Page 47 of Blood & Lace
ONYX
"Bella,I didn't do it on purpose!"
I stared at my bedroom door. Yeah, I was more than aware that he could knock it down and crash right in, but I had ordered him not to after his shoulder started ramming into it. Now he stood outside, probably sulking. Definitely pacing.
"Work took me longer than I thought it would. How long did you wait up for me?"
Stupidly, I had waited up for hours. I had prepared to sit down and go over who could be trying to pull strings around Lucero and to eat a good meal. Neither of those things happened. Instead, I was left sitting at the dining room table, wine filling my glass on repeat, as I watched my phone and the time ticking by. It was after one when I gave up and went to bed.
"Onyx. I'm sorry."
I snorted. Since when was sorry enough? Apologies were empty, pointless. They were lies spoken when someone had fucked up and just wanted to make you feel worse, as if you should jump up and embrace them because they uttered two little words. No, thank you.
A heavy thud grabbed my attention. It sounded like Lucero plopped against my door and sat there for a while. When he didn't say anything, I almost asked if he had died before he called me again.
"Onyx, let me make it up to you."
There was no way in hell he could do that. I never waited around for anyone.Never.I had waited around for him.
I scrolled my phone before I finally climbed out of bed. Staying in bed all day was unfortunately not on my agenda. I went into the bathroom and freshened up before I wrapped myself in a soft, dramatic red robe. It felt good, like a suit of armor against the bullshit of the world. Underneath, I wore only white panites, semi-sheer, and clingy. Lucero would suffer.
When I opened the door, he nearly fell inside. Lucero stared up at me, his eyes going wide, and his jaw dropped. He tried to speak, but it was like someone had snatched the words from his lips and he was left with only a gasp instead.
"Move," I said.
Lucero scrambled up. "Good morning. I made you something to eat."
"Not hungry," I said as I breezed into the kitchen and started making myself a cup of tea.
"I made tea as well. It should be perfect."
Glancing over at the table, my stomach ached at the sight of the food waiting there. Sure enough, there was a mug of tea on the right, the place I always sat it. I turned away and continued to make my own before I grabbed the porcelain pitcher of milk and poured that inside. When I hummed happily, Lucero made a sound that sounded very close to a whimper.
"Onyx, please talk to me," he begged. Before I could move, he grabbed my hand. There were the big, round eyes again. He frowned. "I got you something."
"What?" I sighed. "Divorce papers?"
"No."
"Didn't think so. What?" I asked again.
"Wait here."
Lucero disappeared, and I sighed once more. I wanted to walk away, but if I tried he would just follow me around. When he returned, he was carrying a huge bouquet of orchids. Pink. My favorites. I stared at them as he set the vase on the counter. The vase. Not just a bunch of flowers shoved into my arms and I had to do the work, but already arranged with a bow wrapped around the glass and a card in the bunch.
"Didyou have the shop do this?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No, uh, I had to go to a warehouse before they were open to pick out the best ones. They didn't have anyone to fix them up pretty, so I did it myself. Thought you might like it this way," he muttered. "And this."
Lucero slid a blue box across the counter as well. When I opened it, my breath caught. Okay, so everyone knew I was a fan of jewelry, but this one was a tennis bracelet that had been discontinued from Tiffany's ages ago. It was practically vintage. I reached out, touching the stones as he hovered.
"Do you like it?" he all but whispered.
I swallowed hard. I didn't want to say yes, because if I did, he would take it as forgiveness. And I was still pissed off at him. However, I couldn't lie; I really fucking liked it. What was wrong with me?
"Yeah."
Lucero lit up. "Yeah, you like it?"
