Page 55 of Love and War

Aziza's whole life has been around dance. It was everything to her, and now her leg was broken. She was either never going to dance again, or she was going to struggle. Dancing was her lifeline, she lived and breathed dancing.

“You don’t know?” Salem’s voice broke me from my thoughts. Swinging around, Salem sat in one of the chairs, confusion all over her face.

“Know what?” I snapped, advancing towards her. Zane stepped in front, as though I was going to fight her.

“Watch yourself,” he growled.

“Zane, move you big oaf.”

If Aziza wasn’t hurt, I probably would’ve laughed. But I needed her to get to the point.

“What don’t I fucking know, Salem?” I tried to keep the heat from my voice. But I was failing miserably.

“She doesn’t dance,” Salem muttered. Not once had I seen Salem shy away from confrontation, so it was odd watching.

“What do you mean, shedoesn’t dance?” I spat the words out, forcing myself to not step forward towards her again. She danced with me outside her house. She was perfectly fine. Wasn’t she?

“Killian…” She sighed, almost like she was actually nervous to tell me whatever it was. “She can’t dance anymore.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know if I can tell you. She should be the one to tell you.”

Taking another step towards her, Zane glared at me. I could see he was itching to stand in front of her once again.

“Salem, right now, she is lying in a hospital. And it’s not exactly like I can just walk my happy little ass in there and ask her myself. So I’m asking you, what the fuck happened? Why can’t she dance anymore? I know she owns a dance company, and that she teaches kids. So what the fuck happened?” Taking a deep breath, I didn’t dare look away from her.

When I didn’t think she was going to say anything, she finally rolled her head in defeat.

“Holly.”

“Her aunt, yes. What about her?”

“I really shouldn’t be telling you any of this, Killian. If she didn’t tell you, then it’s because she doesn’t want you to know.”

“Excuse me?” Someone called out behind us. Turning around, a nurse stood there smiling too brightly at us. “I’m here to collect the health and insurance paperwork.”

Fuck.

“I’m not done,” I mumbled.

“Oh, okay. That’s fine, I’ll come back in a few.”

The nurse left, leaving us in uncomfortable silence.

“Hey, Zane?”

“Yes, Kitten?” he said, turning his full attention towards her.

“Can you go grab us some coffee? I’m going to help Killian with the paperwork.”

Bending down he kissed her temple before glaring at me. A warning. Scoffing, I forced my legs to move over to her. We both watched Zane leave, neither of us speaking.

“It was probably five, maybe closer to six years ago, honestly. Aziza had been living on her own for a while, I believe it was right around the time you left. Holly and Aziza have always had their issues. She’s never told me outright what they were. But I could only assume it’s because of Aziza’s father.”

I wanted to ask who her father was because she’d never even told me this. I knew very little about her home life now that I thought about it.

“Holly, her aunt, was her father’s mistress. But something happened, and before you ask, I don’t know what it was. Holly became angry with her, showing up at random times. Threatening her, and, well, one night those threats weren’t just talk anymore.” It wasn’t her fault my girl couldn’t dance. But this also just proved I didn’t know her anymore. What else had Aziza been hiding from me?

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