setting ablaze ( a queen is born)

bonding 3

Russo stopped  the engine, and with a click, his seatbelt was off. He took hers off as well. Hazel got down before he and could even make his way over to open the door for her. Hazel stared at the familiar looking path way. She felt something heavy on her hand only to feel his hand on hers. He held it in a tight grip like he was afraid she would  run away or something.  He gently  pulled  he along the path, and she followed  quietly  behind him, not really having anything  to say.
They entered a secluded area that was surrounded  by some trees with a giant willow tree in the middle of the garden. It's leaves covered about half of the sky. The other halve was clear with the sun's rays seeping through the few leaves on that side. The grass looked green as ever, with a few dew drops still on them. Hazel let out a breath she was holding.  Suddenly,  a memory flashed before her eyes, one of her lying on the grass with him holding her close to his chest. She looked at the stars at night while he played with her hair and they spoke about their future. But now that memory seemed so distant and lost in time.  "  Remember when we used to have picnics here?" He said, staring at a spot right under the shady part of the garden. " You always wanted me to plant dome sunflowers for you." Hazel  followed the trail of his eyes and settled on the patch of sunflowers growing at the edge of the garden. They looked so healthy and well taken care of.
" Why?"she asked with a bearly audible voice. " Why?"her voice cut through the wind. Russo turned to look at her face. A pool of tears had started  to form in her eyes. Tearing his gaze from her, he couldn't  bear to see her face. He lowered his head in shame with his hands in his pocket. His chest felt heavy, and suddenly, it felt so hard to breathe. With a sigh," Well, it all started when I got a letter a few days after the annual mafia ball. The letter had both you and Amara's names in it. At first, I thought  it was a small gang trying to pick a fight, but you got into an accident that almost made me lose you." He let out another breath and then continued. " Almost losing you put fear in me, so I did what I thought was best at that time, turns out it was the worst decision I would ever make in my life." He chuckled  bitterly into the wind . " I  sent you away,  thinking it would buy me some time to keep you safe. But then  my men lost all contacts with you. It was as if you had disappeared off the face of the earth. From there, everything went black, and I pushed everyone away, including the boys. Which I'm not proud of, but then after a year, my shipments were stolen again, but this time, the clue led me to hope. Little  by little, both of you started popping up in the clues . The day I finally  found your location it was like the universe had given me a second chance.I had to get you close to me so that I could  keep you safe and finally kill whoever was behind the whole thing " with that he finally lifted his head to catch a glimps of her face still feeling ashamed. Her eyes were now red, with streaked tears flowing down  her cheeks. He held  her face with his callous palm, feeling the soft feel of her skin gave him some sort of relief, assuring him that the moment was real and not a dream. " But it was stupid of me to  that, if only we had communicated  more this whole misunderstanding would not have happened, it was all fault!" His voice cracked at the end of that sentence. A tear ran down his face." But now you're here , where I can keep you safe. I'm never letting you go again.  No one is going to take you away from  me, " He stated slightly, tightening his hold on her chin. With that, she broke into tears. It broke his hurt to hear her , he pulled her into his chest. Crises of pain could be heard in the garden, Russo rubbed circles on her back encouraging her to let it all our. She lifted her hand to his sides and grabbed his shirt in her palms. She shook as powerful waves off emotions passed through her. She felt so many emotions, uncertainty clouded her mind as she sniffled and cried harder. He lifted her off the ground. She clung her arms around his neck, but her face was still buried in his chest.
After some time, the cries stared to die down, and she started to feel drowsy. He pulled her away for a bit to see her puffy eyes with red cheeks. He took off his shirt since it was now wet from all the tears and all. He threw the pice of clothing somewhere and pulled her back on him as he laid down. She tried to protest, but he put her head on his chest and caged her with his arms. With no way of escaping, she accepted her fate and relaxed into his hold. She played with her hair, and the feel of it made him sleepy as she also started to close her eyes.
When it was about sunset, she started to wake up. She felt lighter on the inside but heavy on the outside. Wiith, her eyes still half way closed.she pushed against the hard surface underneath her to lift herself up. But she couldn't with a weight on her wait. Fully opening her eyes to the feel, she saw that her hand was on his bare chest. As if on que, Russo slowly opened his eyes. He looked at his wife, who had a slight taint of red on her cheek. Getting up, he lifted her up a bit, causing  her to jump on him. His  brow raised amusingly at their new position as Hazel was on the verge of turning into a tomato at the sight of her straddling him. He lifted her up, causing  her to freak out and wrap her  legs  around him. Her face was still buried in his neck as he walked back towards the car. " Your shirt," she stated upon seeing the material on the ground.  A sudden breeze made her realise how cold it was. Now, she felt bad for ruining his shirt. " It's cold. Let's hurry so that we get you a shirt," she stated, stapping on his shoulder. " Sure , we don't want you catching a cold. Plus, I have a personal heater right now, so I don't feel a thing, " He let out as he continued  to make his way toward the car. All the blood in her rushed to his face, and she buried  her face deeper into his neck . He let out a throaty chuckle at her reaction. He put her down and open the door the door for her.
The drive was quiet, with each of them lost in their heads. For Russo, he was finally happy and relieved  that he had gotten that off his chest. He also hoped that whatsoever happened today would help him get his woman back. For Hazel, she didn't  know what to do with whatever happened today. She was certain that she still felt something, but she didn't know whether to give in or not. She also didn't  want to say what they went through after the incident, maybe she would tell him some other time but not now.
" what!, are you sure Luca, we are on our way?"
" What, what happened?" Hazel asked out of concern when she saw him putting  his phone  away.