Chapter 63
Aaron POV
There were damp patches on clothes because of her wet hair, and her eyes were a
me.”
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tle bloodshot like she had cried. “You’re here,” she whispered. “With
I knew what she meant. “Yes baby. No Vicky. She’s gone out of our lives forever.” She buried her face in the crook of my neck, deeply inhaling my scent as
if trying to reassure herself all over again. Over the last few days, even though Vicky had gone, we both were aware that she was lurking somewhere, ready to pounce on us.
“What happened?” I asked again when I felt a drop of her tear on my neck. I hated it when she cried.
“I remembered my mom,” she whispered against my skin.
I frowned. “Yes, Sera was an excellent woman. I’m so sorry about her.” We all knew that she was killed in a rogue attack.
Venus sighed and started to pull away, but I hung on, not willing to let her put space between us. She also didn’t want to leave me because she snuggled right back in. “I killed her.”
I went ramrod stiff. What the hell was she talking about? “She was killed in a rogue attack, Venus.”
“She was,” Venus said. “That day she had driven me to the school. She was trying to teach me how to drive, but I was scared. That was my first real lesson on the road. Before that daddy made sure that we both practiced on the empty roads. He didn’t want mom to hurry me into it at such a young age, and would often get angry. But she thought I could handle driving on the busy roads of the pack. I took three wrong turnings, and we reached outside the pack’s territory. She laughed and said that I should take a U–turn. While doing that, I bumped into a vehicle. The accident was minor because the other SUV got a small dent on its side, but our bumper broke.”
Oh, fuck.
“The guy in the SUV stopped, got out of the car and started shouting at mom and me. Mom also stepped out and apologized, saying that she would cover his repair cost. But the guy was absolutely nuts about it, saying that the SUV belonged to his wife and not him,” she said. “Mom explained she had to drop me at school and gave him her phone number and address to call her or meet her later. She switched places with me and quickly drove away from there. She–she was found dead the next day in a rogue attack.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, squeezing Venus tight. My words felt useless because she was so heartbroken. I wish I could take her pain away.
She shuddered as she started crying. Her next words came out in between her sobs. “I think she had gone to deal with that guy and was killed in a planned attack. Or I could be wrong.”
Why hadn’t she told us this before? Did she tell Patrick? And everything fell into place. She couldn’t save her mother, so she was paranoid about mine and her father’s safety, to the detriment of her own mental and physical health. My protective instincts towards her intensified.
“Why did mom go back?” she said. “She didn’t take daddy with her. It was all because of me. She wanted to protect me and herself from daddy’s wrath.”
I strode to the bed with Venus still in my arms. “No one can blame you for what happened to her.”
She sniffled. “I blame me.“,
I brushed her hair over her head and stroked her gently. “You shouldn‘
yourself. You are traumatizing yourself.”
She shook her head. “It’s been four years, Aaron/but there’s not a day I don’t feel it.”
I pressed my lips to her temple. “It can take years for grief to go.”
She chuckled and pulled back. My heart ached when I saw how red her eyes were and how her cheeks were flushed. She was so vulnerable at this
moment.
wed, 18 Jun
€70%
Chapter 63
“Now you are acting like a therapist.”
I laughed. “Probably, I should take that as my college major?”
Her lips curled up, and warmth settled in my chest. “You are a charmer.”
I cupped her cheeks. “Darling, what happened with your mother was not in your control. You were only fourteen.”
She shook her head. “But it’s still my fault she’s dead. Had I not bumped into that vehicle-”
“I will counter you here. It’s the fault of the guy you bumped into or rogues who killed her. Or even your mom’s fault for letting you drive outside pack’s territory.”
She started to slide off my lap, but I tightened my arms around her, tugging her back to my chest. Had she said this before, I would have got my people to investigate it, but now I was going to get it investigated at any cost. I just wished we had CCTV cameras along that patch. “I’m serious, Venus. Everyone who is involved is to be blamed. It’s not fair that you blame yourself all the time. Would you blame any other fourteen–year–old like you are doing to yourself?”
“What? I would never!”
“Then you can’t do this to yourself, okay?” I curled my finger beneath her chin and lifted her face. Placing a kiss on her lips, I said, “I’ll investigate the case and try to find out who this guy was, but please don’t do this to yourself.” Goddess, I couldn’t imagine how she had been burdening herself with the weight of her mother’s death. And added to that was Vicky’s betrayal. She must have been so upset. Everyone near her was being taken away right in front of her eyes, and she couldn’t do anything.
“It’s so hard, Aaron,” she said, digging her fingers into my shirt.
I hefted her thighs and pulled her closer to me to erase the little space remaining between us. I wish I could erase her bad memories and put good ones in her mind. “I know, love,” I said, kissing her again. “But don’t blame yourself. That’ll exhaust you. We both overcame the major hurdle in our lives. This is nothing. Once I find who that bastard was, who fought with Sera that day, maybe we’ll get a clue about her mysterious death.”
“I’m glad that we’ve overcome a lot, and I feel better.”
I hugged her closer, being careful that I didn’t squeeze her very hard because of all the emotions pumping in my blood. I wanted to go back in time and fucking kill the bastard who could have been involved in Sera’s murder. Yes, I don’t know why, but I had strong suspicions now. “And I promise you I’ll do everything to bring justice to your mom’s death.”
She lifted her head off my shoulder to cup my cheeks. “I hope you find him.” Her eyes roamed over me, taking in my face, my fitted shirt and my cock strained against my jeans. I got worried that she would be repulsed that my cock was hard even in this situation, but her lips curled up. “I’d love to watch you beat the shit out of him.” She sat up in my lap and her shirt rode up, exposing her thighs fully. I nearly groaned. As I watched, she bit her lower lip and took off her shirt. And now she was naked.
AD
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