Page 51 of Dina's Favorite Mistake

Dina swallowed hard, forcing down the bile that tried to erupt from her throat. Her voice quavered as she recounted the night that had changed her family forever. She couldn’t even remember how that fight had started. She thought it was probably something to do with her father or grandfather disrespecting Diego and Diego believing she hadn’t done enough to support and defend him.

They’d been in her childhood bedroom at the estate while they fought in harshly whispered tones. She’d been begging him notto make a scene, to wait until they were home the next day to do whatever he was going to do. To hit her. To kick her. To slap her. To scream at her.

But that had only made him angrier.

And then tiny little Camila had started to cry. It was a trigger for him. Hearing the baby cry.

It had happened so fast. One moment, she’d been rushing to grab Camila from her travel cot, to get a pacifier and quiet her down as fast as possible. The next, Diego had snatched the baby from her arms, torn her away like a ball he was stealing from another player.

And then...

“He threw her out the fucking window, Mirta!” Dina snarled the ugly truth. “He tossed her outside like a piece of trash!”

Mirta shook her head, refusing to believe it even now. Even after he’d pled guilty to child endangerment and attempted murder. “He slipped! She fell from his arms!”

“Fell from his arms through a closed window that he had to fling open? Fell from his arms after he ran across the room to that window?” Dina screeched, her head pounding at the horrific memory of what she’d witnessed. “If she hadn’t been swaddled and hadn’t fallen through those dense hedges, she would have died!”

“But she didn’t die! And he’s sorry for what he did!”

Dina balled up her hands as fury surged through her body. She wanted to scream, to throw something. She inhaled a shaking breath and used every last bit of self-control to say as calmly as possible, “He isn’t sorry. He will never be sorry. For anything, Mirta. He’s incapable of feeling sorry. He’s a monster—and you raised him.”

Mirta visibly shook in her seat. Her mouth twitched, and she blinked rapidly as if desperate not to cry. Eventually, she said, “He was like that from the day he was born. It wasn’t my fault.”

“Maybe,” Dina said, “but all the excuses you made for him are your fault. All the times you protected him when he was younger. All the times you spared him from consequence.”

“You know what he was like,” Mirta hissed. “You know how he could be. Even as a little boy, he was dangerous.”

“And yet you sit here and keep making excuses! You filled Camila’s head with lies. You put her at risk.”

“I didn’t know that he would ever get out!” Mirta shouted. “I thought we were all safe! He was in prison where he belonged. He could be controlled there. I didn’t see the harm in letting Camila reach out to him now. He couldn’t touch her from there.”

“Well, he’s not there anymore, is he? He’s out—and he wants to kill all of us! Even you!”

“He would never hurt me,” Mirta insisted weakly. “I’m his mother.”

“You’re delusional.” Dina shook her head. “He’d sell you for parts on the black market if he thought the money was worth more than the trouble of cutting you to pieces.”

“Dina!” Her mother chided. “Don’t be disgusting!”

“I’m being honest. I’m being realistic.”

“And so am I,” Soila replied. “That’s why I came here with the money. Mirta needs medical care. She wants to move into a quiet retirement community on the coast where she’ll be taken care of until...well...until.”

“And in exchange for the money?” Dina asked.

“There is no exchange of money,” Mirta revealed. “It’s going right back to your mother when we’re done with it.”

“A lure?” Steve said, stepping forward to join the conversation. “You’re going to draw him out by offering him money?”

“He needs money to escape. His plan to get help from friends didn’t work out,” Mirta admitted. “He calls me sometimes, always asking me to reach out to his old connections. They won’t even take my calls.”

“You get him the money—and then what?” Steve asked. “You call the police and have him picked up?”

“Yes,” Mirta said.

Dina noticed her mother guiltily averting her gaze. If Steve saw it, he didn’t mention it.What game are you playing Mama?

“He’s not stupid. He’ll be expecting that,” Steve warned.

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