36
Karina
I don’t have to be in the same room to feel the tension brewing between us. Mostly that energy is radiating off of Aurielo, and I can’t say I’m surprised.
I didn’t consider what would happen if we got caught.
How had he tracked Ashton and me down at the bus station?
Ivy hadn’t known where we were heading. She couldn’t have spilled our location. But he had found my number, probably through my sister’s phone.
Damn.
Just when I thought we might manage to get away and be safe.
I stay in the shower until the water runs cold, and I’m forced to shut off the tap—anything to avoid Aurielo.
By the time I sneak into the bedroom, Aurielo is still wide awake. I purse my lips, unsure of what to say. Nothing is going to fix what happened today.
He doesn’t trust me. He’s not wrong, either. I betrayed him.
I have half a mind to sleep on the couch, but it doesn’t look comfortable. But being under Aurielo’s scrutiny, that’s even less desirable.
I shut off the bathroom light and stalk toward the bed, pulling back the covers.
I’m waiting for him to say something like ‘we need to talk’ or ‘I will never trust you again.’
Maybe it’s coming, and I’m just impatient. The tension is brewing, and the heat is agonizing. I don’t like conflict, let alone fighting.
“Let the water run cold?” Aurielo asks.
I slink under the covers and adjust the pillow as I shuffle down the mattress to get comfortable. It’s hard to feel the least bit comfortable with him staring at me.
“What’s that?” I play it off like I don’t know what he’s talking about. I’m not an idiot. I just got out of the shower. But at least maybe I can keep him talking and the conversation about something other than what I did today and my betrayal.
“You took a while in the shower,” Aurielo says.
I roll onto my side, staring at him. Maybe I should be afraid of Aurielo, but I’m not.
I’m worried about my son, the world he’ll see, experience, and how he’ll become under the leadership of the mafia.
His role models should be positive influences, or at least people that don’t torture, interrogate, and murder men.
“I didn’t notice,” I say and pretend to dust lint off my shoulder. It’s a distraction, a way not to stare at him anymore as he continues pinning me with his gaze.
It’s uncomfortable.
I’m sure it’s why he does it. Aurielo is a mastermind with interrogations. He’s probably well-versed in manipulation tactics as well.
“What was your plan?” Aurielo asks. He doesn’t avoid the topic at all. “Runaway with Ashton, and then what? It’s obvious you love your job. Were you really going to give it up? Why? Because you don’t want to be married to me?”
It’s a punch to my gut.
“What you did to that man, I can’t just forgive and forget,” I say.
Doesn’t he realize that I don’t want my son to become like him?
“You knew who I was the day we met.”