Page 65 of Guarded

“Tia,” Thalia says, breaking the silence and walking over to her desk.

I watch as her heels click across the floor, and I use the sound to ground myself to the present moment.

“Ariella, where were you? Come sit down, “ my mother says, patting the seat next to her on the sofa.

My mother loves me. She wants the best for me. I know that to be true, but I also know I was a doll to her. Something she dressed up, kept pretty, and disregarded for having any feelings of my own.

I had no doubt that she loved me, but Adan and I knew our place with her. Her love for Axel would always supersede anything she felt about us. She lit up differently when he walked into the room. Even now, she doesn’t look at me the way she looks at him. I take the empty spot on the couch next to her.

“Adan is clearing this up.” She says, placing her hand over mine.

“Mom, I swear—” she holds her other hand, cutting me off.

I look behind her back, where Thalia is pretending not to listen. But her expression tells me how annoyed she is.

“I explained to the Cuevas family that Nero is your bodyguard. They know this is a misconception and are willing to look past the rumors.” She stands to walk the small space, and Thalia looks back to her computer.

“Your father spoke with Nero about how the two of you must compose yourselves in public. This was not very professional. Is there something more to the pictures and gossip?” she asks, folding her arms and staring at me.

“No. I was having a panic attack.” I reply.

“A panic attack? About what Ariella? You have everything a girl could want.” She ridicules me, and I shrink at the weight of her stare.

Mental illness was a foreign concept to my parents. It was an imaginary thing that none of us were allowed to speak of. My mother was from a generation that just endured things. It caused her to push Adan and me away and cling to Axel.

Every last penny of hers went to a wardrobe, trips, and plastic surgeries. All things that, over the years, still didn’t hide the things that lurked in her mind.

I’d caught glimpses of her staring out in the void. The look so similar to mine when the dark clouds rolled in. Instead of ridiculing me, she could have prepared me for the monsters in my mind, but instead, she denies their existence.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” I say and look down.

“It can’t happen again, Ariella. Cry and humiliate yourself in the comfort of your own home if you need to, but in public, we don’t act like that.”

I nod and swallow the lump in my throat. Task number one, keep my shit together in public.Okay, I can do that.I can fake all this, put on the same façade as always. I will be her perfect daughter.

Chapter 19

Adriana

“Don’t look at me like that,” I tell Thalia, rubbing my temples before getting up to pour myself a glass of mezcal.

“One day Lucia will grow up too, and you will do everything you must to protect her. You know better than I do that this world is not gentle. El gallo sera muy gallo pero la gallina es la de los huevos.” I say, reminding her of the very words I spoke to her on the day of her wedding.

The rooster would beat his chest, but the hen held all the eggs.

Men in this world were brutes, crazy, and unhinged. But even they knew the power of a strong woman by their side. I raised each of my children to play to their strengths and to use what they had at their fingertips to their advantage.

When Axel was born, I saw the fight in him. Adan’s umbilical cord had wrapped around his throat, and yet he came out unscathed by the circumstances, my healthy baby boy. Adan came next, and in what always felt like a silent oath for choking his brother with the umbilical cord, he was the quiet and timid one. Most days, His inner thoughts were a mystery to me, butI knew he possessed and retained knowledge far past what my other children did. While I spoiled Axel with his desperate need for attention, I spoiled Adan with books, courses, and the finest tutors money could buy.

Ariella was different, though. She always needed to nurture all of us. The twins exhausted me with their wild behavior, constantly fighting with themselves or others, but Ariella was so easy. She was an easy baby, toddler, and child. But she was also lonely, so I became her friend. I played dress-up with her as if she were my life-size doll, and bought her everything pink and sparkly. There wasn’t a single bratz doll or accessory she did not own.

She was the part of our family where we all found peace and solace. In return, we all protected her fiercely, beyond our control. Some would say Aurelio and I sheltered her. Maybe we did. I can admit that we overdid it, but keeping our daughter safe was more important to us.

After she had been kidnapped in her youth, I shut down completely. It was days of agony, and when it happened the second time, when that piece of shit nephew of mine took her on his goose chase, I refused to jeopardize her safety again.

“You know as well as I do that Ariella needs protection. She never had to handle business the way we have. Preston Cuevas is wealthy, and once he is re-elected, he’ll have all the power needed to protect her.”

“He’s a corrupt politician.” Thalia replies.

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