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“Fuck,” Nico breathes, running a hand through his hair before stepping back. “So this is it? The reason you left, why you tried so hard to pretend you hated me, because you blame me? You regret it?”
My eyes burn, and I shake my head quickly to deny that.
“Nico, if I had to, I’d make the same choice all over again. I don’t blame you!”
“You left Aurora. How could you find the courage to kill someone for me and then rip my heart out a couple of days later by disappearing?” he questions.
My eyes fall shut for a couple of moments as I take a few steadying breaths. When I open them again, I manage to look him in the eye.
“Nico, you have no idea how sorry I am that I caused you pain. But I also refuse to apologize for leaving. Because I needed to! I was going to go crazy if I stayed. I needed some semblance of normalcy. I needed to stop feeling that I was constantly in danger. We were abducted from this house! I didn’t feel safe anymore.”
His jaw tightens. “I would have protected you. If something happened to you, I would have come for you and I would have saved you every single fucking time.”
“I couldn’t take that risk. Not when I had Lucia to take care of,” I say dully.
I might not have had a choice about the family I was born into. But I had a choice about leaving it, and when the opportunity presented itself, I did. But I also left my heart behind in the process.
The last couple of months made me forget all the pain, the fear, the terror that came with being the Don’s daughter. And now I’m the Don’s wife. Which is infinitely more dangerous.
“I think that’s all just an excuse. Why don’t you just say what you’re really feeling, Aurora? You don’t trust me. That’s what all this is about. I would walk through fire for you, but you don’t even believe that.”
“I believe it. I know you care, Nicolas. I’m just scared to find out what’ll happen if you’re forced to make a choice between me and your position as Don.”
The look he gives me at that is enough to sever a piece of my heart. He walks forward, standing in front of me, close enough for me to feel his breath on my face. Nico places a hand on my neck, soft and gentle as he prompts me to look up at him.
“If you really believe that, mi vida, then what are you still doing here?” he asks, his voice deceptively soft.
My heart cracks in two at the question.
“Our four months are almost up,” he states.
“Yes,” I say, my mouth dry.
“I promised to let you go if you still wanted to leave, Aurora. And I’m a man of my word. So, what’s it going to be? Are you leaving me?”
His blue eyes are piercing, stripping me down to my soul. I could say the words so easily, sever this connection for good. If I left now, it would all be over.
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
His eyes close for a brief moment. “Wrong answer, mi vida. You’ve had my heart since I was fourteen years old. And somehow, you always seem to break it every time,” he says softly.
My eyes well with tears. God, I’m so stupid. Why am I so terrified of jumping headfirst into this? I want so badly to be the girl that loves without holding anything back. But it’s so hard. It’s so fucking hard.
“Nico…”
“It’s fine. You still have a couple of weeks to decide, Aurora,” he says, and I can tell he’s starting to shut me out. “I need to go.”
I don’t stop him as he walks out of the door. Once he’s gone, my stomach churns. Nausea assaults me, and I rush to the toilet, emptying out the contents of my stomach and feeling my heart break in my chest.
Lucia picks me up from the airport that weekend. My sister has a bright smile on her face as soon as she spots me, but she’s also quickly able to discern that I’m not okay. Nico and I haven’t spoken again since that day in our bedroom. Today, we both packed up and left on our respective trips.
He’s off to Russia, while I came here to see Lucia.
“You look awful,” my sister says as soon as she’s done hugging me.
I laugh. “Yeah, thanks, sorella. Duly noted.”
Blunt, fearless and tough as nails; those are the words most people use in describing Lucia Maranzano. She’s an inch or two shorter than me, with long brown hair like mine but she has our mother’s eyes. Beautiful doe-shaped, amber eyes that sit perfectly in her face. When most people meet her, they tend to underestimate her because of how she looks. They are mistaken quickly enough.
