Chapter 17 #2
“You were conveniently in my corner when it served you. The moment we fucked, you stepped back over the line and left me alone again. You just didn’t have the balls to tell me right away.
You let me go on believing it meant something.
And don’t tell me you defended me, because it was just to serve your own purpose.
You didn’t trust me then, and now that you know the truth, you don’t fully trust me now.
” Her eyes bore into mine. “I’m an assassin, Alonzo.
I’m trained to lie and disguise who and what I am.
I succeeded for over a decade. Not you, your family, your brother, or any of Nico’s men found it out.
They saw what I wanted them to see. You think I don’t know you’re questioning whether I’m playing a role or being my real self now?
If you can trust that I won’t double-cross you or use you to accomplish my own mission? ”
I open my mouth to argue, to tell her never, that I know who she is. Who the real woman in front of me is, but no sound comes out. Her questions, her pointed jabs, echo in my head. The doubt that’s been creeping just under the surface is finally breaking through the fissure cracks.
“Exactly.” The words are cold, final, but her eyes are full of acceptance. Like she expected nothing else.
My heart sinks, watching those walls climb higher, grow thicker. I’ve fucked up. Again.
No, I’ll fix this.
I might be taking my life in my hands, but I wrap my hand around her biceps, holding her in place. Her eyes flash in warning, but I ignore them. If she hears nothing else from me, I need her to hear this. It’s too important.
“Listen to me, Aurora. I don’t care who you were.
What name you were called. I don’t care who your father is, or what you’ve had to do to get the hell away from him.
I know you. I know the woman who laughed at ridiculously stupid shit that probably shouldn’t even be funny, but every time you did it, I stared at you like a lovesick fool.
I wanted to hear it again, even if it was at my expense.
I know the woman who stood up for the other women every fucking time.
Who protected them with everything she had, and not out of some sense of duty because of Sienna.
Because you cared, because they are your friends.
“I know the woman who spent hours a day training her dog to be the best he could be.
Who would go to bed exhausted, even though she always runs at max every day?
I know the woman who never backed down, no matter how she was questioned or treated less than because of her family connections.
I know the woman who lay in bed with me every night, talking about anything and nothing, just because she needed someone to talk to.
“I know the woman who made me lose control when I promised myself I wouldn’t.
Who gave me every part of her, even if it was for only one night.
That’s the woman I want. The woman I will do anything to have back.
You’re going to want to tell me that you were playing a role, pretending, but we both know that’s not true, Rori.
That was when you were the most you. You were safe and felt safe with me.
That’s the woman I want back. I want the woman you are, not the one that everyone else expects you to be.
I want Aurora O’Brien because that’s who you chose to be.
Because that is the you, you’ve been hiding all this time.
I want her back, Rori, and I aim to get her back, no matter what I have to do.
And deep down, I know you want that too.
You crave it. All you have to do is reach out and I’ll catch you.
I’ll hold you up when you’re unsure. I want all of you, Rori.
I want the woman I love right back where she deserves to be, and where she belongs. With me.”
Taking my life in my hands, I lift one hand away, snake it into the hair at the back of her head, and press my mouth down to hers. It’s a swift, hard kiss, but there’s no mistaking its meaning.
A claiming. A reminder that she’s mine. That she always will be.
I’ll take her surprise at my words as the only reason she isn’t fighting me, or trying to maim me. A part of me hopes that it’s because she’s missed this as much as I have. That she craves me as much as I crave her. Whatever it is, I’m taking it, as selfish as it might be.
When I pull away, she stares up at me, expression unreadable. “I’m not leaving, Rori,” I rasp. “No one is going to leave you again.”
Before I can test her restraint any further, I release her, turn on my heel, and stalk out.
I glance over at Hades lying down on the floor by the bedroom door, as if already knowing he needs to be on guard, and feel a small twinge of regret that he’s not going to be leaving with me.
It’s strange how, after only a few days, he’s become such a constant.
His place, however, is here with Rori. I open the door, leaving, uncaring who sees.