Chapter Fifty-Three
KHALIL
I’m blowing it.
But the realization doesn’t help because then I get pissed at myself for caring.
Aurelia made us her new security team, which is serendipitous since Tyler apparently canned the men guarding her yesterday. Aurelia then made it perfectly clear that the fuckwad was still in charge of all security matters and that we’d be reporting to him.
I honestly thought she cared about the little shit, but maybe she secretly wants him dead because fuck that. Thorin, Seth, and I don’t answer to anyone, especially when it comes to protecting what’s ours. Aurelia should have learned that by now.
Thorin and I left briefly to clear out of Gary’s girlfriend’s condo, but this time we were able to use the front gate when we returned.
After that, for the first few days, we did nothing but lie low since the press and online gossip blogs were all over the story, wanting to know what happened with the shooting and how Aurelia is faring.
On day four, we finally meet the illustrious Oni.
She seems more perturbed than surprised to find us here. Oni takes one look at us filling up the chic mansion like a trio of sore thumbs and drags Aurelia into a room where they yell at each other for an hour before she leaves.
“What was that about?” I ask after I follow Aurelia into the kitchen. She’s wearing a knitted white two-piece short set with the long-sleeved crop top showing off her belly.
Aurelia cuts her gaze toward me. She’s drinking from a glass of orange juice after taking her prenatal vitamins, but she lowers it and gives me a look. “Oh, you’re talking to me now?”
“For the moment.”
“Hmm.” She abandons her juice and leaves the kitchen, making it clear that she has no desire to talk to me.
I last three seconds before I chase after her.
Aurelia walks in the living area and grabs the thin yoga mat and bolster pillow waiting there before laying it out on the hardwood floor. She then grabs the remote before turning on the TV and loading up a program.
“Yoga?” I ask when I see what’s playing. There’s a woman on the screen with a man, and I realize belatedly that it’s meant to be a couples’ exercise, but Goldilocks had been forced to do it alone.
Aurelia wordlessly nods as she pulls off her top, revealing her tan sports bra underneath. “I’m told it helps with the discomfort of growing another human inside you.”
“You need a partner?”
Her gaze flicks uncertainly toward me, and then she avoids my gaze as she gives a small shrug. “If you want.”
I ask myself what the hell I’m doing as I take her hands when she tries to sit and help her lower onto the mat.
Facing Aurelia, I sit next to her while she crosses her legs and places her hands on her knees.
The moment she closes her eyes though, she starts to sway and my hands reach for her automatically, settling on her stomach and back to keep her steady.
Aurelia’s lack of balance and coordination reminds me of Thor and how he said his body didn’t feel like it belonged to him after the coma.
The therapist suggested yoga on his own time, but the jackass would never do it.
“Thanks,” she says softly before pulling in a deep breath and slowly releasing it.
I’ve lost my excuse for following her in the first place, so I flounder for something to say since it’s clear she’s not going to tell me what she discussed with Oni. Fortunately, Aurelia beats me to it before my presence and hands on her body can become awkward.
It’s a big enough house that we’ve been able to avoid and ignore each other without issue. It would feel awkward as fuck moving into her home if we hadn’t already lived together in the cabin where we couldn’t avoid each other.
“Have you seen your parents yet?” she asks with her eyes still closed.
My fingers flex involuntarily, and I find myself pulling in a calming breath with her. “No. Not yet,” I answer once I exhale.
“Why not?” Her tone is soft and curious rather than accusatory.
I wait until she inhales deeply again and exhales. “Because I’m a coward.”
A laugh bursts free when Aurelia nods her agreement and then looks apologetic when she realizes. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s true.”
“You should call them,” she suggests. “If you’re going to be my bodyguard, you’ll soon find out that privacy and hiding are impossible, even when you’re rich. You don’t want them learning you’re alive from social media.”
Fuck, she’s right. That would almost be as bad as letting them think I was dead in the first place. I did it to protect them, but they won’t give a fuck about that. My parents would rather die for me than live with the pain of losing a child.
I feel a bit of anxiety rising, so when Aurelia inhales again, I mimic her until the nausea dissipates. “There’s another reason I haven’t gone to see them,” I admit before I can stop the words.
Aurelia’s brown eyes pop open, and she turns her head to meet my gaze. I don’t realize how close our faces are until her lips are right there. “What?”
