“Are you going to move so I can shut the door?” I look at Niko and step forward. It’s bright and airy, with simple touches of feminine and vintage. I spot a vase of flowers on the coffee table, which is adorned with lit candles.
Breathing in the scent immediately transports me to Catherine’s room, a decision I instantly regret, making me wish I could cease breathing at this moment.
Spinning on my feet, I take a step but stop.
“Rowan,” comes from behind me, and fear courses through my body, but also anger. I’m not too sure which one overrides the other. My heart stops but immediately speeds up; it also does not know what to do.
My eyes pan to Niko, opening my mouth to tell him to move out of the way, but he is staring ahead, not looking at me. Head tilting, I’m so confused by the transformation on his face. Theone who greeted me was broody and indifferent, but the one I’m looking at now has shifted. His eyes are sparkling, his mouth turned up, and proudness covers his face. I’m looking at a man who doesn’t represent the Niko I’ve been told about or the Niko I know of. This is a man who’s in love. My eyes widen at the way his face morphed.
Swallowing, I tentatively turn around, eyes on the floor.Look up, Rowan. She has no power over you.I tell myself. My eyes instantly look up, meeting her gaze. On its own, my body straightens, needing to get taller, showing her, we’re not scared.
Catherine stands there looking at me, not at Niko. My skin crawls.
Her once long blonde hair is now a bob. Her body filled out. I scan her up and down, stopping when I get to her nails, no longer the pink she sported, but now black. Knowing she’s the one that painted Niko’s. Our eyes lock on one another as we just stand there, not moving.
I feel like my throat is closing on me, constricting, like I have a snake around my windpipe. I want to scratch it but force my hands to stay where they are. I don’t want to give her any enjoyment out of how uncomfortable my body and I are right now.
This was stupid. Why’d I have to come here? I scold myself. Flashbacks to the tomb flash through my mind at warp speed. Catherine and her words she spoke to me. The way she looked at me and stood there watching me be raped at the hands of the man she loved…both of them. Colt and her father.
My nostrils flare with the anger that’s trying to escape from inside my body. Wanting to burst out like a flame out of a dragon's mouth, catching her on fire and watching her body crumble into ash, all the while standing there looking at her like she looked at me the night my soul died.
I can feel my skin becoming hot, not too sure from what. Her stare, Nikos, anger, or all of the above.
“I’m glad you came,” comes out timidly, her eyes moving to Niko before she takes a step closer. And I take a step away, my hand going behind my back, needing to know I’m safe, once again.
I open my mouth but close it.You’re not that girl anymore, Rowan.I tell myself, needing the reassurance of who the hell I am, who they made me into.
“Sit on the couch.” My head jerks to look at Niko, his eyes still on Catherine before I roam back to look at her. Her smile is soft as she follows his instructions and walks to the couch.
My face screwed up, feet still planted to the floor. Watching her obey his instructions.
“Can I get you a drink, Ro?”
Facing Niko, “Don’t call me Ro. My name is Rowan.” I spit at him.
“Well, fuck. Sorry.” He holds up his hand in defense, his face showing he doesn’t really care what name I prefer.
Needing this to be done with, I walk around the couch, claiming the spot next to the fireplace. Not wanting to sit, and having the ability to run, I stand. Luca would fucking kill me if he knew I was here.
Catherine sits there before reaching for the vase, playing with the flowers that fill it.
“I grew these myself,” she whispers.
I widen my eyes, letting her know I really don’t care.
“To be able to nurture something from a tiny seed to this,” she says as she brings a flower from the vase, I give it more of my attention, seeing it’s a white Carnation. Squinting my eyes at her, knowing she’s fixing to spew more shit that I don’t care about. She brings it to her nose, smelling it. Before reaching it toward me.
“NO,” comes out more loudly than I expected.
She shrugs and places it back in as Niko comes around the couch, two beers and a water in hand.
He sits them on the table, sliding the beer toward me, giving Catherine the bottle before opening it for her.
I’m thirsty; seeing it made me realize how dry my mouth is. All I can taste is the coffee I had, which is now stained on my tongue.
Quickly, I jerk my eyes to the beer can, seeing it’s still sealed.
“It’s closed,” Niko tells me, seeing what I’m looking at.
