63

"How did you get here, Reyna?" my mom demanded quietly.

"It's a long story." I sighed. She started at me in waiting, so I got my thoughts in order and began, "since your disappearance, Uncle was made to be my legal guardian. He never gave up trying to find you and he made sure I knew how to find you, too. He searched for you through-"

"Hacking. Him and those damn computers," she chuckled longingly. "How is he?"

I frowned. "He passed away a few years ago."

"Oh," she mumbled sadly. I could hear her take a deep breath as she nodded her head. "I'm sorry... go on."

"I looked for you and could never find you. As I searched for you, I stumbled across some very bad men. One of which is named Santino Venturi," I muttered, glancing over at her to see if she's maybe heard of him. Her face was void of any reaction to the name, so I continued, "he isn't a good man, but he needed my help. So, he offered me a job to help him find Viktor and in exchange, he would help me find you. We didn't know that we would end up looking for the same person-or should I say... persons."

"Turns out, Viktor Jr had been watching me from the time you were taken. He was smitten by me, and he told me all of this through a video he put on my computer. He even told me about how he had you captive. I didn't know it at first, but Viktor worked for Santino under the name of Giovanni as a hacker as well. It wasn't until I was kidnapped that I realized the truth about him," I explained.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to make you have to go through all for this for me." She sobbed. "You should've stopped trying, Reyna. I don't think I would be able to live with myself knowing something happened to you because of me."

"I always knew you were alive, mom. Something in my gut told me you were alive. I could never just live my life with that feeling. It wouldn't feel right. I wouldn't feel whole. To me, I've been dead this entire time. I'm finally alive, mom." I wept.

She pulled me back into her arms and began to cry again. I wasn't sure if she truly ever stopped.

"I have to tell you everything. Maybe I can help it all make sense," she said, never letting me go.

"I was young when I first met Viktor. I never had parents growing up so I was out all night because my foster parents didn't care what the hell I did. One night, I was out at the bar at the age of sixteen when he first came up to me and bought me a drink. Like a stupid child, I flirted, of course. He wasn't a bad-looking man, and I liked that he had an accent that-at the time-I believed to be quite nice. He took me to his house and after a night together, his wife showed up and kicked me out. As I walked through the house, I remember catching the eyes of these two little kids-one boy and one girl. They stared at me all the way until I walked out of the room."

"I heard that they split up after that. No one knew it was me who broke them apart, but rumors spread around town that there was a home-wrecker amongst us. Viktor kept trying to reach out to me, but I kept ignoring him. For months, I didn't see him. With that time, I met a new man, Francesco Rubino, and instantly I fell in love with him. He was tall, handsome, the most charming man I had ever met. His smile still makes me melt just thinking about it. I thought he was my happily ever after only to learn that he worked for Viktor, who began to rise up in the crime world. Viktor was so consumed with anger, and hatred, and jealousy that he forced Francesco to leave me or he would kill me. So, Francesco left me. Keep in mind, I was sixteen... young... pregnant..."

I gasped. "Pregnant?"

"I didn't want a baby-at least, not on my own. However, I carried my child for nine months and gave birth to a handsome little boy. I wanted to keep him, but Viktor found out. Viktor took him from me and I never got to see him ever again. I never got to see Francesco or my baby ever again. I'm sorry I kept it from you... you were just so young." She sobbed.

"I have always hated Viktor. Every time I got just a little happy, he would come and ruin it. It wasn't my fault that his wife left him. I didn't even know he had a wife." She cried.

I held onto her tighter and let her cry, softly combing my hands through her hair as she let out her tears.