“Girls, no more talking,” Leanna said, knocking on the door of the bedroom Soledad and Carmelita shared. “You have to get up early tomorrow. Carmelita, did you check your blood sugar?”
“Yes, Mama,” her sassy daughter’s voice came back.
Leanna rolled her eyes at how much alike they sounded. She should trust Carmelita more, since she’d lived with type 1 diabetes a lot longer than Leanna even knew about it.
“Goodnight, Carmelita,” Leanna said. “Goodnight, Soledad.”
The light went out, and both girls wished her a good night.
It had been an emotionally wrenching day with Axe’s father’s funeral, although truth be told, the two teens weren’t as affected since they didn’t know Vincenzo Salvadori as anything other than a violent man.
Axe obviously grieved because he knew another side of his father, but Leanna’s heart was heavy, knowing he could never look into her eyes without suspecting she’d killed his father.
She could have sworn Vinny was going to shoot his own son, but his last words were, “I’ve failed to avenge my brother.” That didn’t sound like a man about to shoot his son.
Which meant she was mistaken when she pulled the trigger.
Tears leaked through her eyelids as she walked alone to her old bedroom in her parents’ house and sat down on the bed. Her father had decided to stay in Mexico, and her mother split her time between them. They’d let Leanna stay in their house so she could raise Carmelita and Soledad. The girls kept her so busy, she was seriously neglecting her bakery business.
A light rain dampened the San Francisco evening, and Leanna couldn’t sleep. How could she when all she saw was Axe prostrate on his father’s grave, in pain and agony?
She could clear it up if she confessed, but how could she if she wanted custody of Carmelita? Axe couldn’t confess either, or social services would remove Soledad.
Since Leanna couldn’t sleep, she went downstairs and opened the refrigerator. She’d been gone two weeks, and her friends had put off their parties, including Terri’s baby shower.
After delivering the cakes to Axe’s father’s wake, she’d had plenty of fondant left over in all colors. She pulled out plastic bins full of the magical material.
She’d make a blue baby carriage, a purple stork, and rainbow-colored booties, striped and polka-dotted rattles, and of course, babies of all colors and shapes.
There would be a sheet cake and many cupcakes for the guests to take home. Just because her life was fucked didn’t mean her friends couldn’t have their wonderful happy endings.
She took out a rolling pin and went to twist off her ring before rolling out the fondant. Only there was no ring.
She’d sent it with Ryker to give it back to Axe—too chicken to do it herself.
It hadn’t been real anyway. He’d only done it to keep peace between their fathers. Her father had kept his promise, but his had tried to exact revenge.
The ring was no use now.
Leanna pounded to flatten the fondant, her heart heavy.
What a fool she’d been to believe his words, spoken so sweetly at the end of Ana and Eduardo’s funeral, the “tu familia es mi familia” lie.
Sure, she’d let the man grieve, but everything would go back to the way it was, except for one key thing. Axe would no longer be watching her. He had no need to protect her. He was free from his promise, and he could live the rest of his life without her.
She hadn’t been in love with him.
Yeah, right.
She’d always been in love with him.
But what use was love when she was a killer?
Her fingers moved on their own accord, shaping booties, rattles, bonnets, and babies, while her tears salted the cake decorations.
She dashed away at her eyes with the back of her floured hands and pushed away from the counter. Why was she wasting time mourning over a man who’d always ignored her anyway?
She should be happy and satisfied with having her daughter back. Nothing else should matter. Not only that, she was a mother now—no longer a flighty single woman going out on the town hoping to flirt and sparkle.
