Page 76 of Madness Behind the Mask
We are the same now.
I understand now.
His pain.
His destruction.
His need to find life in the death of his enemies.
Inme.
“Let me talk toAntonio,” I say again, louder this time, my pulse thrumming.
Utter silence descends, but it’s different this time. It’s a shock of surprise, an instant denial that hasn’t yet passed their lips but is clear on their faces.
“No,” they all say at once.
“But –”
“Get everyone mobilized,” Caden directs, and the other two move instantly. Gone from the room in a second.
“I can stop this,” I start, but my husband grabs my arm and hauls me away from the door.
“He might’ve tried to talk peace with your dad before, Sau, but –”
“He did?” My mind reels. “When?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Idig in my heels. “When?”
He turns to face me as we stop in the middle of the room even though he could easily pull me along.“Three months before our wedding.”
My arm falls away as I stare at him in shock. Father told me Antoniohadlaid an ambushthen. That he’dtriedto wipe us out,tolureusout and catchus with our pants down.
But the white flaghad beenreal?
I remember the plea inAntonio’seyes, his voice. A broken man driven to madness.
Not born in it like Father always said.
Not raised in it either.
But made.
By us.
Byme.
“I need to talk to him,”I say again, determined even more. I know an apology won’t fix all the pain between us, but it could be a start. We could fight for that peace he wanted all those years ago.
I try to push pastCaden, but my body is too weak, too drained, and he easily holds me back. “No. You need tostay here. Let me deal with this.”
“I’m not –”
“Thinking straight, I know,” he cuts in, and I flinch even as a part of me wants to sethimstraight. But a good girl never talks back to her husband. She never makes a fuss. That is how I was raised, and all those lessons beat into me nowandhold my tongue.I open my mouth to push the words out, but he cups my cheek, stopping me.
“Trust me,” he says softer, his eyes on mine. “Trust me as your husband to take care of you.”
