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Grabbing my keys, I hurried to the car and headed towards the restaurant to pick up the woman who was the center of my world.
Something was wrong and if that guy had done something to her…
I shook my head. She was probably just tired and tense. She didn’t want to go on this date anyway. But when I found her outside, arms wrapped around her body as I pulled up to the sidewalk, I felt the tension in me rise as well.
“Thanks, Luca.” She said as she opened the door and slid in. The drive home was a quiet one and she shrank into herself, lost in her thoughts.
I hadn’t seen her like this in a long time and I was worried. As I pulled into the driveway, she went to open the door and I stopped her, watching as she flinched at my touch.
“Hey. Speak to me, gorgeous. What happened?” She sighed and I waited patiently before she looked out the window.
“I freaked out. He was joking around and commented that I was the kind of woman men would want to lock away and hold hostage for their own pleasure. I guess it brought back all the memories of being held by the Rodriguez brothers.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and I had to clench the steering wheel to stop myself from reacting.
What kind of idiot says shit like that and thinks it is funny? It also was the reminder I needed that though she seemed strong on the outside, she was still healing from her past. A past that her filthy father created.
She never spoke about her time there, a time when we spent weeks searching for her. Kingston had gone down a dark path of self-destruction and blame and I had nearly killed Nicolo for letting it happen.
“Ror. It is okay to have moments of weakness. You went through something that people don’t understand and it isn’t going to just disappear. Don’t blame yourself.” I said, feeling hopeless and like every word I said was just a pointless exercise.
“What if I can never have a relationship, Luca? The reason I have been so intent on going on these dates lately is that I am so terrified that I won’t ever be able to find a relationship. That I won’t find someone who can love me for me, regardless of my past.” I watched the tears fall and I couldn’t stand it, her pain and the sound of hopelessness in her voice.
I hated that she felt the need to look for love elsewhere, when she could find it right here. Taking a breath, I knew it was now or never for me.
“Aurora. What if you don’t need to go searching for love? What if it was right in front of you?” I barely recognized the sound of my voice as I spoke, and she frowned at me.
“What? Is this some kind of spiritual thing? Like saying God will deliver? I know I go to church, but you also know that I don’t even think I believe in all that stuff…” I cut her off with a finger to her lips.
“Stop. No Aurora. That isn’t what I mean. I mean, you already have someone who loves you for who you are. Me.” I watched the emotions in her eyes as she looked at me, before she sighed.
“That isn’t the kind of love I mean, Luca. I mean passion, all-consuming love. The kind you read about in books or watch in movies.” She wiped the tears away angrily and I wanted to shake her.
“I know. That is exactly what I am talking about, Ror. I have been in love with you since I first met you as a kid. I spend every waking moment longing for you, wishing you were mine and I hate watching you go on dates with these men when I could be everything you wanted.” The words spilled from my lips before I could stop them, like a floodgate had been opened.
“Luca… please don’t joke about this.” She said and I growled with frustration.
“Aurora. I am not joking. How can you not see it? You are not a friend to me or like a sister. I have always seen you as a woman, a woman I have been in love with. Do you know how hard it is to sit right next to you and not be able to touch you in the way I want? How hard it is to see you every day and not say I love you? It kills me that I have to watch other men touch you the way I have always wanted to, to watch them try to understand you when I know everything about you. I am utterly in love with you, Aurora. Why do you think I don’t date? I compare every single woman I am with to you, and they don’t even come close to you.” Her chest was rising and falling as her breath came in short pants, her eyes wide as she stared at me, and it felt like my heart was breaking in two.
“I don’t understand. Why haven’t you said anything before? Why now?” I swallowed as I looked at her, knowing I had to answer truthfully.
“Because I was afraid of losing you. I was afraid if I told you how I really felt, it would ruin everything between us, and I couldn’t handle not having you in my life. I would rather suffer in silence and long for you every day than never see you again. At least I would have a part of you.” I looked away, not wanting her to see the tears in my own eyes.
“Luca…” She started and I shook my head.
“No. I don’t want you to say something just to make me feel better. I needed to tell you the truth. I couldn’t cope with watching you go on these dates anymore without knowing how I really feel. I don’t expect you to change your mind or be with me, but I needed you to know the truth.” I paused, cupping her cheek as I wiped away another tear.
“I love you, Aurora.”
Chapter six
Aurora
“Iloveyou,Aurora.”Luca said softly, his eyes shining with unshed tears as he wiped away mine.
My entire world had been shaken by those words. I never in a million years thought I would hear Luca tell them to me. I had a crush on him as a teenage girl but never tried to do anything about it and as an adult, I figured if he wanted me, he would have said something a long time ago.
I loved him too, but I had put aside any romantic feelings after Fabian was born to protect my heart and now, he was tearing down every single wall I had built.
“Luca. I… I never thought you saw me as anything other than a sister.” I said, feeling stupid. My heart pounded as he studied my face, eyes lingering on my lips.
