Page 129 of Guarded

“You knew where I was?”

It’s a question to myself more than it is for her. A painful reminder that I had exhausted all resources trying to find her. Trying to protect her, and she couldn’t care less about me.

“You know, looking back now, Tala, the plan doesn’t make sense,” I say, shaking my head.

There was always this dark thought that she had left me. The fire was too big that night to be just another dropped cigarette. Eight-year-old me didn’t argue, but now it didn’t make sense. Why couldn’t I have ridden on the handlebars? Why couldn’t we walk?

She didn’t want me to slow her down.

“You were never coming back for me, were you?” The question comes from the pit of my stomach. Words like bile rose up my throat.

“I couldn’t do it anymore.” She admits.

“I needed you, Tala. I needed my big sister.”

“Nero. I was a child.”

“SO WAS I!” I shout. “And had the roles been reversed. I would have never done that. If I had been smart enough to escape the way you did, I would have stayed and endured the abuse before leaving you to endure it alone!”

She looks pained but refuses to cry. Keeping her head held high, she stares at me. I can see the way she’s aged into my mother. The way her cold expression lacks sympathy outside her suffering.

“I am glad you got to redeem yourself. To fall in love and have your own family. I’m not even mad about that, Tala. I can’t be because I know what we went through. At least one of us is happy.”

“Nero, please.”

“I came here to make peace with Savino. I’d never hurt you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and now I see you are.” I say, turning my back.

It’s all my broken heart has left to give. Tala may have guarded me momentarily from my mother, but at the end of the day, her pain made her just as selfish to leave me there.

Maybe I needed to be selfish, too. The pain has controlled me for so long, and I wasn’t going to miss out on happiness either. I know where I belong. Who I belong to. And I would risk everything just to see her one last time.

Chapter 38

Ariella

WEDDING DAY

“Omg, I’m gonna cry. You look absolutely stunning.” Sergio says.

He steps back so I can look in the mirror. I take a deep breath and look at the masterpiece he’s created on my face. The red blush highlights my high cheekbones. Pastel pink eye shadow with winged liner makes my eyes look bigger and rounder.

“You ready to get the dress on, Mama?” Sergio asks from behind me.

I nod, and he exits the room leaving me with the white satin Vera Wang dress hanging up. The dress was everything I had dreamed of. A sleeveless bodice with a plunging sweetheart neckline.

I pull it on and reach back to zip it up. When a knock on the door sounds, I hold the loose bodice up to my chest.

“Who is it?” I ask.

We still had a few hours until the church service began. Genesis opens the door quickly, shutting it behind her. She halts when she sees me.

“Gen,” I say in relief. I haven’t seen her since the night she threatened Alma. She was my maid of honor.

“Here. Let me help.” She smiles.

I turn around so she can zip up the back of my dress. Her fingers fumble, and her cold touch gives me goosebumps.

“I’m scared,” I whisper.

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