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3
Lavinia
Nico gave a shaky exhale, causing her to rise from her seat. Touching her hand to his forehead, she sighed in relief when she didn’t feel any heat coming from his body. At least he no longer had a fever. That was a good thing.
As she continued staring at his handsome face, her hand lingered on his skin. Memories of the two of them together filled her mind. Her dark limbs entangled with his light ones as they made love throughout the night filled her body with latent need. Nico was her one and only. The first man she’d ever been with, and the only man she’d been with since.
Stupid? Maybe.
In the end, it didn’t matter what he was to her. He’d shown her exactly what he thought of her love, her loyalty. She’d never betray him, even when he didn’t deserve it. Six months ago, he’d left her. Walked out the front door, throwing her love for him back in her face without any remorse.
Maybe he was right. She did deserve better. But to her, Nico was the best there was. Even with his bad attitude and inability to express his feelings, she knew he protected her. Even though their relationship was shattered, if she needed him, he’d drop everything and come to her. She knew this. Yet, knowing this didn’t make the pain of his betrayal go away.
“Vini,” Nico’s voice called out to her.
“Hey, I’m here.”
“Water,” he whispered, his voice raspy and thick.
She grabbed the cup, placing the straw to his lips for a couple of sips. “Better?” At his nod, she placed the cup back on the nightstand.
“Damn, this hurts like a son of a bitch,” he grimaced.
“Just give yourself another day or so, it’ll feel better,” she said softly. Lavinia didn’t realize she’d been rubbing her hand along his hair, caressing him as he spoke.
“Thank you.” His blue eyes captured hers, holding her captive.
“You’re welcome.”
“I didn’t think you’d let me in. Thought you’d turn me away.”
She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat at his words. “Never. I don’t think I could ever do that to you,” she whispered. And she wouldn’t. He was the other half of her soul. The person who completed her. If it were up to her, she’d never let him go.
But it was no longer up to her, and she was a fucking fool for wishing for things out of her control. Apparently, her momma did raise a damn fool. What kind of woman was she? This man betrayed her. Left her. Never once coming back to her to explain or apologize. Yet, here she sat, pining over the love they once had.
He stared at her face for a silent moment. “What day is it?”
Lavinia glanced away from him, her eyes going to the small, diamond and ruby encrusted jewelry box.
“Tell me you haven’t forgotten already,” his rough voice made her nipples pebble.
She could never forget. It was the day she thought all her dreams had come true. It was now a day that haunted her dreams. Made her cry out in the night at the unfairness of it all. Vini couldn’t forget this day if she tried. That he was pressing her on this made her angry. He knew what the fuck today was. Closing her eyes for a second, she wondered if he were doing this to hurt her. To make her wish for the thing he’d ripped away from her.
Biting her lip, she turned back to him. “The one day that makes me love you and hate you in equal measure.” Sitting back in her chair, she placed her hands in her lap. “It’s the day my dream turned into a nightmare.”
Shaking his head to the side, “Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Come on now, Baby. Is that any way to speak to your husband?”
“It is when my husband chooses another woman over his wife,” she snapped. As she said the words, her heart broke just a little more. In all the years she’d known Nico, been in love with him, he’d never seemed to look at another woman. Had never allowed anyone else to come between them.
But things had changed. He wasn’t the same man she’d grown up with. The man in front of her wasn’t the same person who stood in front of God and everyone to pledge his love to her. Vowed to never betray her. Gave his commitment to love her until the day he died. No, that man didn’t exist anymore. Because Nico had betrayed her to her face, and forced her to live with that humiliation.
How she could still love him, she’d never understand. Something inside her was broken. It had to be, because if anyone else had betrayed her this way, she would have gutted them with the knife gifted to her by Nico on her last birthday.
Sighing, Nico closed his eyes. “No, Angel. I’d never betray you. I’d kick my own ass, then Max would try his damndest to kick my ass again. No one else can take your place, Vini. One day, you’ll actually believe me.”
As he drifted off again, she sat in the chair watching him. No matter how many times he said it, there was no way she could trust his words. She’d seen the proof with her own eyes. She knew he needed the sleep to heal but she wanted to shake him awake. Ask him to explain what he meant.
Deep down, she felt bad about getting riled up and snapping at him. This wasn’t like her at all. Hell, from the time they took her under their wings, they’d taught her to control her rage, and how to channel her anger into energy and focus it all on getting the job done. Their techniques had worked for so long. She’d managed to become the person she’d always wanted. Her father was proud of the woman she’d grown up to become.
