Page 32 of Nikola

“Gosh, this feels like the good old days,” Aunt Reina sighed dreamily. “Before Skye and Reon left us.”

“Well, my Skye didn’tleaveleave,” Papa amended. “She can’t wait to come back home. Our family is complete with my little apprentice by my side.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t fight the smile pulling at my lips.

Cesar, seated in his usual spot on the single sofa chair, tutted. “Ease up on the guilt, Dante.”

“What?” Papa argued. “She’s only twenty. She belongs at home with us.”

Cesar folded his ankle to rest on his knee. “As long as you realize your princess has grown up.”

Aunt Reina met his gaze with a sad smile. “They’re all growing up too fast.”

“Let us be oblivious for a bit longer,” Mama signed.

Guilt slithered through my veins, filling my chest, but I shook it off. He was right—I was looking forward to returning home eventually. And anyway, Nikola had shut me down—not once but twice—so really, there was nothing keeping me in the States.

“There are no boys in your life, right, Skye?” Aunt Reina asked, like she’d read my mind.

“None,” I lied.

Much later that night, when everyone was fast asleep, I sat crisscrossed on Mama’s bed, watching her going through her bedtime routine in front of her vanity. Somewhere over the years, it’d become the time of the day just for us.

I always found it very comforting watching her as she applied bedtime lotion on her face and neck, then brushed her hair. Itreminded me of stories of medieval princesses who insisted on one hundred brushstrokes every night.

Once she was done, she turned around and met my eyes.

“Tell me,” she signed.

I smiled awkwardly. “What?”

“There’s something you’re dying to tell me.” It didn’t surprise me that she picked up on it. She knew me well. “Out with it or I’ll imagine the worst.”

I rolled my eyes.

“It’s nothing bad.” At least, I hoped it wasn’t, but frankly, I wasn’t sure that my mama was ready to hear about my feelings for Nikola. So I settled for a half-truth. “I lied earlier.”

She raised a brow. “About?”

“When I said there aren’t any boys in my life.”

She chuckled.

“We know. You’d be a saint if there were absolutely no boys in your life.” I felt heat creep up my cheeks. “Want to tell me about him?”

“Well, I like him a lot. Love him…” Seeing her dubious look, I quickly added, “Maybe.”

“Sometimes the line between love, infatuation, and lust is very blurry,” she signed slowly. “It’s important to take it slow.”

“Did you and Papa take it slow?”

It was Mama’s turn to blush.

“No, not really, but it ended up costing us. If we took time to get to know each other…” A shadow passed her face. “We wouldn’t have spent years apart, and maybe I wouldn’t have lost you for those first five years of your life. The guilt of not being there for you from the beginning is a heavy one.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” I signed, sliding off the bed. “It worked out, didn’t it? The Nikolaevs found me and then you came for me.”

I sat next to her and hugged her tightly, a wisp of a memory like a dark smoke dancing around us. There was no way in hell I would ever voice those long-buried memories and add to Mama’s burden.