Page 44 of Heir of Fire
He took a seat on one of the wooden stools against the back wall. His glasses were perched on his nose and his hair was messy, meaning that he was either studying or was getting work done for Valerio.
“I heard the music and thought I would come check on you. I haven’t seen you a lot lately,” Allister said.
She shrugged, sitting on the floor across from him to remove her pointe shoes. “I’ve been busy trying to prepare for the recital coming up. There’s one move that’s been impossible to nail.”
“I’m sure you’ll end up getting it,” he said. “You always do.”
She gave him a genuine smile. “I really hope so.”
“I wanted to see if any of this aggression has to do with the text I sent you. About Mom’s visit?”
The smile slipped off her face in an instant. She swallowed harshly, trying to avoid the way his blue eyes stared back into hers.
To be fair, with everything going on with Finn, it provided the perfect distraction, so she didn’t have to think about everything going on with her mother. Maybe subconsciously, part of her frustration was because of it, but not all. Not like it would usually be.
At least not until he reminded her.
“Do you know why she’s coming back so soon?”
He shook his head. “No idea. Dad told me about it the other day. Imagine his surprise when he got the call early this time.”
Gianna exhaled. When her mother decided to visit for the first time after she abandoned them, she came unannounced. Gianna had been too young to really know what happened during that visit, but from what her father had told her, he never let her show up again without calling. She couldn’t blame him.One year wasn’t nearly enough time to pick up his life after his wife had just left.
The fact that she even got yearly visits was something Gianna still didn’t fully understand to this day. There were plenty of times throughout the years that she fought the idea of them—she hid in her room, spent the night at Cecilia’s, and once even ran away from home just to avoid the visit.
But her dad always made her come home. He knew it was painful for her and for Allister, but every year he told them the same thing:“It hurts, but you get to sleep knowing you did everything in your power.”
The first time she’d heard it, she had no idea what he was talking about. She had been a child. Over the years, she knew he didn’t want them to live with any regrets or wonder what could have happened had they never seen their mother. The lack of relationship wasn’t on them if they showed up to the visits; it was on her.
Now, as a grown woman, Gianna knew she didn’t want any relationship with her mother. Not the yearly visits, not a healthy steady relationship—though that was impossible now—nothing. She wanted nothing to do with the woman who gave birth to her.
And yet, she still showed up to the yearly visits.
“I’m assuming we’ll be riding back home together?” Gianna asked.
Allister gave her a grin. “Only if I get to choose the music this time.”
“Hell no. I’m not listening to your classical bullshit the entire way,” she said immediately.
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t listen to classical music. Who do you think I am?”
“You complain that my music sucks. What am I supposed to think?”
“Yeah, because you play the same things over and over again.”
“Blah blah blah.” She waved him off.
He rolled his shoulders, sitting up on the stool. “Oh, you’re never going to believe who I went out with the other night.”
Gianna froze. She tried to play it off, extending her left leg and bending over it to stretch. “Who?” she asked, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible.
“Finn. To be honest, I never thought much about him, but he doesn’t seem that bad.”
She snorted. “Are we talking about the same Finn?”
“You sound just like Valerio.”
“Maybe we see something you don’t.”
