Avenging Us - Gina Whitney Page 0,77

dance in your laughter and hold you tight to my chest. You are my treasure. My child, my baby Bella Mia, much as I treasure you.”

He finished nuzzling her before gently placing her in her cradle. “Come relax with me on the bed. I want to hold you.” His hand reached for mine and I tentatively took it.

My heart sped up as anxiety shot through my veins. I put my worries aside for the moment to focus on the man beside me. Bone deep, I knew with certainty he wouldn’t hurt me, but I could feel his touch held something more—sympathy. My head cradled against his chest. He never stopped touching or kissing me.

“These dreams that you’ve been having…what are they about?”

I tensed. This would be the first time I mentioned it aloud what I’ve pieced together over the past few weeks. Sometimes, the dreams were vivid, while other times, they were vague. However, there were always two entities that held them together—the gentle blue light and Medusa. “My mother.”

He planted an assured kiss on my forehead, and I felt myself aching to purge the tendrils of fear that I’d harbored these past few weeks. I’d be lying if I said the nightmares didn’t affect me to my core, because they’ve taken a toll on my deepest insecurities. Could I find the peace I needed to survive in a world where my mother still existed? When, even in my dreams, she sought to destroy me…break me…devalue any beliefs I had about raising my daughter alongside Abel.

“Look at me,” he said, pulling me up and over his legs to face him. “I know you’ve been struggling with whatever these nightmares have been about. I suspected the only person who still had power over you was your horrid mother. To be respectful of you, I wanted to wait to broach the subject, and prayed you’d come to me so I could help. However, I don’t have that luxury anymore. The media are slippery, story-driven fuckers.”

I considered his words for a minute, and gave him an accusatory look.

He shook his head. “I’d never hurt you, my beauty.” But there was hesitation in his voice. Now I was officially disturbed. One breath in. One long breath out…

“Just tell me what it is. My mind is running wild with dreadful possibilities.”

He conceded. “It’s come to my attention that your mother was found dead.”

My breath caught in my throat and I found it impossible to breathe. “Calm down, Gia,” he commanded.

“How?” was the only word I was able to utter as I struggled for oxygen. I have no clue what value it was knowing, but I needed to know.

His face canted and his eyes filled with compassion. “I will tell you everything I know. A neighbor called the police. She collected the unattended mail and knocked on her door. There was no answer, and a terrible smell from beyond the door. So she called the police. The police entered. She was found in her bed. Pills scattered across her bedside table. They’re not sure if it was a suicide or accidental.”

I was numb as he drew me to his chest. Oddly, I felt nothing. Not a fucking thing. I gazed at my daughter in her cradle. Her sleeping form gave me comfort, and his arms held together the broken pieces that were shifting into new spots. Everything I needed was in this room. And there was light in my heart. A tiny beacon of hope. But the child in me ached and it wasn’t for her. She ached for me. What would it have been like to be surrounded with love? To experience a mother’s loving touch—a loving embrace—instead of being groomed by a hateful, vial, self-serving, malignant witch who drew every ounce of goodness out of me and replaced it with darkness. Darkness in my heart, psyche, and soul. She sought to destroy any healthy part of me. In turn, she’d have a perfect clone to serve her.

I cried for that girl. The girl who had no choice but to live with a monster. Whose only source of comfort was to read in order to escape the nightmare she lived in. There weren’t play dates, choir practices, plays, summer-camp, or after school activities. My heart held nothing but rotten memories and sleepless nights.

My mother was nothing but a demanding tyrant, who at her very core, was troubled and insane. I closed my eyes, shutting out all the painful memories of my past, resigned to bury