To get through a heartache after the sudden breakup, Arabella moves to New York City to start another chapter of her life.
Driven by the hope to make Adrian Castle, the man who left her broken to pieces with an excuse of protecting her against his w...
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“I don't know what the hell you're talking about,” I reply and shift my gaze heavenward, still pondering on his question.
“I highly doubt.” Roberto chuckles beside me, which impels my eyes to look back at him. His serious demeanor returns rather instantly when he says, “I'm not sure what's going on, Adrian, but I am going to tell you one thing—father to a son.”
That's all I needed. My single father-figure handing relationship advice. We might as well ask the devil about tickets to heaven while at it.
“I'm listening,” I remark anyway, eager to hear whatever he has to say given that we've never had any personal conversation before, especially the one involving matters of the heart.
He sighs heavily as I eye him intensely, waiting.
“If she chose you despite knowing the kind of life you live… No, the life we, the Castles, live, and still want to remain by your side, then perhaps she's worth every risk you can possibly take, have you ever thought of that?” He inquires strenuously and I'm a hundred percent sure he is referring to Arabella, which means he's more invested in my personal life than he lets on.
Surprisingly I'm not mad this time, but my face hardens at the weight of his words.
“Does the life we live fit someone like her? You were there when she nearly died, remember?” I retort.
Roberto nods and says, “I remember, son. I also remember how devastated you were when you thought you'd lost her after that godforsaken incident, and even more when you eventually sent her back.” He pauses; we stare at each other deeply and keenly, and it almost feels like an invisible father-and-son bond I once thought we had has returned. “The life you lead, Adrian, can get pretty lonely as years go by. No, it does get lonely, and empty, and everything good you once had becomes a ghost of a memory blurred with time and regrets.”
A slim cold creeps onto my skin at his last sentence, making me shudder inwardly. I exhale a sharp breath through my nose, experiencing a wave of sadness akin to fear.
“Is that what happened with Reece's mother? Do you regret pushing her away?” I pry, for I know only half of his story with Solana Torres, a cellist and tango dancer he met on one of his trips to Cuba many years ago.
Reece has never seen her mother's face, not even the sound of her voice. She was taken away from Solana the minute she was born, and it was the last time we heard of the woman Roberto Castle loved for more than twenty years of his life.
“No, my story with Solana is different,” Roberto replies after a long silence, his eyes averted down toward the front garden yard. “She was expecting my child but never wanted to keep it after knowing who I am and the world I live in. It scared the hell out of her.” He glances briefly at me, his moonlit eyes radiating the long, buried ache.
“Because having your child meant she'd be stuck in your world,” I exhort, merely affirming his statement.
“Exactly! And by that time I was a different man, a man full of vanity.” He stares at me this time, as though whatever he's about to say next won't be as colorful as I would imagine. “I wanted to kill her for even thinking about killing my child, or maybe for not loving me enough to accept all of me which is very pathetic now that I think about it, because it was her decision based on her true feelings.” He laughs gently while saying this.
