Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess by Michelle Hardin Page A

pained. “I need to make you understand that I was there, always there. I wish it hadn’t been necessary for me to stay away from you, but I promise you that I had always planned to come back. Your father and I had plans, but he . . .” She only paused for a second, but the pain was obvious in her voice. “I am here because you’ve been missing for five years . . . That’s how long I’ve been looking for you, and now that I’ve found you, I will not lose you again. I love you too much,” she said firmly.
    Carter stared at her mother. Angry tears sprung to her eyes. “You do
not
love me. Stop saying that!” she said sharply in English.
    “Yes, I do, Carterina. I am your mother!” she argued. “You are my baby . . .”
    “You are not my mother!” Carter screamed.
    Anastacia flinched as if Carter had slapped her.
    She felt Nathan lay a calming hand on her back, but Carter couldn’t be calmed. She pointed at Anastacia. “You are not my mother,” she said in a shaky voice as tears spilled from her eyes. “I don’t have a mother, and I don’t want one!” She was sure she had just lied, but she couldn’t relent. She pressed forward, determined to protect herself from further heartbreak caused by Anastacia Stone.
    “You don’t mean that. I can see it in your eyes,” Anastacia whispered softly.
    “I do mean it!” Carter lied again. She didn’t care what she secretly wanted. She would not let this woman bulldoze her way into her life just so she could hurt her all over again.
    Anastacia frowned. “Carterina, you need to give me a chance to explain. There are a lot of things you don’t understand about why I couldn’t be visible in your life. You didn’t see me, but I was there. I’ve always been there. I won’t let you push me away. So stop with your lies! I already can see you don’t want me to leave, and I don’t want to leave you, either. We will figure this out,” she said, never taking her eyes from Carter’s.
    Rage surged through Carter, and in a sudden rush of energy, she shot up from the floor. Nathan called her name, worried, but was calmed when Anastacia assured him she wouldn’t allow Carter to hurt herself.
    Carter stormed closer to her mother, her face blanketed in hurt and anger. “We won’t be figuring out
shit
! You were
not
there! You’re a fucking liar!”
    Anastacia’s jaw tightened. “I am not a liar, Carterina. I have no reason to lie to you.”
    “Bullshit!” Carter screamed. “If you were there, then where were you when those men came to my house? Where were you when they killed my father? And where the fuck were you when I was all alone for five years?”
    Guilt and sadness flashed through Anastacia’s eyes. “I’m sorry, baby girl. You have no idea how badly I wished I could have been there, but we had to pull back . . . I . . . just need you to let me explain.”
    Carter shook her head vigorously. “No. I don’t want you here.”
    “Yes, you do. I can tell.”
    “I don’t know what the fuck you think you see, but I don’t want you here!” she spat. “I’ve already thanked you for what you did, so just leave!”
    Anastacia shook her head. “I’m not leaving you. Not again,” she said calmly.
    “Just go!” Carter yelled in frustration, tears pouring from her eyes. “I didn’t need you then, and I don’t need you now!”
    “Yes, you do! You need me just as much as I need you. I’m your mother.”
    “Stop saying that!”
    “Carterina,” she said her name in a pleading tone. “Please, sweetheart, just let me explain. You have to understand—”
    “Stop!”
Carter screamed. “I don’t want to hear any more! I don’t want to know the reason you abandoned me! I want you to leave! Get the hell out of my house!”
    “Carter, I can’t go!” Anastacia yelled. “I can’t,” she said firmly. “I can’t leave you again. I can’t be a ghost in your life anymore. You’re my daughter! My
only
child! The only precious thing God has ever