Part 16 (2/2)
Leave him to simmer.
”Sorry. It seems a sore spot with you. I shouldn't have asked.”
”You need to know. I shouldn't hold things back from you, Bella. Know that I try to be as forthright as I'm able.”
”I know you do. I trust that you'll tell me what you think I need to know when the time is right. So thanks for giving me that part of you.”
He nodded. ”I'm going out to look at the car before you leave.”
And with that, he was gone.
Bella stared at the open doorway. She had grown accustomed to her lover's constant presence, and so his swift absence p.r.i.c.ked at her heart.
She stepped around the bed and pulled open a dresser drawer by the bed where she knew he kept a photo of the woman.
Ten years.
She traced the woman's face and Severo's beaming smile.
”Will you ever smile so big for me? Or is she always in your heart? What did she mean to you if you weren't lovers?”
A child? A friend? A relative? ”Maybe Heloise would know?”
He held the Mercedes' keys and waited for Bella. She had insisted on going into town to meet Seth without him. He knew she'd meet trouble.
After their argument this afternoon about Aby, he did owe Bella further explanation.
It hadn't been an argument. More like him clamming up and not knowing how to face the feelings he'd kept buried for more than a year.
For ten years he had shared his life with her. Now Aby was gone. Stolen by another man.
He'd given Bella what information he could about his and Aby's relations.h.i.+p. It wasn't much. Perhaps he could give her more. But how did he release the feelings that sat in his chest like a black ma.s.s unwilling to be pried out?
It was generous of her to say she would accept what he could give her when he felt right about it. ”Bella. My Bella.”
”You're not coming along?”
Surprised he'd not caught her scent, Severo hardened his frown. She wore red, and that angered him. Seth was just a friend, he reminded himself. Just as he and Aby had been friends?
He attempted to remain stoic. ”No. I promised I would not.”
”You won't follow me?”
Well, he hadn't promised that.
”At least stay out of sight, if you do. I know you will follow me.”
”I loved her,” he said and clutched the keys tightly. ”Aby. I loved her. I could have made her my mate, but she didn't want that. I respected her for that.”
Bella dropped her purse on the front seat and gave him an expectant look. ”You don't have to talk about this.”
”I need you to know me.”
”Thought we were taking it slow now. I won't meet the werewolf until the next full moon. I don't need to meet the old girlfriend.
Ever.”
”She wasn't my girlfriend. She was my...” Even after all these years, he still didn't know how to describe their relations.h.i.+p. ”Aby is a familiar. Do you know what familiars are?”
She shook her head.
”They are bridges for demons from their realm to this one. She is a tool. And she's a shape-s.h.i.+fter like me. But familiars s.h.i.+ft to cats.”
”Really?”
He could read her thoughts and answered them. ”Cats and wolves do not get along, nor should werewolves and familiars. But I found Aby when she was a kitten-rather, the wolf did-and led her home. She had just begun a new life. Familiars have nine of them. They forget their experiences, though, from one life to the next.”Aby grew up here, and we were like friends and relatives and lovers. Though we never made love, I wanted to have that relations.h.i.+p. And there were times I could sense the same desire in her, but mostly, she thought of me as a brother figure.”
Bella didn't speak, which made the confession easier. Or maybe not.
”She fell in love last year. With a good man. A demon hunter. Someone I did not initially care for, but now I'm glad she loves him.”
”Someone you didn't care for? The poor man. I can imagine the rough time you must have given him.” Bella's smile soothed Severo's anxiety. ”It must have been hard for you.”
”It still is. I miss her. She doesn't call often enough. It's been months since I've spoken to her.”
”Maybe you should call her.”
”No, she's on the road all the time. She and her highwayman.”
”Highwayman?”
”He's a demon hunter. Bit of a celebrity in the paranormal realm. I didn't like his c.o.c.ksureness when I first met him. I felt threatened. But we've come to an understanding.”
”Sounds like you've decided to accept him, if only because he means so much to Aby.”
”That's about it.”
He bowed his head, and Bella stroked his cheek. He loved her touch. The warmth of her, standing so close, yet not threatening, felt exquisite. She accepted him.
”Aby is who the wolf thinks about when he howls to the moon, I am sure. They used to get along, the wolf and the cat. It's bizarre to imagine, but we were happy.”
She kissed him, barely touching his mouth. ”Is it all right, then, with me? I don't want to step on her memory.”
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