Page 95 of Heir of Fire
She turned to Gianna. “You seem to get much more beautiful every time I see you.”
“Thanks.” It wasn’t a compliment she wanted to accept. Not in the slightest, but she tried her best to keep it pleasant. The entire situation made her skin crawl still, no matter how much she tried to not let it.
In the past, the conversation used to be livelier, but they were also children who were desperate to fill their mother in on every single detail she had missed in an attempt to get her home. Over the years, the visits got shorter and shorter. They had nothing to share with the woman who wanted nothing to do with them. Those memories were sacred and reserved for the people in their lives who loved them and wanted to be there for them.
“You’re here earlier than usual,” her father said, crossing his legs. “Usually, you make your visits in the winter.”
Giulia shifted in her seat. “Well, truthfully, I felt a calling to come see you guys again. I was in this beautiful little town in Croatia when this family walked by me. It looked just like us and I thought about the good times we had. Immediately, I called you up and made plans to come down. I want us to be a family again, like we were once before.”
Gianna was sure her heart stopped. This was exactly what she had always dreamed about. This moment right here. Her mother wanted to come back and be a family. She should have been overjoyed; she should have been jumping on the couch screaming with glee.
But instead, all she felt was doubt and suspicion. It was difficult to believe a single word that left her lips when it seemed too convenient. How many families had she seen on her travels? Suddenly, this one family rang true to her?
Maybe if Gianna had been in a different place, she would have believed it, but something in her gut didn’t allow her to.
She looked over at Allister who did that thing where he narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out what Giulia’s intentions were. Judging by the way his hands were clenched at his sides, she was willing to say that he didn’t believe it either.
Federico finally spoke up when no one else did. “Respectfully, that’s not my decision to make. We are not married, and I will never be married to you again. A relationship between us will never exist. As for the relationship between you and them, that is going to be up to Gianna and Allister.”
There was a slight twitch in Giulia’s eye. “I wasn’t expecting you to marry me again. I just want my family.”
“You walked out on that years ago,” Allister said. “That family doesn’t exist.”
“We can create it again.”
“No, we can’t,” Gianna said, finally finding her voice. “You can’t pop in and want a family when you feel like you want one. You had one and you left it. You never apologized or took accountability, and even now you haven’t done either of those things. You left me and Allister without a mother when we needed one the most.”
“I saw you every year.”
“Honestly, I almost wish you hadn’t.”
Giulia’s face fell. “I left because I had to. I couldn’t be a mother or a wife. I wasn’t in any condition to do either at the time.”
Allister shook his head. “That’s fine, no one faults you for that. But you kept us on a string our entire lives wondering if we would ever get our mother again. If we would get our family. We need to move on completely, and so do you.”
“What are you saying?” she asked, looking between Gianna and Allister.
Gianna took a deep breath. It seemed like it was finally the time. She felt the courage rushing through her body, but still she was terrified. Of what? She wasn’t sure. Maybe it was the fact that she was finally making a decision about this entire situation—one that was ultimately going to be the best for her but would hurt. Of course it would.
“I think we’re done with these visits, or at least I am. I don’t want to do them anymore. I don’t want to hurt anymore. I want to grow and move on and live without thinking about the way my life could have been.”
“I’m done with it too,” Allister said. “The future is always unexpected, but we’ll leave it at that for now.”
“Then that settles everything,” her father said, staring at Giulia.
Her face was cold. It was almost like staring at a stranger, but then again, that was exactly who she was. A stranger.Gianna didn’t know her any better than she would have known a random relative showing up to a family reunion.
Their relationship wasn’t supposed to be that way, but it was. That was the harsh truth. The one that Gianna had to face, accept, and move on with.
“I guess there’s nothing more to say then,” Giulia said.
With that, she stood and walked away without ever looking back. Not at her kids, or the husband she once had, or the house she once lived in.
She walked away and Gianna knew she would never see her again.
FORTY-THREE
FINN
