“Fine.”
I laughed. “Gods, you can be so dramatic when no one is looking.”
We walked side by side through the streets of Florence, keeping to the quiet streets, avoiding the bustling nightlife.
“We’redefinitelylost, Agent Becket,” I piped as we rounded yet another corner of similar buildings.
He pulled his face at me. “You’re lack of trust in me is offensive, Miss Beaumont. See? We’re here.”
He came to a halt at a beautiful fountain, tucked away in a pretty courtyard, filled with pink and purple winter flowers. “A wishing fountain. I’ve made a lot of wishes here, and most of them came true. I thought you’d appreciate it.” He handed me three coins.
My heart panged. “I do appreciate it. Thank you, Owen. This is very sweet.” I smiled warmly at him.
He smiled down at his shoes, gesturing towards the fountain for me to make my three wishes.
I sat down on the edge of it, watching the silver coins sparkle in the moonlight. What do I wish for? To be whole again?
Yes. I plopped the first coin into the fountain, hoping with all my heart that whichever deity presided over this fountain were listening.I wish to be whole again.
Do I wish to have never met Grayson and Gemma and Hunter? I flipped the coin over in my hand. A tear rolled down my cheek. No, I couldn’t. But I wished to just see them once more, just to ask why. Why did they leave me like that? Did he ever really love me? Was any of it real?
I watched the second coin plunge into the water.I wish to see him just one more time. To look him in the eye and see formyself that he doesn’t care for me.Maybe then I could regret him, move on from him.
I took a deep breath as I studied the last coin. I let it slip between my fingers into the water.And I wish the second half of that wish never comes true. I wish I never see those dark eyes look at me with anything else but love and adoration as they always had. As I always foolishly believed they had. I’d rather die.
Owen squeezed my shoulder, and I straightened, wiping away the cold tears from my cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Ava. I shouldn’t have dragged you here. You were doing so well back home, and now I’ve made you miserable again. I’m a selfish prick.”
I chuckled. “I was miserable there too, Owen. I just hid it better.” I turned to smile at him. “Besides,” my gaze trailed over the pretty courtyard, “Florence is a beautiful place to be miserable in.”
Owen studied me for a few seconds. “Will I ever get to meet an Ava that’s not miserable?”
My heart squeezed. “Only if my first wish comes true.”
He smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out another coin. “Well, I wish to someday see a happy Ava.” The coin flipped through the air and plopped into the fountain.
I slipped my arm through his, sighing with a smile. “You’re a good friend, Agent Becket.”
“I know. I could have gotten laid tonight. Instead, I’m here, protecting you from a psychopath ex-boyfriend.”
The laughter that bubbled out of me took with it some of the heaviness in my chest.
“And Claudia isreallygood with her tongue.”
“Owen!” I laughed, cringing away from him. “Spare me the details,please.”
He pulled my arm back again and tucked it around his, leading me out of the courtyard, with the goofiest grin on his face.
“There’s still time, you know. You could give Claudia a call. I’m sure Liam or Emerie won’t mind babysitting me.”
Owen pulled a face. “You would voluntarily subject yourself to them? Besides, Claudia sometimes liked to stick her finger up my ass, and I’m just not in the right headspace for that tonight.”
“Owen,please!” I sputtered through the giggles, involuntarily imagining the scene.
“Anddear God! Please pray she never pulls out her strap-on again.”
Ava
