Page 7 of Cryptic Curse

For now, though, I stay out of the way.During the past several months that we’ve lived together, Belinda has looked up to me.I feel like a big sister to her, but in a way, I also feel like a mother to her.I’m only seven years older than she is, but she doesn’t have a mother.Her mother died years ago, and her father…

Well, he put her through the same kind of hell my father put me through.But she had it worse.She was so much younger than I was, and the man abusing her was her own flesh and blood.

At least with me, my father was merely my pimp, not my abuser.

How fucked-up is that?That I consider myself luckier than Belinda was?

Vincent Gallo Junior saved us both.He killed Diego Vega and married me to get me out of Colombia.He killed Belinda’s father and made arrangements for her to become his ward.He’s now her legal guardian, and he will be until she turns eighteen.

Vinnie Gallo did one other thing for me.

He killed my father.

I’m still not sure how I feel about my father’s death.He was a horrible man, to be sure.He was a criminal.He moved drugs and other contraband.Probably moved people as well.It wouldn’t surprise me.

And, of course, he forced me to be the sex slave of his fucking visitors.

That’s how I met Vinnie.

My father asked me to entertainhimwhen he was our guest in Colombia, despite the fact that I was already betrothed to Vega.

Vinnie refused my offer.

Then he got me the hell out of there along with an old woman who my father had been keeping prisoner in our attic.I never even knew she was there.

So yeah, Jacinto Agudelo was a horrible man.

But he was still my father.

After my mother died in a car accident when I was only ten, he was actually kind of a good father.He was affectionate, but not disgustingly so.He never did the things to me that he allowed his business associates to do.

Normally, when I think of these things, I get nauseated, and my heart starts to race.

But not when I’m listening to Belinda play.The music helps me process these memories in a healthy way.

She puts such emotion and grace into her music.It’s like she becomes one with the notes, and somehow her entire personality—her entire being—flows through her fingers onto the piano keys and out through Mozart’s music.

I breathe in deeply, closing my eyes as I lean against the wall.

I’m so very grateful to be here.I’m so grateful to Vinnie for rescuing me and bringing me to the States.I’m grateful for what he’s done for Belinda as well.

I breathe in again, exhale.

The vibration from Belinda’s music flows into my shoulders through the wall.I let it seep into me, infuse me with its goodness and beauty.

“Daniela.”

My eyes shoot open.Vinnie stands there, his expression grave.

“I’m sorry.I didn’t mean to startle you,” he says.

“No problem.”I keep my voice soft so as not to disturb Belinda.“I just love listening to her play.”

“I know you do.”He smiles gently.“She’s something truly special.”

“She is.”I lean back against the wall.“I was just thinking about how grateful I am to you, not just for what you’ve done for me, but for her as well.”

He nods.“I’m glad I was able to do it.Somehow, I’m going to make amends for everything horrible my grandfather did.”