Page 62 of Death

Feeling that I look much healthier and don’t have to hide my appearance from Grace to save her the heartbreak, I nod quickly.

“Grace, I’m going to start a video call,” Santiago informs her.

“Okay.”

I watch as he taps on the screen, and a moment later, Grace’s face pops up. He holds the phone up so I can see her clearly, and when she smiles at me, I’m hit with so much emotion my face instantly crumbles, and I burst out in tears.

My hands fly up to cover my mouth while my blurring eyes remain glued to the screen.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Grace murmurs, her eyebrows furrowing and unshed tears forming in her eyes. “God, you’re even more beautiful than I remember. You look so good.” She sucks in a shuddering breath, then a loving smile trembles around her mouth. “I missed you so much.”

Moving my hands, I brush the tears from my cheeks and say, “I’ve missed you too.” Needing her to know what happened, I continue, “The last time we texted…it wasn’t me.” I give her a pleading look. “He pretended to be me and replied to your messages. Afterward, he crushed my phone.” I reach out to the device in Santiago’s hold, wanting to touch Grace.

Tears spill down her face, and she shakes her head. “I wish I had known. I’m so sorry.”

Suddenly, I hear a baby cry, and my eyes widen. “Is that Kristian?”

“Yes. Hold on.” She turns her head to the side, then says, “Bring him so Ciara can see her nephew.” Grace turns the phone, and I jerk backward when Dominik comes into view.

The only memories I have of him aren’t good.

Grace said he makes her happy.

Don’t panic and ruin the moment.

Instinctively, I reach for Santiago, and placing my hand on his thigh, I grip hold of the cotton fabric of his pants in a tight fist.

“You’ve got this,mi sol,” he whispers. “I’m right here.”

I lower my gaze to the baby, and then he’s all I see as Grace brushes her hand over his white hair, which looks incredibly soft.

“He’s so beautiful,” I murmur in total awe. Noticing the color of his eyes, I smile widely. “He has the same color eyes as you, Grace.”

“Yeah, and he also has my temper when I don’t feed him quick enough.”

I let out a chuckle, and the sound stuns me, instantly wiping the smile from my face.

Santiago places his other hand over mine and holds it tightly. “Ciara just chuckled for the first time. We’re going to need a moment.”

Overwhelmed by the happiness I feel after being in hell for so long, I shut my eyes to try to process the emotion faster because I don’t want the call to end.

“Take your time, sweetheart,” Grace coos.

I nod, sucking in deep breaths to keep the tears back, and press my other hand to my chest, where the happy emotion keeps growing until it feels like I might burst.

“It’s intense,” I gasp.

Letting go of my hand, Santiago wraps his fingers around the back of my neck and leans in close to me again. “Breathe throughit,mi sol. Slowly in…and exhale.” He keeps repeating the words, and it helps me.

I rub my hand over my chest, and when it’s not so overwhelming anymore, I open my eyes and look at the phone again.

Grace is sitting outside, and I see lots of green plants behind her. A breeze plays with her hair, and there’s a loving expression on her face as she asks, “Do you feel better?”

I nod, and when Santiago presses a kiss to my temple, I don’t think and lean my head into the crook of his neck, staring at Grace.

Safety. Love. Happiness. There are so many good emotions that I can’t think of anything to say, and I just want to soak in this moment.

For months, I believed I would never feel this way again. There was only pain, disgust, and fear.