Page 76 of Contempt

Lucia blinked down at her hands.

Her father kept talking. “And part of that lesson was waiting for you, my girl. I had to wait for you to come back when you wanted to—when you were ready. It couldn’t be about me when I’d already made it about me enough. I’m sorry for that.”

She hadn’t realized it until the first tear fell into her lap. She moved to wipe the wetness from her face, but her father was there to do it first. He used the pad of his thumb to swipe the tears away, and smiled at her all the while.

Funny.

He was getting chemo.

He was sick.

He needed love and care.

And there he was, comforting her.

Like he could read her mind, Lucian murmured, “It’s what fathers do, Lucia.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

Lucian nodded. “I know, and I love you.”

“What happens now?”

He shrugged. “Whatever you want. That’s the beauty of it.”

Was it?

So, why was she still scared?

Why did she still hurt?

• • •

I’m having dinner in a couple days. Do you want to come? Diego would love to see you again.

Lucia stared at the text from Rose as she left her father’s hospital room. The nurse was just finishing up the treatment, and cleaning whatever she needed to clean. Lucian preferred to have privacy during that time, especially with there being so many people around now for his treatments. It was probably the one time he did get to be alone.

She hesitated to answer Rose back right away. It wasn’t Rose’s fault, honestly. More like Lucia’s emotions swirling and threatening to drown her again.

Like usual.

She was getting tired of constantly feeling like she was two seconds away from drowning. Still, Lucia wasn’t sure how many more opportunities she would have to see Rose and Diego before she headed back to Cali. And once she was back there, she had no clue when she was going to be back in New York.

Yeah, I’ll be able to make it, she texted back, just let me know the date and time.

Rose’s next text was exactly that.

Lucia left the hospital feeling like she might have finally fixed one thing in her life—the fractures between her and Lucian.

That just left one person, now.

Ren.

How was she supposed to deal with him?

She didn’t have the first clue.

• • •