“You,” I confess slowly. “You promised to be there when I go to see them, remember?”
She quickly looks away and chews her lip. “I didn’t think you’d still want me to keep that promise.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I retort quietly.
“Because you hate me…for being a bad girlfriend.”
“Neither of those things are true, Goldilocks.”
She looks like she wants to say something but bats the urge away and reaches her arm nearest me up as she leans over toward the opposite side. “Khalil, can you—” She gestures toward her arm and I quickly catch on, placing my hand on her bicep above her armpit and helping her lean into the stretch.
“Feels good?”
“Yes, thank you.”
The conversation grows stale again after that as we try to avoid all the things we’re too afraid to say. This time I break the silence after shifting to her other side to repeat the stretch. “So why are you here all by yourself?”
“Because the fewer people who know I’m pregnant, the safer I feel,” she softly confesses with a worried pinch of her brow. “My security team didn’t even know. No one except Tyler.”
“Where is he anyway?” I grouse. I’ve never felt so much dislike and envy for someone I’ve technically never met. When we found Westbrook in the Cold Peaks half buried alive, he was barely conscious and only mumbling Aurelia’s name.
Aurelia flicks her gaze toward me, and a small smile she won’t let free plays on her lips at my jealousy.
“He was pushing himself too hard, so I made him take the week off. He should be back in a couple of days. He’s married, by the way.
” She blurts that last part out, likely picking up on my jealousy.
“Happily?” I ask unmoved.
“Very. I met his wife. She’s lovely.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I say as I help her move into a new position.
Aurelia takes the bolster pillow and sits on top on it before placing the soles of her feet together and letting her knees open.
I’m sitting behind her as I wait for her to tell me what to do.
I can’t even bring myself to listen to the instructor on the TV because it means taking my focus off of her.
“Put your feet on my back,” she finally tells me. I glance down at my sneakered feet before removing my shoes until I’m left in just my socks. And then I lean back on my hands to place my feet on her back. It’s comical the way my big-ass feet dwarf her back. “Lower.”
Obeying, I slide my feet down until they rest on her lower spine. “Like that, baby?” I let slip.
I feel Aurelia’s muscles tense under my feet like she’s just as startled, but then she relaxes just as quickly. “Perfect.”
She doesn’t thank me this time, and it feels like a step forward from the polite distance she’s been keeping. After she’s done breathing some more, she tells me to move one of my feet to her upper back.
And that’s how Thorin and Seth find us.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Seth asks as they walk in through the patio doors. All morning they’ve been out doing their rounds patrolling the grounds while I stayed inside to look after Aurelia.
Thorin already scolded Aurelia for not doing better to keep people out, to which Aurelia gaped at him and made a very good point that only someone insane or with a death wish would attempt to scale a mountain just to gain entry to her backyard.
“Yoga,” I grunt when Aurelia ignores him. She’s busy pulling in her deep breaths again.
Thankfully, Thorin and Seth don’t stick around, but I can feel Thorin’s eyes on us as they cross the room to reach the door leading to the kitchen. When I look up, he lifts a brow before disappearing through the doorless entryway.
I stay with Aurelia, helping her through her poses and assisting with her stretches, and then I help her stand when she’s done while I roll the mat and tie it.
“How are you feeling now?” I ask once I set the mat aside and toss the pillow on the couch. “Do you need anything?”
“Fries,” she says immediately while staring longingly out the window. The landscaper is out there mowing the massive lawn, and I wonder if she thinks about her garden back in the Cold Peaks.
“Okay,” I say even though it’s ten in the morning. “Easy enough. I’ll get you some fries.”
“And ice cream.”
My brows raise as I hope she doesn’t mean together. I’ve heard about pregnancy cravings from my aunts and cousins back in Six Forks. “Any particular flavor?”
Her nose wrinkles as she gives it some thought. “Pistachio,” she finally decides.
“They make that?”
She shakes her head while looking like she’s caught in a trance. “I have no idea.”
“I guess we’ll find out then. I’ll be back.” It feels like I’m running when I rush the door.
“Khalil,” she aims at my back. The tremble in her voice makes me pause even though I don’t want to. I turn to see tears welling in her eyes. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for—” Her voice catches. “I’m sorry for leaving you too. I never wanted you to feel alone.”