Anna widened her eyes in surprise and felt a chill run down her spine. She could have been wrong, but he had described the woman she believed to be her mother.
"What was her hair like? The woman you saw? What color?" She needed to be sure, she ignored what Ian had said about Max's biological mother, because she knew she wasn't human.
"It was beautiful. It looked golden, but it had a different color... And it was red like yours at the ends."
"And what did she say to you?"
"She just said she was my grandmother."
"And did you answer?"
"No. She disappeared, right after she told me."
Anna became pensive. The pain could have made Ian imagine things, after all, his mother was very similar to her, and his wish that Genevieve was living somewhere else could have produced a hallucination in his mind.
"Adam said something to you when he was saying goodbye to Genevieve"
Ian's mouth formed into a line. Anna became alert. He didn't want to say anything to her.
"Ian, children shouldn't keep secrets from their mother."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm responsible for your safety, and I can't look after you if you keep things from me."
"That... Uncle Adam told me something about Genevieve."
"What?"
"He told me that she..."
Adam entered the room, interrupting the conversation, wearing clothes like Ian's and with a serious countenance.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes." Anna said, taking Ian's hand and getting up.
They left the mansion and got into the car in the back. Adonis was the driver. The two of them started chatting while Adonis drove, and Anna was distracted by the scenery. She would never stop loving this place. Every time, everywhere they went, they passed a beach. And she loved Las Vegas, and hid inside her the desire to spend a day living there, in tranquillity.
Adonis passed through a neighborhood that Anna didn't know, stopped in front of a two-story house and honked his horn three times, without stopping to talk to Adam, as if they were old friends.
Anna liked Adonis and didn't want to question his character, but it was practically impossible. He obeyed his father and pretended to be friends with Adam, who showed great respect for the boy's opinion. How he managed to circumvent Adam's mental control was an unsettling secret. Adonis was a double agent, and she feared the kind of alliance he made with her when he put Max in her room, because it could be broken by mistrust.
Her thoughts changed course when she saw a young woman, who must have been about her height, come out of the gate of the house and walk towards the car. The woman didn't dress like the girls in that place. She was dressed elegantly. She was wearing a miniskirt and a lacy blouse. She came happily, opened the front door of the car and sat down next to Adonis.
"Good afternoon." She greeted everyone, and Anna noticed that her eyes were blue, like the color of the sky. It reminded her of the woman she was now sure was her mother. Because her eyes were also lighter than her own. Her hair was blonde, but not long. It was short.
Anna, Ian and Adam responded to the greeting, and each was left to their own thoughts.
Anna couldn't help thinking that she would never have imagined that Adonis was dating a high-society girl who was obviously very beautiful.
Of course, he was as beautiful as she was, but it wasn't common for high society girls to be raised in a bubble and barely know the reality of the mafia. Anna finished thinking these things and shook her head. What silly thoughts! Bonnie, too, was from high society. While Anna berated herself for her prejudiced thoughts, and promised herself that she wouldn't allow her children to believe that they were better than other less well-off people, they arrived at the restaurant on the beach.
They chose a table easily. It was a weekday and the place was empty. There were only a few people. They placed their orders, and Anna ended up making friends with a young woman called Emanuelle, who was sweet, gentle and cheerful.
After lunch, they went for a walk on the beach. Ian loved every second of that afternoon. He went into the water with Adam and Adonis. Anna and Emanuelle watched them having fun, sitting on the sand. The sun wasn't very hot that day, and Anna was tired. But she didn't want to know the young woman's reason for not going into the water. She was increasingly indifferent to other people's motivations, and she still didn't realize that she was changing. Anna was becoming cold.
"I'm going to have a child, by Adonis." Emanuelle said, so suddenly that Anna thought she would fall over if she stood up.
"Does he know?"
"Not yet. I'm afraid I'll tell him and he'll make me have an abortion."
Anna knew that conflict. But Adonis couldn't do that. Apart from the Alpha, no one knew how to kill a werewolf still in the womb.
"Something tells me he'll be happy." Anna said, remembering that he believed everything the witch said, and he must have feared that he would no longer be able to have children. Besides, Emanuelle needed to start going to the werewolf hospital. She needed to know their secret.
"Did he say anything? Did he... Did he suggest that he wants to start a family with me?"
"Look how he plays with Ian. No man would pay so much attention to a child if deep down he wasn't awakened to the desire to be a father." Anna replied, pointing at him with her chin and evading the direct question she had asked. She didn't know how much Adonis had told her.
"So you think I should tell him?"
"What other choice do you have?"
The young woman blushed.
"My parents want me to go and study in another country."
"It doesn't matter what your parents want. They can't live your life for you. Adonis deserves for you to give him the chance to be a father. I made that mistake with Adam. Don't do as I did."