Page 112 of Stolen Seconds

“Your brother will be okay.”

“You promise?” The hope in her voice chipped away at what little was left of me.

“Have I ever broken my promises?”

“No.”

I was grateful that Roman had stepped in for me and looked after her.

It seemed that he’d been doing that for me more than once and I owed him.

When her soft footsteps faded away, my best friend came to sit across from me in the library room.

“You know I can hear when you both talk about me, right?”

“Yes.” He appeared unfazed as he leaned his elbow against the armrest, fist beneath his chin. “How long are we going to do this, Luca?”

Cold dread flooded my stomach. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Pretending as if you’re okay.”

“Iamokay.” I stared into his obsidian eyes, hating the expression on his fucking face as if I was broken.

There was only one topic that would interest himenough to divert the attention off me. “How’s Aurora and the baby?” I asked.

She’d gone into labor the night of the invasion and Roman was forced to birth their child in the house.

It was a fucking miracle they survived under those circumstances. I’d given shit to him about his abnormally large house, but I was grateful for it now in keeping them hidden.

Roman sighed, catching onto my obvious attempt at changing the subject. “You know you could come and see them for yourself.”

When I’d come out of surgery, he’d told me to keep what happened to Irina a secret. It wasn’t hard to do when I’d gone days without speaking after that night, let alone capable of being near others.

I knew if I saw Aurora, I’d break, and she didn’t deserve to see this fucked up version of me.

Aurora didn’t know her best friend had been shot, and Icouldn’tbe the one to reveal that information. How could I when I’d spent the last several weeks blocking it out myself?

All she knew was that the Bratva attacked us, and Irina managed to stop it before going back to Russia.

“Not yet.” I tapped my finger against my thigh. “Is she still calling her phone?”

Aurora had found it suspicious that her best friend hadn’t contacted her since but she had kept her optimism, believing that Irina had a good reason for being silent.

He nodded.

My jaw tightened in aggravation. That nod was the same answer as always. It meant Irina hadn’t picked upthe phone because she wasn’t there. It meant that Aurora was waiting on a call back that’d never come and I was waiting on my fucking forever.

“Luca.”

The glass shattered against the floor before I could process what I’d done.

It didn’t dull the rage inside me and all I wanted to do was rip my own heart out with how painfully it beat against my chest.

The scattered pieces triggered the part of me that wanted to forget, and it all came rushing to the surface.

My vision blackened as the room fell apart. Tremors racked through my body as I smashed everything near me, the sounds of shattering glass and wood echoing in the otherwise silent room.

The torment of living every day without Irina had consumed me, and I wanted it to end.

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