"It's nothing," I speak past the lump in my throat.
"Did you have a bad dream again?" he asks. "The last time you were like this was when we were in Bali."
Bali. The fire dance. The red-haired woman.
The cards.
Her words play in my head now. It's almost as if she's speaking them directly into my ear.
In order to fully step into your new life, it requires a sacrifice. When the time comes, you need to break old patterns. You need to break the shackles that bind you to your past.
You're not alone. You're never alone.
"There's something I need to tell you." I say the words out loud before I can overthink them. "I spoke to my mother yesterday."
He turns on the bedside lamp and sits up in bed. I lean against the headboard and look at the stony expression on his face.
I know instantly that I made the right decision by sharing this with him.
My mother is a powerful woman, but she has nothing on Dante. When this man sets his mind on something, he gets it done.
He doesn't say a single word as I tell him everything.
I expect to be reprimanded for keeping this from him until now, but he only gathers me into his arms. He presses a kiss to my forehead.
"Thank you for telling me, Grace," he says. "I'll take care of it."
"No," I say, drawing away from him. "I appreciate it, but no."
"No?" he asks, looking confused.
"What I mean to say is that I want to be involved too."
He's already shaking his head.
"I need it, Dante," I say. "I need to stand up to my mother. After everything she put me through, I have things I need to say to her.”
"You said it yourself, Grace," he says. "She's a dangerous woman. While I appreciate you wanting to help, it's far too risky. I could never live with myself if something happened to you."
"Nothing's going to happen to me," I say. "Because you have my back. And it's part of my prophecy. I have to stand up to her. I need to break old patterns."
He stares at me for a moment. He must see my desperation there because he finally relents.
He spends the rest of the night devising a plan. I make coffee for him as he goes through every single possibility.
I do the same. One of the possibilities is that I lose him forever.
Even the thought of that makes my heart shatter.
But I know I need to do this. I need to look my mother in the eye and tell her just how much she hurt me. I've been living in fear for far too long.
It's time for me to do the brave thing.
It's time to break the cycle.
43
DANTE
