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As I placed my shirt and bag on the counter, she asked, “What’s that?”
“A shirt to sleep in and a bag of what I thought you might need,” I answered. “There’s a brush, deodorant, lotion…” I started shifting through the bag. “…a toothbrush, those hair thingies, and there’s some other shit in there, too.”
“Did you really have someone run out and get all that stuff for me?”
I turned to face her, and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that there wasn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for her, but that wasn’t true. Once upon a time, she had asked me to go with her as she found a new life for herself, and I’d told her no. I’d chosen the life that I’d always known over the dreams that she’d had for us, and had I gone with her, then the past two years never would have happened. As I looked at her submerged in lilac-scented bubbles, I realized that Savina hadn’t left me, so much as she’d chosen herself just like I had chosen myself.
“Aurelio, are you okay?” she asked, her brows furrowing.
Instead of answering, I said, “I’ll put your clothes in the washer, so that you have something suitable to wear tomorrow.”
Not giving her a chance to respond, I left the bathroom, and I had no idea how I was managing to hold it together like I was. Regret and anger were eating away at me, and it felt like a poison with no cure setting in. Honestly, I felt like I was going a little bit insane with the knowledge of what Savina had gone through, and I wasn’t even sure if killing Ashton Oliver was going to be enough to bring me back.
Knowing that she was going to be in there for a while longer, I pulled out my phone, then dialed Nero.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked after the second ring.
“I know that Kasen needs you, so I can do this alone,” I told him, prepared to do just that.
“I’m going to hang up before you really piss me off,” he said right before doing it.
Despite it all, I found myself grinning in thanks.
Chapter 22
Savina~
An hour ago, I could have fallen asleep on my feet, and the hot bath should have finished off the job, but even though my body was still tired, my mind was wide awake. My entire life had changed with the truth, and I honestly had no idea where to start now. I knew that I was going to have to go back, but I wasn’t sure how to make that happen just yet.
Staring out the window, the city’s sparkling activity lighting up the night, I noticed that Aurelio had the perfect view of Port Townsend from his penthouse. During the day, he could probably see the ports clearly, always keeping an eye on the Sartori’s greatest money maker. I was also reminded that Port Townsend wasn’t the only city in Maryland. Though huge, and though it touched on a lot of other neighboring cities, towns, and boroughs, it wasn’t the only city in the state where I could make a life. In fact, with my parents making it absolutely clear that they wanted nothing to do with me, I had forty-nine other states to choose from. Luckily, I could be a real estate agent anywhere.
“If I could undo these past two years, I would.”
Aurelio’s voice hit me so deep in my soul that it was hard not to physically react. I didn’t bother looking over at him when I said, “If I could undo these past three years, I would.” The lights of the city glittered brightly as I felt those words down to my bones. “However, since time travel isn’t a real thing, it’s a futile thought.”
I closed my eyes as I felt his body heat envelop me from behind. Whether on purpose or not, the shirt that Aurelio had gotten me wasn’t even a real shirt. It was an undershirt, and it was so big that the sides hung loose, barely covering up anything. I was basically in an oversized tank-top with no bra or panties because they were in the washer, spinning around with the only clothes that I had at the moment. So, being barely clothed, I felt Aurelio everywhere, even though he wasn’t touching me.
“Well, since neither of us can go back in time, then what’s your second choice?” he asked, his whiskey-smooth voice washing over me.
The answer to his question was easy; I wanted revenge. I wanted to make Ashton pay for every second that he’d held me hostage by my love for Aurelio. Though it’d been my choice to stay with him, he’d been the one to pull me into a game that I hadn’t been aware of, distorting the rules to always win. However, I couldn’t tell Aurelio that. I knew him well enough to know that he was already plotting Ashton’s downfall, and I also knew him well enough to know that he’d never let me seek my own vengeance. Not only was Aurelio in the Mafia, but he was also Italian, a culture that raised their men to believe in taking responsibility for the women in their lives. If I told Aurelio that I wanted to go home to get my soul back from Ashton Oliver, he’d lose it.
I wrapped my arms around my waist as I leaned my forehead up against the cool glass. I wanted revenge, but since I couldn’t tell him that, I said, “If I could have anything right now, it’d be for Ashton to be able to see me in your room. I’d want him to see me back on Sartori territory, his power over me no more. I’d like for him to see that his plan failed.” I stuck to the truth as much as I could without telling Aurelio what I really wanted.
I felt his chest against my back, his hands on my hips, and it really was a dangerous thing to love someone so much. “What else?” he asked because he knew me well enough to know that I had to be angry.
The weight of Ashton’s ring felt heavy on my finger, and the only reason that it was still there was because it was all a part of the plan that was slowly coming together in my head. It also fueled my anger, though I didn’t need much for that. I had two years’ worth of memories to feed that particular flame for decades to come.
“I’d want him to see the other day,” I told him honestly. With the way that Ashton had reacted after sharing me that first time, I knew that him seeing me with Aurelio would drive him into a maddening fit of rage. “I’d want him to see that it’s always been you.”
Aurelio’s breath was hot on my ear as his left hand slid over my hip towards the inside of my thighs. “You’d want him to see me fucking you, is that it?”
I shook my head as his fingers danced across the little triangle of hair over my pussy. “No,” I replied, my breath already picking up. “I’d want him to see me being a whore for you. I’d want him to see exactly how much of a whore I can be for you, and only you.”
Aurelio let out a low groan as his fingers slipped in between my pussy lips, the rough tips stimulating the sensitive flesh. “Want to show him what he’s never had?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
Aurelio’s other hand slid upward until he was cupping one of my breasts, and with his shirt being so big, it didn’t take much to bare me to the world. Though we were up high, we were standing in front of an open window, putting on a show for anyone that might look up.
