“Yeah. I couldn’t stop thinking that I’d be found. That’s why I never spent long in one place.”
“Found by whom? Maxim?”
“No, not exactly him. The victims’ families.” A shudder goes down my spine. “I was attacked several times by them during the course of the trial, and I always thought they’d come to kill me.”
“What is that nonsense?” His voice gains an edge. “You testified against your own father.”
“They don’t see it like that. Some of them still think I’m an accomplice and…and…some police officers shared their thought process.” I shake my head to not let the tears loose and rid myself of the pain I felt as I lay with my blood surrounding me. I don’t even know why I’m telling Jonathan all this.
“That’s why you dropped out of the Witness Protection Program. You didn’t trust them.”
“How…how do you know that?”
“I know a lot more about you than you think.”
“Really? Like what?”
“I know you’re protecting Layla and her family by keeping her in the dark about your past, so even if it does comes back to light, all they would need to say is the truth, which is they didn’t know. I also know that Maxim wants you to get him out of prison by revoking your testimony and that his lawyer is bothering you. Which, by the way, will be taken care of. He’ll never come within your vicinity again.”
My mouth hangs open. God. He’s so thorough. Just for helping me keep Stephan away, I murmur, “Thank you.”
“Maxim will rot in his cell until the day he dies. I’ll make sure of it.”
The urge to hug him hits me and it takes everything in me not to act on it. So I smile and thank him again.
A while later, we’re out of the restaurant. I tell Jonathan that I want to walk instead of going straight to the car.
He doesn’t seem amused by the idea, but he walks beside me as we head to the park.
We stop underneath a tree where there aren’t any people. The sky is full of stars, which is so rare to see in the city.
“So beautiful,” I breathe out, throwing my head back to enjoy the view.
“Indeed.”
My gaze slides back to Jonathan to find his entire attention on me, not the sky. Me. My cheeks heat as if I’m a teenager with a crush. Jeez.
“What’s your demand?” he asks.
“Demand?”
“You said you’d tell me when we were out of the restaurant.”
I trap the corner of my lower lip under my teeth, then release it.
“Any day now, Aurora.”
“Hold on, let me think about it.”
“If you need to think about it, then maybe you don’t really want it.”
“Stop putting words in my mouth like a tyrant.”
“If you want something, voice it. Otherwise it’ll never happen.”
“Kiss me.”
He pauses, seeming taken aback by the request, but his expression turns back to normal. “Why?”