Heart of Fury - Stone and Fire # 2 [17+]

Chapter 35

AYYYY WE BACK

Aurora's POV

The car rolled past mounds of dirt, gravel, and miscellaneous trees on our way back to the house. I could feel Lorenzo's eyes drift towards me every five seconds or so, flitting and quick. 

He hadn't said a word after seeing me with a backwards shirt and messy hair standing outside Mikhail's property, but simply stopped where I asked him to until I slipped into the front seat and turned my neck towards the window the second he pressed on the gas.

It was on replay. Every word, every twitch of his face that deepened my regret further until all I had left was a broken shell. The memory ran across my vision until it was all I could see, until the greens and brows of outside muddled into his living room and the gleaming puddles of water became the sharp pieces of glass on his floor. The pain in my foot deepened, and I felt a trickle of blood soak my shoe as I winced.

And maybe my cousin had just glanced at the wrong time, but he'd seen the pain flash across my face. The car rolled to stop, until it was edged up against the side of the highway.

 I could barely suck in a breath as he grabbed my leg and yanked my shoe off. 

"What are you-?"

I went silent at the expression on his face. Eyebrows flat, jaw hard. Shit.

"He did this to you?" 

I blew out a trembly breath. "No- no, it wasn't him." I hesitated as the after-thought crossed my mind. He wouldn't hurt me. 

"What the fuck happened, then? I've been sitting here for an hour watching you sulk over a prissy fuckboy. Explain."

I glanced at him as he took a tissue from the drawer in the upholstery and dabbed at the cut. "I stepped on glass."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Don't lie to me."

"I swear, I'm not. I was heading out too fast and didn't look where I was going."

"And why were you so desperate to get away from him?"

My chest squeezed. 

"He said.. things."

"Things? What things?" His tone was harsh now, giving me less room to think.

"Just things. I don't wanna talk about it." 

"You're gonna have to, Aurora. Don't play that game with me. I might be fun- more than you like it most of the time, but it's also my job to make sure you're safe. You're father would have my head if you got home with so much as a scratch on you."

I gave him a side-glance. He was sitting with one hand on the wheel, a stern expression in place of his usual, playful one.

His watch's ticks filled the silence.

"I love him."

Saying the words out loud was like emptying a hole into my chest. That and, a creeping wave of hurt along with it knowing Mikhail didn't feel the same way.

Lorenzo leaned back into his seat, eyes on the road.

"Say that all you want. He doesn't deserve you."

And to that I thought, he does. 

He deserves me because he's never had a real taste of what love actually feels like, and now that he has, it's scaring him. 

"And you don't deserve the right to jump to conclusions." I said firmly.

"Don't I? I see fucked up shit happen twenty-four seven, Aurora. I'm not new to the world of heartbreak."