My nostrils flared. “Dad said it was a mistake, and that he couldn’t help himself. He apologized profusely to us. I’ve never been able to forgive him but Mom did. She stayed with him, and I still don’t understand why. She deserves so much more.”
“She loves him, I guess.”
“That’s the problem. She doesn’t deserve what he did. He never deserved my mom. He treated her like dirt, and she put up with it! It wasn’t the first time it had happened or the last. He constantly cheated on her when I was growing up. I’d catch him over and over again. Eventually, I stopped telling her because it was so hard to see her break all over again.”
Her eyes bore into mine as she cupped my face with her hands. “Luca, you’re right. She shouldn’t have stayed, but she did. That’s not your fault.”
“But don’t you see, Mags? I’m just like him. I look like the bastard, act like him. I have the ability to turn into a monster. Just like him.” My true fear had been released. I was vulnerable, and it scared the shit out of me.
She shook her head, pressing her forehead to mine. “He’s your dad, Luca. Not you. You may share traits with him, sure. But you resent him for his actions. You would never follow down his path.”
The warmth of her body rushed through me. “But how can you be so sure?”
“I know you. I trust you. You would never become what you hate.” Her eyes were nothing but honest. She was breaking apart my deepest fear piece by piece. And the scariest part was that it made sense. Talking about it out in the open, made me realize she could’ve been right.
Could I really let myself have this? Have her? I wasn’t sure yet, but a weight was lifted knowing she accepted me.
“Thanks for listening, Mags.”
She smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead before she pulled back. “I’ll always listen. You’ve just never wanted to talk until now.”
“Can we just lay here for a while?” I pulled her back on the bed, and she rested her head on my chest.
“Of course we can.”
My eyelids were heavy from the let down of emotions that I had poured out to her. I couldn’t understand why she’d still want me now that she knew what I was capable of—what my father had done.
Day Four
3 PM - 5 PM - Aquarium
My mind was swirling with Luca’s confession. Why he’d thought he could be capable of cheating just because of his father was beyond me. He said he was so much like his dad, but I couldn’t see it. I’d met Mark Reed. He was rough around the edges, charming, but he mostly blamed all of his problems on everyone else. Luca was nothing like that.
He’d fallen asleep after our conversation, and I hadn’t seen him look so relaxed before. It was as if his fear of becoming his father had shackled him. After talking about it, the shackles broke, and he was free to move again. I was so thankful he opened up to me. When he woke up, he didn’t run as I had anticipated. He waited for me to get ready, and we went to meet the rest of the group on the ferry together. I wasn’t sure what this meant for us, but I wanted to revel in the bliss a little longer before I asked.
Once we reached the aquarium on the mainland, our group walked through the stone-grey entrance with a shark silhouette beside the word Aquarium.
Faith tapped my arm before whispering, “How was the talk?”
“He told me everything. I just don’t know what that means for us now.”
She winked. “Well he’s not running, so I’ll take that as a good sign.”
Luca fell into step with us. “Talking about me?”
Eve bounced over. “Mags is always talking about you.”
I shushed her, and heat rose up my neck.
He smirked, sending hot chills down my spine as Asher went up to the ticket booth to get everyone’s tickets.
My eyes wandered to the gigantic ocean-blue tank on the other side of the lobby. A breeze from the air conditioner hit me, and goosebumps crawled all over my skin. I moved toward the tank and placed a hand on the icy glass while I watched a group of brightly colored fish chase each other in the water.
Luca stepped beside me. His presence had an incessant way of making my legs jelly.
“Thanks for opening up this morning.” When I lifted my hand, a steamy handprint was left on the glass. The lobby was filled with the sound of blasting air conditioners and the whooshing of the tanks. The sound of laughter from the visitors inside the aquarium rang loud and clear.
He shook his head. “Wasn’t expecting your reaction. Figured you’d want nothing to do with me.”
“That would never happen. I told you before. I want you, Luca. You’re not what you think you are.” I glanced over at our group who made their way over to us.
He rubbed the back of his neck as his baby blues darted away from me. “Let’s hope you’re right.”
“Alright, let’s start looking at sea life!” Evelyn handed us our tickets.
We started down the designated path to more exhibits after showing our tickets to an employee. There was a lot of diverse and colorful sea life on display. Despite the enchantment of the creatures, my heart sank as I watched them swim around in captivity.
The aquarium exhibits were interesting and educational. They had penguins, fish, starfish, seahorses, and more. What interested me most was the sharks, which happened to be the last exhibit we came to.
The beautiful machines of nature had an alluring way of moving among the brine. Other sea life gave way to them. The shark owned the ecosystem by controlling other large predators. They had both purpose and steady confidence. It was fascinating to watch them.
“Sharks freak me out.”
