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Chapters (86)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Booklist
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
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  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
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  32. 28
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  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
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  52. 48
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  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
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  61. 57
  62. 58
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  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
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  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sofia’s lips were taut; she spoke as if every word hurt her. “I’ve been here before. I told you I came here with your grandparents.”

“Yes.”

“I was eighteen, newly graduated from high school. I met your father on the beach. I told him about my great-grandparents and the lost treasure and how they’d died offshore, and he told me about the City of Lost Souls. He was younger than me, but he’d attended a private school and he’d graduated early. Bradley was charming, smart, kind, loving. We had a summer fling.” Sofia smiled at some distant, sweet memory. “I had my scholarships, I knew where I was going to college, and most of all, I was sensible. Once I met his mother—” Sofia shot a look at Angelica, standing straight and calm and listening without expression “—I knew nothing could come of our puppy love. But somehow, Bradley showed up at my college. He’d arranged to attend, and we fell more and more in love. At least I did, and I thought he had, too.”

“Then you got pregnant,” Elle said.

“Yes. We came to Gothic together so he could...tell his mother that we were going to be married. That we were going to have a baby. Instead, he...stayed with her.” As if that memory was too painful, Sofia choked on the last words. But before Elle could reach for her, Sofia added, “Bradley abandoned me—and you—for his mother.”

“What do you mean?” Angelica lost that constant, preternatural calm. She flushed and her voice rose. “He went with you. I never saw him again. And he didn’t tell me—you never told me—I had a granddaughter. You didn’t even give me a chance to be a grandmother!”

Sofia marched to stand in front of Angelica, a slim, petite, brunette facing off with the tall, strongly built redhead. “Liar!” Sofia’s voice was loud and angry.

“Mom!” Elle sounded incredulous.

But neither woman was paying attention to her.

“How cruel could you be?” Angelica asked. “Whether or not I wanted him to marry you, how could either of you imagine I wouldn’t love this child?” Tears glistened in her eyes. “As soon as I saw her, I knew. She looks so much like Bradley. And like you!”

“Which explains so much about the way Angelica reacted to me,” Elle murmured to Adam.

“Yeah...” Adam kept an eye on the developing argument.