Page 122 of Made in Love and Blood

Then, something bumped into his knee. Not hard, but enough that it gained his attention. He looked down to find Stella rubbing her side against his leg. Had the cat followed her in? He didn’t even notice.

Nothing felt real.

“You’re not okay, are you?” Frankie asked.

Nico couldn’t even say it.

“Hey, come here,” she told him.

Nico shook his head and leaned in the Mustang to grab the ready bag he always had in the back. Besides cash, toiletries, and a change of clothes, it also held his IDs and important documents.

“I, uh—”

“What the hell are you doing?” Frankie asked hotly.

Stella bumped her head against his leg again as he turned to face the girl he loved more than himself. It wasn’t such a hard thing to do, considering how much he seemed to hate himself, but he did.

He loved her like crazy, but he was a fuck-up, too. He couldn’t fuck her up. He refused.

“What are you doing?” she demanded again when he headed for the Ducati a spot over.

“Leaving,” Nico said then.

“What?”

“Leaving.”

“What?!”

“First, don’t fucking scream at me,” he snarled back at her.

Frankie’s spine snapped straight. “Where exactly do you think you’re gonna go, Nico?”

“Not here. Your father—”

“Is on the phone. Again. Where are you going?”

He couldn’t ease that ache in his chest when he looked at this girl. The little voice that kept telling him he would ruin her had started chanting it on constant repeat. It wasn’t so little anymore, and he couldn’t keep ignoring it. Right along with what Salvatore said.

“The least you could do is talk to me,” Frankie whispered, tears welling. “Why won’t you even speak to me?”

“I want to hurt something. Someone.”

She hugged herself tightly.

“And if you get too close to me, I might fucking hurt you,” he admitted.

She shook her head. “No, you won’t.”

Her tears spilled.

He wished he could stand the sight of them.

“Stop crying,” he muttered thickly. “Stop it.”

“Stop making me cry!”

“Just stop...fuck!”