Now, she seemed to have accepted her fate. I figured Alessandro helped with that. He had a way of relaxing her, it seemed.
I didn’t like that because it meant they were getting close. He’d volunteered to marry her because Rosalie turned him down, but now that the horsemen were in disarray, it seemed like he should be acting on getting his woman.
Yet, he remained faithful to his task.
I admired him. His mother raised our son right. Even Tomasso had a way about him that made me smile. He was more carefree than Alessandro was, but both boys filled my heart with a joy and happiness I thought I’d never feel again.
“Would you like to see the gardens? Perhaps a walk?” I asked.
She hesitated for a moment before looking up at me. “Really?”
I held out my hand, knowing Sylar said I had to do these things. I wasn’t usually a man who was into predictions and fortune-telling, but I knew my family, myself, and I knew Sylar.
I trusted him.
He hadn’t steered me wrong yet.
She stared at my hand for a moment before sliding her palm against mine. I pulled her gently to her feet before she tugged her hand away.
That was OK.
“Come,” I said, nodding for her to follow me.
She slipped her feet into some ballet flats and followed me down the stairs and to the gardens.
My men watched me go.
I employed over a hundred men just on my grounds, so it was unlikely one could move on my estate without someone knowing what they were up to.
We left through the back French doors and walked in silence to the gardens.
She went straight to the dead flowers and reached for them. I watched her trail her fingers gently against the brown petals, her lips parted.
“Cosmos,” I said.
She looked at me with her pretty, wide, blue eyes.
“That is the name of these flowers. My wife liked them.”
“Dominic’s mom?” She withdrew her hand and focused her attention on me.
I nodded. “Yes. Anna did enjoy the garden. Many of these were planted here because of her. She spent many hours out here.”
Bianca sucked her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment.
“Ask,” I said, knowing she had a question.
“Dominic never spoke about her. Was she…?”
“Bad?” I raised my brows at her.
She nodded.
“No.” I shook my head. “She was a victim, I suppose, but then again, I think we all are. Would you agree?”
“I would,” she said fiercely. “And that’s not fair.”
“It isn’t.” I looked her in the eye when I said it. “But if you have a little trust in the things around you, even the seemingly bad things, then you’ll understand there is a purpose. And maybe that purpose is for good.”
