Page 53 of Behind the Lyrics
“Eh, I think it’s a momentary truce brought on by the combined efforts of protecting the one we love.”
She tilted her head a bit and removed the ice pack. Standing on her tiptoes, she slipped her hands around my neck and pulled herself to me. “I love you, Viktor.”
I threw the makeshift icepack to the floor and jerked her to me, crashing her lips to mine, not caring we were both covered in blood and sweat. I’d never heard sweeter words come from her mouth.
Chapter 43
Angela Morales
“And now, K-rockers, it’s time for a thirty-minute block of uninterrupted music.” Smiling, I loaded the playlist. “First up, my personal favorite: ‘Angel’ by Viktor Farrow from his new album,Fallen God.” An acoustic guitar filled the airwaves, and I leaned back, massaging my shoulders.
Terri popped her head inside the doorway. “You got a delivery, girl.”
Swiveling my stool to face her directly, I scrunched my eyebrows. “What kind of delivery?”
Instead of answering, she flung open the door and stepped aside.
A woman, with Marta’s Flowers embroidered on her blue polo shirt, carried several ginormous bouquets of red roses. “Um.” She looked around the small space. “Where do you want these?”
I shot from the stool and sprinted forward. “Those are forme?” Their soft, pleasant scent was heaven, and I resisted the urge to bury my face in their velvet petals and inhale.
“Yes, ma’am.” Her glance flew around the studio, probably taking in the mess in the corner that none of us had cleaned yet. It wasn’t as if we had a lot of traffic. Well, besides a certain Angry God.
The memory of Viktor bringing me roses and chocolates that night months ago squeezed my heart. I knew who these were from, and happiness—just like those roses—blossomed.
“Set them on the table here. Thank you.” I motioned toward my station.Oh, Viktor. I can’t wait to kiss your face when I get off work tonight.
She cocked an eyebrow at me and headed to the work area. “Okay…” Once she had them settled, she traipsed toward the door then stopped. “You do realize I have 96 more, right?” She glanced around and stepped out the door, shaking her head. “Hope you got somewhere to put ’em.”
“What?” My voice was flat. “I hope she’s kidding.” There was no way Viktor would’ve ordered a hundred bouquets—it was impractical and a waste of money.
Terri let out her loud, full-of-life laughter and slapped her thigh. “I doubt she’s kidding, honey. That man has it bad for you. I think if you asked him to walk through fire, he’d ask how many times.” She bent to the roses and sniffed. “How long’s it been since you two started dating? Six months?”
Unable to resist another sniff myself, I smashed my face into the petals and breathed in the fragrance.God, these smell so good. The man knows how to woo me, I’ll give him that.
“Yes, six months to the day since Jeff…” I didn’t want to taint Viktor’s sweet gift with such ugliness.
After I gave my statement to the police that night, true to his word, Viktor stood by my side as a witness and filed his own charges against my ex.
Viktor gave me the support I needed to go through with what I should’ve done two years ago—tell my story and let Jeff—and theworld—know it wasnotokay to sexually assault someone whether they were a spouse or not. Assault was assault, period. Granted, it would be harder to get the charges to stick since some time had passed, but at least I had someone in my corner who believed in me—andthatwas worth more than anything in the universe.
The delivery woman brought another load and placed them against the wall. “The others just arrived, so we’ll be finished shortly.” She left.
“This is crazy.” I spun toward the window and glanced to the road. Sure enough, three floral delivery vans pulled into the parking lot and began unloading more flowers.
“Well, heiscrazy, so it doesn’t surprise me.” She chuckled and smoothed her flowing orange top then absently shook the long blue skirt hugging her hips. “He might be a real asshole and arrogant braggart, but he’s devoted to you. Not everyone gets that kind of love.” Sighing, she squeezed me in a hug. “And it’s everything you deserve.”
She winked and left the room.
After ten minutes, the studio—awash with carmine buds and petals and filled with the soft scent of roses—had transformed into a painting with the setting rays of the orange sun blasting through the windows, enriching the scarlet reds.
Laughing, I closed my eyes and twirled, throwing out my arms in a wild, carefree dance. It was wonderful to not feel those old claws of panic or twisting nerves in my stomach. They weren’t gone forever, but over the past few months, I’d rarely had to rely on anything other than breathing and pep talks with Viktor.
“I’m going to buy you roses every day if it means I can hear you laugh.” Viktor’s voice made me stop and yelp.
“Viktor.” I threw myself into his arms. “This is nuts, but they’re beautiful.”
He pushed his mouth to mine and kissed me slowly, stroking my cheek with one hand and pressing a palm against the small of my back until my body curved into his.
