Page 57 of Thorns of Blood
My smile slipped. “No, forget good and evil. Forget sins.”
She was too focused on the bad things she’d done, completely disregarding the fact that she had been forced to do those things to survive. The fact that she even managed to survive Santiago and Perez at such a young age was pretty damned impressive.
“But—”
“Liana, your survival instincts kicked in, they’re what guided most of your decisions. You protected your daughter.” She didn’t agree or disagree, not that I expected her to. Yes, my words made sense, but coming to terms with them and accepting them was an entirely different thing. “A therapist can talk through whatever else you want to discuss.”
“Bills and taxes, you mean?”
I let out a choked laugh. “If you want.”
She remained silent, and I resumed washing her hair, rinsing off the shampoo before applying conditioner and doing the same.
“You know, your twin killed Santiago.” Her head whipped around and her eyes bore into me.
“Why?”
“She wanted to avenge you.”
She frowned. “How come that isn’t public knowledge?”
“Because only she and I know the truth.” I recalled how my heart tripped when I first spotted Louisa. “Santiago tried to have her killed, but we came up with a better plan.”
She stayed still, letting the silence dominate the room while she processed the words.
“How is she?” she asked in a quiet voice. “Her and Kingston… They have a happy life?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “From what little I know, they only found each other recently. Something to do with Louisa’s amnesia.”
“Amnesia?”
I nodded. “I don’t know the details.” Not too many people did. “I know that when I first met her, she thought she was you.”
Liana’s spine straightened as she sat up. “What?”
“It’s something you can talk to her about when you see her.” She resumed her silence, and I watched her restlessly scoop at the water, letting it flow between her fingers. “Going back to the subject of the therapist. Her name is Dr. Freud.”
She rolled her eyes at the ironic name, then scoffed softly. “You don’t let things slide, do you?”
I shrugged. “Sometimes I do. Especially with my siblings.”
“How many do you have?”
“Two younger brothers and one sister who’s the youngest of us all.”
“I only had Louisa growing up,” she murmured.
“I know.”
“My father had other… children.” Bitterness slithered through her tone. “They don’t count.”
“That might change in the future. We shouldn’t place our parents’ mistakes on the children.”
Suddenly, she stood up, her wedding dress drenched and hugging her slim curves. Wordlessly she stepped out of the tub, then glanced at me over her shoulder.
“I’ll talk to your therapist, Giovanni.” She grabbed pajamas, black shorts, and a white tank top, then made her way into the shower stall for privacy, but before she closed the door, she added, “Once.”
TWENTY-TWO
