“Who on earth could it be this time of night?”
“I have no idea.” Sofia put on her robe and trekked down the stairs.
When she got to the door she peeped through the glass pane on the side of the door.
“Who is it?” asked Isabella.
“It’s Lourdes.”
“For goodness sake!” Isabella snorted. She turned and started back for the stairs just as Sofia opened the door.
“Oh my God, Lourdes, what happened?”
The concerned tone in her sister’s voice caused Isabella to turn around, and she was thunderstruck at what she saw. Lourdes, who never left the house without being perfectly made up and coiffed, was a sight. Her hair was a disheveled mess. Her face was mostly bare from makeup but there was still some smudged around her eyes. She was wearing a pantsuit that was wrinkled and the silk shirt was sticking half out of her pants. But what was most shocking to her sisters was the dead and vacant look in her eyes. Gone was the cocky and arrogant Lourdes and in her place was a shell of someone whose spirit had been broken and soul shattered.
“I didn’t know where else to go.” Her voice was faint and quavering.
They all stood silent; none of them knowing what to say. They were snapped from their torpor by the horn from a cab in the driveway. Lourdes jumped from at the sound.
“I don’t have any money to pay him.”
Sofia turned to tell Isabella to get some money but she was already going up the steps to get her purse. Sofia pulled Lourdes in and leaned out the door and pointed her index finger upwards, signaling the driver to wait a minute. Isabella had soon returned with her purse and went out to the cab. Sofia had a hand on Lourdes’s arm and felt her shaking. Despite their contentious relationship her heart went out to her. When Isabella came back into the house and closed the door, she exchanged perplexed glances with Sofia.
“Lourdes, do you want something to eat?” asked Isabella, not knowing what else to say.
Lourdes shook her head in response.
“A bath. I need a bath.”
“I’ll go and run some water for her, Sofia.”
While Isabella went up the stairs, Sofia took Lourdes’s hand to go upstairs as well.
Seeing the condition Lourdes was in, Sofia didn’t want to leave her alone for too long. After a few minutes she went into the bathroom to check on her. She was just sitting in the tub staring down into the water. Sofia went over to the tub, walked up the stone steps and sat on the edge. She began to wash Lourdes’s back, shoulders and arms. She then got the shower hose and shampoo from nearby and washed her hair. When she was done, she felt Lourdes’s wet hand on her wrist. She looked at her sister.
“Thank you,” Lourdes whispered.
“You’re more than welcome,” Sofia replied gently.
At that moment Isabella entered the bathroom and took a place on the edge of the tub opposite Sofia.
“Are you ready to get out?” asked Sofia.
“No, not yet. I know you both want to know what happened but I can’t even bring myself to say it right now.”
“Just tell us whenever you’re ready,” replied Isabella.
“All I want to say right now is that our mother is dead to me. I never want to see her again. She has ruined my life and I’ll never, ever forgive her.”
Sofia knew if Lourdes had turned against their mother she must have done something horrible.
“It’s as if I’m finally coming out of a fog. I left New York with only my purse. I don’t even remember what happened to it. I guess I left it on the plane or in the terminal. I don’t know. All my life I thought I had the world’s best mother. Somehow I thought she could do no wrong because everything she did was for me. Even when I was fourteen and she made me give up my virginity to a sixty-one year old man. She convinced me that because he was a duke and was so wealthy, that it was an honor for me to sleep with him. He paid her two million dollars for the privilege of deflowering me. I will just tell you this; my father is alive. He didn’t die years ago as she claimed.”
“What?!” Sofia exclaimed.
“He’s alive?” asked Isabella.
Lourdes simply nodded. Both girls wanted to ask more questions but they knew it was best to let Lourdes tell them at her own pace.
“You met him?” questioned Sofia.
“Yes.” Lourdes began to cry.
“Come on,” began Sofia as she took Lourdes by the hand. “Let’s get you into bed.”
As they all were walking down the hall to see Lourdes to one of the guest bedrooms, Lourdes paused in front of Gino’s old room. She stood at the door for a few moments before turning the knob and entering. Her sisters followed her inside. Sofia flipped on the light switch as Lourdes walked over to his desk by the window and picked up one of the pictures of her.
“Did he love me?”
