Hidden Flames [The Ludovicas: Second Generation Book Three]

Fifteen | Mine

IRENE

I can't believe Kian is having conversations with me now. He is getting softer towards me and I have never felt this happy before.

When he went away on that trip without any prior notice I was angry and disappointed.

And I felt even more angry when I missed him badly.

So I came up with a plan to go away for a while too, that's a different thing that I couldn't go to another city but it still counted.

But then we had a nice conversation over the text messages and my anger slowly started to melt.

Then he came there in the middle of the night with all those food and told me to come back and I think...I fell for him.

It's stupid, it's so freaking stupid. Just because he is going soft for me doesn't mean he would be romantically interested in me, that just feels impossible.

Even knowing the result, I am putting myself at risk of a severe heartbreak, the one which I am sure I won't be able to recover from.

I liked Steven and everything he did hurt but I have forgotten about him completely, I don't miss him or think about him.

At times I do feel angry at myself for being a fool and believing him but that's it.

I don't feel anything for him.

But with Kian...I feel so many things.

If this doesn't work out, I am throwing myself off the roof for sure. I won't be able to survive that heartbreak.

"Aunty?" Aly tapped my arm impatiently. "Why did you stop? Tell me more."

I was brought back to my present and realised I was with Aly, in her nursery, telling her a bedtime story on her request.

"Ah, yes, sorry. So then the hero opened the closet and that little girl was huddled inside with her teddy, fearing the worst."

It should be weird, reciting my own story but Aly wanted to hear a tale of a hero and my story was the only thing that came to my mind.

"She was so scared when she saw him but also confused because she didn't know who he was."

"Then?" Aly held her breath.

"Then...she begged him to not hurt her and he put his hand out towards her..."

I continued telling her the whole story, hiding our real identities, at the end of which I gently ran my fingers through her hair until she fell asleep.

A longing bloomed inside me to have a child too, someone who would look up to me and love me unconditionally.

Scolding myself for having ridiculous thoughts, I quietly went out of there.

Instead of going to our bedroom, I went to the Teddy Room and noticed the door was open even though I remembered closing it.

I cautiously went inside and paused when I saw Kian bent over my table, ruffling through all my stuff.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a bit sharply.

He abruptly turned around, surprised to see me there.

He opened his mouth and then closed it and glanced at the table, frowning as if pondering what to say.

"Do you want something?" I moved closer to him.

"You have all the art supplies." He stated.

"Um, yes?"