Page 49 of Ruthless King

And just as suddenly as he says it, we hit another car. Well, another car hits us as we drive through an intersection. The car runs a redlight and slams into the back side of our car, spinning us in circles and making us hit someone else.

Nico manages to get the car under control. “Aurora?”

I’m sitting there, breathing deeply, when I feel the intense pain in my neck. “Nico, I can’t move my neck.”

“I need to get you to the hospital.” He tries restarting the car, but it doesn’t work. “Shit. Let me call 9-1-1.”

Panic seizes through me. “Nico.”

“Don’t talk, baby.” He calls for help, and as he does it, it dawns on me what he just said.Baby.It’s the first time Nico has ever used a pet nickname for me. “Ok. Help is on the way. Just stay still.”

I grab his hand even though I can’t move my neck to look at him. “Keep me safe.”

He squeezes my hand back. “I promise.”

It turns out to be a case of whiplash. The doctor tells me to ice my neck and let it rest for about a week, and everything should be fine. I have no other serious injuries.

Nico and I remain in the hospital room after the doctor leaves. They gave me some pain meds, and already, I can begin to move my neck again.

“I’m so sorry,” Nico says, pacing around the room. “I never should have been driving that fast.”

“You were upset. Those detectives were trying to get a rise out of you.”

“And I can’t believe I let them! You could have been hurt worse, and it would have been my fault.”

“But I wasn’t.” I reach out for him, but Nico turns away, still pacing back and forth. My hand drops awkwardly to my side.

“Damn it!” he shouts, running his hands down his face. “This can’t be happening. You were never supposed to get hurt. Those fucking cops.”

“You said they don’t have anything on you. You’re safe, Nico. We’re safe.” Though, as I speak, I don’t even believe my own words, and if I don’t believe my own words, then how can Nico believe them?

“I’m going to get them,” he growls.

“You’re not seriously saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I can’t have them looking into my life, Aurora.”

“But you told me you didn’t kill”—I gulp— “Giovanni Costa.”

“I didn’t, but you and I both know I’ve done other things. I won’t say what to spare you, but the police have been wanting to get me for years. If they dig around, I could be fucked. The only way is to get the police to stop looking at me.”

“And … killing them is going to do that? It will only put a bigger spotlight on you.”

“Maybe we should leave. Get out of town.”

I manage to stand up from the bed and approach him. “It’s better if we stay. If the cops don’t have anything on you, then you’re fine.”

He inhales slowly. “You’re right. I just hate that you had to get hurt because of me.” He cups my face before letting me go and stepping away. “But we can’t do this anymore, Aurora.”

My stomach drops to my shoes. “Can’t do what?”

“I care for you,” he admits. “But I can’t keep caring for you. If you got hurt, I …”

“So, you’re saying … what exactly?”

“I’m saying we need to put some space between each other. No more dates. We can go back to how things were between us.”

Cold and distant. It would make my feelings for Nico diminish, but I also don’t think I want that.

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