Chapter 10 Reina #4
I wiped at my face with the back of my hand, but it didn't help. The tears kept coming. My skin was on fire, fever spiking. My scent was so strong I could smell it even inside the car.
The stress was accelerating everything.
My heat was coming faster than I'd thought.
"Luca?"
"I'm here. Still here."
"I think..." I swallowed hard. "I think my heat is coming. Soon. Like, really soon."
"How soon?"
"Hours. Maybe less." My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the phone. "The stress, it triggered..."
"Don't worry about that right now. We'll handle it. I'm five minutes away."
I looked up at my mother's house one more time. Saw a shadow pass by the window. Her, probably. Standing in her perfect house with her perfect family, relieved that the problem daughter was finally gone.
For good this time.
"I slapped her," I said quietly.
"Good."
"Luca."
"I mean it. She deserved it. She deserved a hell of a lot more than that." His voice softened. "You stood up for yourself. That takes guts."
"I'm disowned."
"You're free."
The words hit me harder than they should have.
Free.
Was I?
Or had I just traded one cage for another?
"I'm scared," I whispered.
"I know. But you're not alone. You're never going to be alone again."
Headlights turned onto the street. Luca's car.
"I see you," I said.
"I see you too."
He pulled up beside my car, got out before he'd even fully stopped. Came to my door, tried the handle.
Locked.
I hit the unlock button with trembling fingers.
He pulled the door open and immediately dropped to a crouch beside me, his hands finding my face. "Hey. Look at me."
I looked.
His ice-blue eyes were intense, worried, angry, but not at me. Never at me.
"You're okay," he said. "You're going to be okay."
"I don't feel okay."
"I know." His thumbs wiped away my tears, gentle despite the fury I could see simmering beneath his surface. "What did she say to you?"
I shook my head. "I can't..."
"Reina."
The whole story spilled out in broken sentences. The setup with Edward. The pointed questions. The accusations. The names she'd called me. The things she'd said about Luca and Jaxon.
The slap.
The disowning.
By the time I finished, Luca's jaw was clenched so tight I thought it might crack.
"I need you to do something for me," he said, his voice deadly calm.
"What?"
"I need you to stay in this car for five minutes. Can you do that?"
"Why?"
"Because if you don't, I'm going to walk into that house and say things to your mother that I won't be able to take back."
"Luca, don't..."
"She called you a whore, Reina." His hands were shaking now, barely restrained violence in every line of his body. "She told you that you're dangerous. That you destroy everything you touch. That we're going to tear each other apart over you."
"She's wrong," I whispered.
"I know she's wrong. But I need five minutes to calm down before I trust myself to drive."
He pulled me out of the car, into his arms. Held me so tight I could barely breathe.
I buried my face in his chest, inhaling cedar and ice. His scent wrapped around me, steadying something that had been spiraling out of control.
"I've got you," he murmured into my hair. "I've got you and I'm not letting go."
We stood there in my mother's driveway for what felt like forever. His hand stroking my hair. My tears soaking into his shirt. Both of us shaking for different reasons.
Finally, he pulled back enough to look at my face.
"Your heat's close."
"I know."
"We need to get you back to the cabin. Jaxon's going to meet us there after his game."
"Okay."
"Can you walk?"
I nodded, even though I wasn't sure.
He helped me into the passenger seat of his car, buckled me in like I was fragile. Walked around to the driver's side.
Before he got in, he looked back at my mother's house one more time.
His expression was cold. Furious.
"You're never going back there," he said as he started the car. "You hear me? Never."
"Okay," I whispered.
He reached over, took my hand. "And Reina? Everything she said about you? About us? It's bullshit. All of it."
I wanted to believe him.
But my mother's voice was still echoing in my head.
You're going to tear those boys apart just like you almost did twelve years ago.
What if she was right?
What if I really was dangerous?
What if...
"Stop," Luca said quietly, like he could read my thoughts. "I can see you spiraling. Whatever you're thinking, stop."
"How do you know what I'm thinking?"
"Because I know you." He squeezed my hand. "And I know that look. The one that says you're trying to convince yourself you're not worth it. That you're better off alone."
"Maybe I am."
"You're not." He said it with such certainty that I almost believed him. "And I'm going to spend however long it takes proving it to you."
We drove in silence for a while. The city lights blurred past the windows. My hand stayed in his, anchored.
My phone buzzed. Jaxon.
Pretty Girl, you're scaring me. What happened?
Luca glanced at it. "You want me to tell him?"
I nodded.
He picked up my phone, dialed Jaxon's number, put it on speaker.
"Reina?" Jaxon answered immediately. "What the fuck is going on? You're not answering and Vale just called me saying..."
"It's me," Luca said. "I'm with her. We're heading back to the cabin."
"What happened?"
"Her mother happened."
A string of profanity came through the speaker. "Is she okay?"
"No," Luca said honestly. "But she will be."
"I'm on my way. Team bus just left but I'll rent a car, be there in three hours."
"Jax, you don't have to..." I started.
"Like hell I don't. This is..." He stopped. "Put her on."
Luca held the phone closer to me.
"I'm here," I managed.
"What did she say to you?"
My throat closed up. Couldn't repeat it. Not again.
"That bad?" Jaxon's voice gentled. "Okay. You don't have to tell me now. But Pretty Girl, I need you to listen to me. Whatever she said? She's wrong. You hear me? She's wrong."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know you. And I know that anyone who tries to convince you you're not worth loving is full of shit."
The tears started again, quieter this time.
"I'll be there soon," Jaxon promised. "A few hours, max. Vale's got you until then?"
"I've got her," Luca confirmed.
"Good." A pause. "Reina? We're not going anywhere. No matter what your mother said. No matter what happens. We're not going anywhere."
"Okay," I whispered.
He hung up.
Luca's hand tightened on mine as we drove through the night, heading toward the cabin. Toward whatever was coming.
My heat was building. I could feel it in every cell of my body. Hours, maybe less.
And when it hit, both of them would be there.
Together.
For me.
The thought should have terrified me.
Instead, for the first time since walking into my mother's house, I felt like I could breathe.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"For what?"
"For coming to get me. For not asking questions. For just... being here."
Luca brought my hand to his lips, pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
"Always," he said. "I'm always going to be here."
And somehow, I believed him.