Page 84 of Revenge At Raleigh High
Breathe…
Easier said than done, though. I can’t even turn around to see who’s waiting in the shadows behind me; my body is tensed, my shoulders rigid. I’m rooted to the spot, paralyzed by fear. And then…
“Ti stavo aspettando, Argento.”
Oh…my…god…
I close my eyes at the sound of that voice. Like rough silk, soft and rough in equal parts, murmuring over the muffled silence of the snowfall.
“Sembra che stia aspettando da una vita.”
Slowly, I turn around and see him. He’s leaning against the brick wall around the side of the hardware store, in the exact same spot he waited for me weeks ago, when we kissed and devoured each other under a star-studded night sky, much like tonight’s.
His sable hair is longer than it was back in the Raleigh High gymnasium. His face is marked with stubble. His eyes, so dark they almost seem black, bore into me with the same intense fascination that they always have.
I am suddenly unable to breathe for an entirely different reason. Alex pushes away from the wall, approaching me slowly with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
“I take it you didn’t use your free time in hospital to learn any Italian,” he muses softly.
Dumbfounded, I shake my head from side to side. “I thought…I thought you’d left,” I whisper.
Alex moves an inch closer, looking me up and down, his eyes sharp, as if he’s looking for something. He’s tense, too. The muscles in his jaw jump, his nostrils flaring. He’s close, only six-feet away, but it feels like an uncrossable divide separates us.
“And yet here I am.” He takes another step toward me, breaking the illusion.
“You moved out of your trailer.”
“I know.”Another step.
“You didn’t call me.”
“I know.”Another.
“You didn’t message me.”
“I know.”
My voice cracks on my last accusation. “You—you didn’t come find me.”
There’s only one foot left between us now. Alex’s expression softens at the pain in my voice. He takes his hands out of his pockets, blowing hard down his nose, and then he whispers quietly under his breath. “I know,Argento. And it fucking killed me not to.”
I’m moving before I can stop myself. I hurl myself at him, raising my fists, slamming them into the front of his leather jacket. I hit him. I hit him as hard as I can, screaming through my teeth.
“How could you do that? How could you stay away? After everything!”
Alex allows me to seethe for a second, but then he takes hold of my wrists, gently restraining me, pulling me in toward his chest. “Shhh, stop,Argento. Stop, stop, stop. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, okay. Shhh.”
My anger turns to tears. I fall against him, hiding my face in his jacket, my emotions twisting and turning like a hurricane as he wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tight against him.
“I was gonna come and get you. I was coming for you, baby, I swear. I wanted it to be a surprise,” he says into my hair. “God, I wanted to fucking surprise you. And then I just got a message from Zander, and I realized how fucking stupid I’ve been. I should have come to you right away, but there was so much to do here, and I wanted everything to be perfect, and…Silver, please, shh, please don’t cry. It’s okay. Everything’s all right. I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.”
He leans back, stooping down, cupping my face in his hands. He wants me to look at him, but my tears aren’t even close to ceasing. “Silver. Don’t you know that I love you?” he says softly. “Don’t you know that I’d do anything for you? I’d never leave you,Tesoro. Never, ever, ever. I made a fucking mistake. A big one, and I’m hoping you’ll forgive me for it, but…look. Just come with me, okay? Please. There’s something I have to show you.”
What the fuck is happening? I have no clue what he’s talking about. He’s not making any sense. I only heard him say that he wasn’t leaving Raleigh. Beyond that, my thoughts are so out of control that I don’t know which way is fucking up.
I let him take my hand and I follow after him, fighting to regain my senses as he leads me behind the hardware store, toward a steep, narrow staircase.
“What—where are you taking me?”