“Yes!” Sofia answered without hesitation. “He did. A few months before he died he told me he wished he’d fought to keep you but he thought he was doing the right thing at the time. He always worried about you.”
“I never gave him a chance. I listened to her and because she had turned against him, so did I.”
Gingerly, she put the photo back on the desk and went over to the bed. She pulled the covers back and lay down.
“I want to sleep in here if that’s all right.”
“Of course,” responded Sofia as she pulled the covers over Lourdes.
Lourdes motioned for them to sit down.
“I’m going to tell you what happened. It’s something that will shame me for the rest of my days but you need to know how our mother has destroyed my life. Then I don’t ever want to speak of it again.”
Sofia turned out the light and she and Isabella left the room, closing the door behind them. She and her sister could do nothing but look at one another in stunned silence.
“My dear God,” Sofia finally said in a voice barely above a whisper. “How is she ever going to get over this?”
“I don’t think she will, Sof. She shouldn’t be alone.”
“You’re right. I’m going to stay with her. You go on and get some sleep.”
“After what I just heard, I don’t think I can but I’ll try.”
Isabella started for her room then turned and put her arms around her sister, clutching her tightly. She felt so foolish to have spent so many years envying Lourdes for the relationship she had with their mother and letting it cause a wedge between her, her father and sister. And she thanked God at that moment for being spared her mother’s brand of love.
Lourdes turned on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Tears of shame, guilt and revulsion poured relentlessly down the sides of her face. How could my mother do this me? I trusted her like no one else in the world! Why would she lie all this time about something as important as this? My life will never be the same. And it’s all because of her. God, I hate her! I hate her! Somehow, some way, she needs to pay for what she’s done!
Chapter 76
Olivia picked over her Peking duck salad, her eyes trained on the entrance to the restaurant for Jameson’s arrival. She was lunching at the Shanghai Terrace inside the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. She found out Jameson was staying at the hotel until renovations were complete on his North Astor Street home only a short distance away. She bribed one of the pages to find out Jameson’s routine and learned he was a creature of habit. He ordered room service for breakfast daily. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays lunched at Shanghai. Tuesdays and Thursdays he lunched at The Lobby and every night he dined at Avenues. And he was normally alone which would be perfect. Except for the company of an old pal from his college days he was known for being a bit of a loner and that worked in her favor since the fewer friends and family around to influence or interfere with their relationship, the better.
She needed a couple of days at the hotel to recover from the incident in the Hamptons before embarking on her quest to land Jameson. What did I ever do to deserve all that has happened to me over the las
t few weeks? First Sofia invades my privacy and brings the past I worked so hard to hide out into the light. And then the situation with Tony. Why of all the rich men in New York did Lourdes have to choose him? What a nasty twist of fate that was. I was so shocked to see him I didn’t even get the chance to ask him about Pilar. I’ve missed her so much over the years. We didn’t part on the best of terms but still, I would love to see her and show her how far I’ve come from those days in Fresno. Now that everything is out in the open…I know she would be so proud of all I’ve accomplished and understand why I did what I did. I wonder if she still remembers me though. She should since her brother didn’t have much of a problem remembering me after all this time.
Now back to the matter at hand. This is it. I can feel it in my bones. Jameson’s wealth far exceeds any man I’ve been with before, including Gino. Soon it will all be within my reach. I’ve always made sure Lourdes enjoyed a plush lifestyle and soon I’ll be in the position to provide even more than before. You just wait, precious. Mother is going to make up for everything you’ve gone through these past few days. You’ll see.
The color crimson not only denotes love’s passion, but bloodshed as well.
In the second of the Mirror series, Crimson Mirror ~
Lourdes struggles to deal with the repercussions of the devastating incident in the Hamptons. She vacillates between finding forgiveness and seeking vengeance.
Lorenzo and Tyler are vying for Grace’s heart. When Grace decides which man she wants to be with, the other decides if he can’t have her, no one will.
Sofia and Javier have fallen madly in love but their relationship is put to the test when another woman decides she wants Javier for herself.
And after more than twenty-five years, Olivia and Pilar come face to face but the reunion may be short-lived. Over the years Olivia has made many enemies. One sets out to end her life. Will they succeed?
Coming soon Crimson Mirror
Blinding Mirror Page 29