Page 54 of Ashes

“I had to learn how to do it. When my mother died... I was inconsolable. I wouldn’t stop crying. My father thought it was a weakness, so he took me to a cell in his dungeon and left me there. Rodrigo tried to reason with him, but it didn’t work.”

Paola’s eyes widen. “What?”

“I didn’t stop crying. I was cold and hungry, but I didn’t care. I missed my mother. My father only came to yell at me and beat me. Then I stopped crying. I wanted out of that damn dark cell. But then my father showed me a photo of my mother’s dead body, and I couldn’t... At some point, my survival instincts kicked in, and I learned to lock it all away. Then he finally let me out.”

She gasps, horror written all over her face. “Your father is a monster. Who the hell doesn’t let their children grieve their mother? You can’t just snap out of something like that.”

“You’re terrible at hiding your feelings. It all shows on your face.” I grin.

“Really?” She glares at me, but the corners of her lips are twitching up. “Well, most of the time no one listens to me, so I figured I might as well show them how I feel. Not that it helped with anything, but it made me a little more satisfied.”

“But when you’re facing your enemy, it’s better not to show them anything, especially not what you feel.”

“Okay, I can see how hiding your emotions can be a useful skill, but you can’t let it take over your life. You can’t lock everything away and throw away the key. It will all burst out at some point.”

I furrow my brow. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

I’ve never told anyone any of this before, and it does feel kind of good now that I’ve done it.

It’s like she took a piece of my darkness away.

Like magic.

Chapter 23

WHEN I LOOK AT VICTOR, I still can’t believe what he told me.

I still can’t believe I like spending time with him.

Or maybe I can.

Tonight is the final task.

The big finale.

And after it’s done, we’re going to find out if we get to meet Gianni or not. Excitement squeezes my stomach, and I hope we’ll get lucky.