everything… Why does it still hurt so much?”

“Because she was your mother.”

She turned her head to look at me then, her soft brown eyes glistening with unshed tears. The vulnerability in her gaze hit me harder than any punch I’d ever taken.

I reached up, brushing a stray tear from her cheek with my thumb. “You’re allowed to feel this. All of it.”

“Thank you,” She murmured, her voice raw but steady. “I love you.”

I stood, offering her my hand. She hesitated for a heartbeat before taking it, letting me pull her to her feet.

As we walked away from the grave, her hand still in mine, I knew one thing for certain.

I’d never let her face anything alone again.

Chapter 46

Present

I was curled up on the couch with Trevor in my penthouse, an action movie playing softly on the TV. His arm was draped over my shoulders, his hand absently playing with a strand of my hair. I leaned into him, stealing glances at his profile whenever he chuckled at the screen. It felt so blissfully normal that I didn’t think anything could ruin the moment.

A month had passed since I found out the truth about my parents. It was a lot to digest and had sent me down the process of grief once again. Finding out my mother was dead when I was eighteen, was one thing. Finding out at twenty-three that my father had been the one to kill her and had been lying to me for the past five years of my life, was… Painful.

I’d also had a couple of lunches with Ines, who I loved, yet couldn’t talk to about why Salvatore and I weren’t speaking.

I was working through it. Step by step. Day by day. With Trevor by my side the whole time.

A knock came from the front door.

Trevor frowned, his hand pausing in my hair. “You expecting someone?”

“No,” I said, sitting up. My stomach sank as another knock followed, sharper this time.

“I’ll check who it is.” I watched as he strode to the front door, leaning down to look through the peephole. “Oh, it’s Maria.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

Trevor turned back to me. “Yeah. She’s–” His hand reached for the handle.

“Don’t answer the door!” I scrambled off the couch.

His brow furrowed. “Why not?”

“I’m not telling her about us like this! You need to leave. Hurry!”

“Natalia–”

“Go!” I whispered, shoving him toward the back of the penthouse.

He muttered something under his breath but moved quickly, kissing me on the way to the back door that led to the fire staircase.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to the front door and opened it.

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