“Don’t you fret,” Gerri said. “Stay on Nova Aurora until Martin’s court date. I will have everything taken care of at your estate until then.”
Azura thanked Gerri repeatedly, wondering what she had done to deserve such an understanding and caring soul. She wondered if Gerri wasn’t a human either because no human had been so selfless to her in her entire life.
Other than her sweet parents, of course.
Azura hung up and stared out the window. She watched a scene that looked like something straight out of a Tim Burton movie, the colors enhanced to a bizarre vibrance. Other than the sky, the sea, and the sand, she observed the lilac-shaded trees that crowded the grounds below.
Martin was staring too. It was like he was on vacation. Now and then, Onyx looked out the rearview mirror, watching them, watching her reaction to his world.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” he asked.
“It looks like a really weird painting,” Martin said.
Azura was watching him and felt her anger dissipate. She realized yes, he was a sixteen-year-old boy, and that wasn’t exactly a child. Yet he had suffered a trauma that had just affected his brain in a different way than it had affected her own.
She remembered him as a baby in their parent’s car. She would sit next to him and point up at the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars on some nights. He was always so curious and sweet. She hated that that boy had faded away, replaced by one who hated everything around him, especially himself. Azura placed her palm on Martin’s knee. He looked at her with apologetic eyes. Azura nodded, then gave him a light squeeze.
There was something that Azura had learned about love since losing two people she was closest to. It didn’t go away when the people you placed it on went away. It also was capable of making you more forgiving, and in that instance, it was a lot like magic.
She let go of him, and they both looked out the window. Azura wasn’t going to let him off the hood easily, but she knew he needed help. There was no way she was not going to give him that.
Plus, a handsome stranger was acting as her chauffeur. He had a serene presence about him, like a nice vacation packed in the form of a person. If she could drop her defenses around him a bit, maybe she could relax.
She bit her lip, thinking about all that pent-up stress resting inside her body.