“Jesus, Elio,” I jumped, “you scared me.”
“Who hurt you?” he asked again, his voice sharp but much lower in tone.
“Calm down, son.” Andrea held up her hands. “She just needed a break from Mariano tonight.”
Elio came around to sit in the chair next to me, turning my legs so I’d face him. The look on his face told me now wasn’t the time to lie, but it also told me he was on edge, ready for a fight.
“Mama, would you please give us a moment?”
“Of course. I’ll be right over there.” She squeezed my hand and shot her son a warning to be nice. I missed that look, but it struck me as funny because Elio would never hurt me. Ever.
“Bella,” he cleared his throat, “tell me what happened.”
“No. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can tell your mind isn’t in a good place, so no matter what I say, you’ll fly off the handle, and we don’t need that tonight.”
“Sienna,” he warned.
“Elio.” I mimicked his tone and rubbed the side of my head, feeling worn out.
“Just tell me if he hurt you.”
“He didn’t hurt me.”
“Then,” he pressed his hands against my knees, “what happened?”
“He just…” I treaded carefully. “He put me in a position I didn’t like. I got nervous, so I packed my bags and left.”
“Nervous about what?”
“Elio, please.” I closed my eyes, just needing a moment, and I could tell he was growing frustrated, so I changed focus. “What’s wrong with you tonight? You seem very edgy yourself.”
His dark eyes moved to mine, and I saw something flicker across his face.
“Just a rough night.”
“I hear you.”
“You could share yours…” His eyes bored into mine.
“So could you.”
He nodded. He knew neither of us was going to budge.
“You’ll stay here tonight, and we’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.”
“I think I’m going to go home tomorrow,” I whispered, and he shot me a confused look, but before he could speak, I put up my hand to stop him. “I got my story. I just need to write it and turn it in. This isn’t my life, Elio, it’s yours.”
“I want you in it.” His voice was soft and raw.
“Elio.” I lowered my head, feeling the pain that came along with that topic, and tried to deflect the emotion. “I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for Mariano. It was a freak accident that I’m here at all.”
“So?”
“So, I don’t fit here.”