Page 331 of Mario
I press my lips together. “That is not your fault.”
“Some of it is.”
“No.”
“Victoria.” His voice remains quiet. “I am not an easy man to question.”
I cannot argue with that.
“You are allowed to be afraid of what you do not know,” he says. “You are allowed to want answers before you trust me with your life.”
“I went to a stranger instead.”
“Yes.”
“And nearly got myself killed.”
“Again, yes.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“I know.” He brushes my hair away from my face. “You keep saying that.”
“It’s not enough. I don’t know how to make it enough.”
“It is not about enough.”
“What is it about?”
“Truth. All of it,” he says. “Even when it is ugly. Even when it is difficult. Even when you think I will hate the question.”
My eyes burn. “Will you answer?”
“Yes.”
“Anything?”
A pause.
Then, “Anything that is mine to answer.”
That is fair.
Annoying but fair.
I breathe in, but the air shakes when I blow it out.
“Then tell me about Anna.”
His whole body stills.
For one awful second, I regret it.
Then he looks toward the fire and exhales slowly.
“All right.”
I wait.
