Page 74 of Cryptic Curse

Maybe it sounds strange, but it’s the right to decide that I mourn.The right to hope.

And hope, when stolen young, doesn’t come back easily.

Vinnie and Raven are out.Belinda is with her nanny, Natalie.

I’m still holding the pint of Pink Cadillac ice cream I bought for her.

It’s beginning to melt, so I throw the container in my kitchenette sink.

I’ll buy her more tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Back to culinary school.Back to what has become my life now.

A life that I love.

And now?

I have a lingering suspicion that my past is coming back to haunt me.

I scoff.It’s ridiculous that a woman who’s barely eighteen evenhasa past.But when you grow up the daughter of Jacinto Agudelo…

Well, my life was never normal.

Not even when my mother was alive.

Even then, looking back, I see she was grooming me.Not in a bad way.I still doubt she would’ve let my father do what he did with his friends and associates.

But she always taught me the importance of being pretty.I had a wardrobe full of party dresses, and I loved every one of them.White and pink socks with lace around the edges, beautiful patent leather Mary Jane shoes.Very similar to the way Belinda dressed before Raven and I took her shopping for more casual clothes.

My hair was always brushed until it shone and then laced with white or pink ribbons.

I was the ultimate little girl.Perfect in her pink femininity.

When my mom passed away, my au pair let me pick out some of my own clothes.I discovered jeans, sweats, leggings.They were so comfortable, and I loved them.

My father didn’t seem to mind.

Not until I turned fifteen, when he began adding pieces to my wardrobe.

Slinky dresses that you might see on the red carpet at some Hollywood premiere.Never worn by a fifteen-year-old.

But that was my life.

And I?—

A knock on my door.

I look through the peephole, and there stands Hawk Bellamy, all tall, broad, dark-haired, and blue-eyed.

Without thinking, I whip the door open and launch myself into his arms.

I didn’t tell him to come to my private entrance, but I did tell him where it was.

“Everything’s okay now,” he murmurs into my hair.

He holds me for what seems like an eternity until he slowly disentangles himself from me.