Page 31 of Watch Her Bleed
“You know I do,” I say.
“Please, let them help you,” she pleads. “I may not know him, but I trust him with you. Do you realize how hard it is for me to trust people with you? From the second he met you, he’s been trying to connect with you. He’s obviously attracted to you but hasn’t done anything except comfort you. I know you trust him because you took a job knowing damn well you’d be alone with all three of them. You don’t do that. You’ve never put yourself in a position where you’d be alone with a man. Not a friend. Not a teacher. Not even my father, Aurora. My Dad is a fucking saint and you won’t even be alone with him. Do you know how fucking huge it is that you were alone with them in his office?”
“I get it, Kaia,” I say.
“Do you? Do you really understand what’s right in front of you?”
“I have too been alone with men before,” I frown.
“Oh you mean the shitty one-night stands that threw you into a three-day-long panic attack just by simply being in your apartment? The ones that you never spoke to again because you openly admitted to me that it scared you to be alone with them and you had to force yourself through the evening so they didn’t think it was them?”
“You know too much about me,” I say and Matt chuckles.
“For the love of God, just let the man care about you, Aurora. Please stop pushing everyone away because you are scared.”
“Okay. Fine,” I sigh.
“Good. Let him hug you. He looks like he’s going to implode,” she says. I hesitate but turn to Matt.
“I’m sorry,” I say as he hugs me.
“It’s okay, tesoruccia,” he says, kissing my head. “After we eat, we can all go to Kaia’s place, then yours so you two can get some things. Okay?”
“Why do you care so much?” I ask.
“Honestly?” he asks and I nod. “I have no fucking clue.”
“That’s helpful,” I say and he smiles.
“What I know is that I don’t date. I don’t give any woman a reason to think I am the one they should be around, but somehow you have drawn me in and I have no desire to pull away.”
“I don’t know how to take that,” I admit.
“You know how you asked him the other day if he does anything other than smile?” Luca asks.
“Yeah. He’s perpetually happy,” I say.
“That’s the thing, Aurora,” Luca says. “He’s not. I have legitimately never seen my brother smile as much as he does when he’s around you. He’s a bit of a dick if we are being honest, but when he’s with you he’s different. He’s happy. He’s relaxed. That’s major.”
“I think they relax each other equally,” Kaia says and Luca nods.
Chapter Twelve
Mattia
We pull up to Aurora’s apartment and it’s like her head is on a swivel as we all walk up. Kaia keeps a hold of her hand until we get to her door. When she slips her key into the lock she freezes. “What is it?” Kaia asks when Aurora backs away from the door.
“It’s unlocked. I never leave it unlocked,” she says quietly.
“Stay here with them,” I say to Milo. He nods as Luca and I go to the door. Luca swings the door open and we are met with an absolute disaster.
“Dear God,” Kaia says.
“He was here,” Aurora says. She sounds panicked but Kaia pulls her into a hug as Luca and I walk inside.
“Holy fuck,” Luca says. As we walk through the apartment, we find that every drawer is open and dumped. The contents of the book shelves are strewn across the living room. Every cabinet in her kitchen is open and everything is sitting on the counters with the contents of the drawers on the floor. The bathroom and the bedroom are in a similar state, only her room is the worst of them all. Clothes are scattered across the room to the point that you cannot see the floor. The closet is empty, as are the drawers of her dresser.
“It’s clear,” Luca calls out.
