Page 33 of Heart of Stone
It shouldn’t have mattered if I had the chance to see Natalia and apologize to her face. She’d indicated she’d accepted my apology. If anything, I should’ve been relieved and left.
But something kept me where I was, squeezing my biceps to release some of the desperate energy that was overwhelming me at not being able to see her.
“I’m not going. I don’t care if I have to wait out here all day and into the night. I’m not going anywhere until you open this door so I can apologize to you. I’m going to wait out here until you allow me to fix what I did and make it right.”
Natalia didn’t respond for a long time, and when she did, I could hear the agony in her tone as she pleaded with me. “Reid, I’m begging you to leave me alone. I’ll see you on Monday. You can apologize then.”
I hadn’t anticipated hearing anything in Natalia’s tone that would match the unwelcome feeling that had settled in my gut. It seemed she wanted me out of here as desperately as I needed to see her, to be sure she could look into my eyes and see the regret as I offered a genuine apology.
Uncrossing my arms, I reached one up and slapped my palm against the door frame as I dropped my head forward. With my forehead resting on the door, I closed my eyes and implored her to reconsider. “Look, Natalia, I can understand why you hate meand would want to punish me for what I did by making me wait until Monday to do the right thing, but I can’t accept that. I’ve already delayed doing what I should have done for far too long, and I refuse to let another day go by without fixing this. If I have to sleep out here tonight, that’s what I’m going to do.”
That had to do it.
That had to be enough to convince her to give me just a few minutes to clear the air.
Or so I thought.
When the seconds ticked by without any action from her, I had no choice but to follow through and show her how serious I was. I turned and walked over to the edge of the porch, where I lowered myself down onto it.
Whether she believed me or not, I didn’t care. I would wait here until she was ready to talk to me. And if she waited until Monday morning to open that door, I could only hope it wouldn’t get too cold over the next few nights.
I didn’t keep track of the time, but a good ten minutes must’ve passed before I finally heard the lock on the door. Remaining seated, I twisted my body to look back at the door, and when she pulled it open, my stomach sank at what I saw.
“This isn’t about you, Reid. Now, will you leave me alone?”
She was crazy if she thought I was leaving.
For a brief moment, I wondered if perhaps I was still asleep and living through a nightmare. Because I was staring at the bruised and battered face and body of the woman who I’d berated mere days ago.
It was anyone’s guess as to how I didn’t get sick right there.
ELEVEN
Natalia
Horror and rage. Two emotions that, sadly, I was intimately acquainted with.
More than anything else, I could understand the look of horror on Reid’s face. It was the perfect representation of what I’d felt when I saw him—my ex—last night. Nothing but sheer terror rippled through me. Rightfully so, if the current state of me was anything to judge by.
But to see it on Reid’s face, particularly through the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut, I didn’t know what to do with that.
He took a step toward me, hand out and reaching. “Who did this to you?”
Just as easily as I could recognize horror, I could identify something else. It was the rage that glittered in Reid’s eyes that felt far too familiar. And despite the things he’d said to me before I opened the door, the memory of him shouting at me on Wednesday evening barreled to the forefront of my mind, screaming at me that I wasn’t safe.
It was that memory that forced me to take a wary step backward.
And if I hadn’t been so concerned for myself and my safety, I might not have been paying attention. I might’ve missed the way Reid winced, and the regret that leaked into his features. “Natalia.” My name sounded like a tortured plea coming from his lips. “I… I know you have no reason to trust me, but I swear to you that I’d never lay a hand on you like this.”
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted that more than anything. To know there was someone I could trust and depend on to protect me and keep me safe. Someone who cared enough to try.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have that with Reid. I’d been through this with him already in the few short weeks I’d known him. Just as soon as I put my trust in what was happening, in the progress we were making, he killed it.
As much as I could stand with the swelling in my fingers, I gripped the door to keep me upright. My body was battered and bruised, and my bones ached. All I wanted was to curl up in bed to rest and relax. To sleep. To heal.
But Reid was still standing here, and I didn’t think he’d walk away so easily.
Through the blistering pain, I forced myself to speak to him. “Now that you know I didn’t fake being sick, will you please leave?”
