Page 69 of Broken Princess

Zo:

ETA?

Hummingbird:

When would you like us back by?

Zo:

Two hours ago

Hummingbird:

Time machine broke down, so we’ll see you in an hour.

Zo:

One hour.

Aurora looks up from the chair. “Why do I feel like I’m in trouble, Sin?”

“Because Zo worries and we’ve been out for longer than you have been since the warehouse.”

She winces, and I kick myself for reminding her. “Oh,” is all she musters out.

It doesn’t take much longer, and I’m transfixed as the stylist blows-out her hair. As her hair dries, it reveals hues of dark green, teal, and blue running through the ends hidden under her ebony black lengths. You can only see them when she moves. She’s also had the hair cut shorter at the front to frame her face. It’s bold and fierce and in no way helps her blend into the background.

“Zo’s still going to make you wear the wig,” I admonish and then wipe away my look of mock judgement with a warm smile. “But it’s beautiful, Aurora. It suits you.” I can’t help but step forward and run my hand through it, entranced by watching the colours slip off my fingers. “Hummingbird,” I muse.

“Yeah, you kind of inspired me.”

Her words tease a smile from me, and the tribute to my nickname for her is unearthing other emotions in me. My feelings for her refuse to be suppressed. She’s captivating, and the little thief is doing a phenomenal job of stealing all my resolve. I can’t resist her, and I don’t think I want to.

Leaning in, I press my mouth to hers. Her lips part and she welcomes me, letting me devour her in long, languid strokes as our tongues duel with each other. It’s intoxicating.

A gentle cough sounds behind us, reminding me we’re not only in the middle of the salon, but that I need to pay. After flinching at the total for a fraction of a second—fuck me, being a woman is extortionate—we pay and head back to the truck.

After a few minutes, Aurora turns in her seat and dithers over whatever it is she wants to say.

“Spit it out, colibrì.”

“Is Enzo okay?”

Her question surprises me. “In what way?”

“I don’t know. He takes on a lot, and you made a whole thing about letting him sleep today.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘a whole thing’, but I see what you mean. Enzo takes on a lot of personal responsibility for, well, everything. He sets a near impossible standard for himself and at the moment the stakes are incredibly high.”

Aurora nods along beside me. “It’s not just about what’s going on with the De Lucas, is it?”

“No, hummingbird, it’s not. Finding a lead on your sister’s death has thrown him. He won’t admit it, but we’d begun to think we’d never find anything. How much do you remember about Gianni?”

“He was head of my sister’s protection crew. That’s how I’ve known Zo for so long. He hung with them sometimes when Gianni was watching Isabella. He died not long after my sister, and I didn’t see Zo much after that.”

I flick a glance her way as I drive, trying to figure out how much an eleven-year-old would have gleaned about how close Isabella and Gianni were.

“Gianni killed himself a few months after her death, Aurora. He blamed himself, but it wasn’t his fault. No one could have saved her. He was more than just her bodyguard.”

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