My heart broke for him as I watched the moisture grow in his eyes. There was such a sadness to him, such a vulnerability as he spoke of his father. It was evident he probably hadn’t expressed this to anyone else and it was taking such a toll on him to even entertain the thoughts.
“He follows my hockey career, but he’s never been to any of my games,” he said quietly with his voice thick with emotion. “I don’t think he ever will be without her. Giana and I kind of just knew we had to accept the fact that he was living with a broken soul that would never be repaired. I think the only reason he’s still here is because of us, even though he would much rather be with her wherever that is.”
I reached across the table and took his hands in my own. “I’m so sorry, Nico. For everything that you’ve gone through.”
“It’s okay,” he said as he pushed a sad smile onto his face. “It’s something I’ve accepted and I’m beginning to understand why he would feel the way he does.” He stared at me, his eyes piercing my soul. “I know the love he had for her because I can feel it too. For you, Harper. All for fucking you.”
His words ran through my veins and tangled themselves around my heart. The pads of his thumbs were soft as they stroked the backs of my hands and his eyes were trained on mine.
“Don’t ever leave me, Harper,” he said, his voice barely audible. “I don’t know that I would survive your destruction.”
I stared back at him as I was lost in his stormy eyes. He had already pulled me in deep and there was no way I was ever swimming to the surface again. He thought he wouldn’t survive my destruction, but he had no idea what losing him would do to me.
“Never,” I promised him.
And that scared me more than anything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
NICO
Harper settled in the passenger seat of my car as we drove down the street of the quaint little town. We stayed at the restaurant talking about our lives until they were getting ready to close. It was late into the night already and Harper yawned as she curled her legs up onto the seat. She turned to look at me with a tired smile touching her lips.
“Thank you for dinner tonight,” she said softly as her eyes glimmered through the darkness of the night. Every streetlamp we passed cast its light across her face. She was absolutely breathtaking and I could spend the rest of my time in this life staring at her.
I smiled back at my girl. “Of course, love.”
Her eyes were still on mine and I was alternating between looking at the road and looking at her. “Don’t tell your sister, but I’m glad she didn’t come. I like my time with you.”
“You can have all of my time, Harper. Every second, every minute, every fucking hour. They all belong to you.”
She sat up a little straighter, the smile still on her lips as she glanced out through the windshield. I watched her face abruptly fall and her eyes widened before she pointed at me. “Oh my god, Nico! Look out!”
I tore my eyes away from her and watched in horror as someone was pulling out from a side road in front of me. My body reacted and it was as if time had slowed down. As I slammed my foot down on the brakes, I jerked the wheel to the left, attempting to veer away from the car. My tires squealed loudly as the brakes locked up and we slid across the road.
We just narrowly missed the car that pulled out, but it didn’t stop us from crashing into the guardrail on the other side of the road. The sound of metal crunching was loud and piercing. Harper yelled out as we bounced off the guardrail. My head jerked with such force. The airbags were blasting out at us and the car finally stopped. Silence settled in the air around us and my mind was jarred from the impact.
My head felt like it was swimming through the thickest sludge and I slowly looked around. All of the airbags were deployed and my body ached from the impact of the accident. Other than that, I couldn’t tell if anything was really wrong with me. I didn’t care anyway. All I wanted was to make sure she was okay.
And my stomach sank when I saw her sitting in her seat with her head hanging.
“Harper,” I said her name as I reached over for her. My seat belt tightened around my body, constricting me momentarily before I could get to her. I slowly lifted her head. There was a bright red abrasion on the top right side of her forehead, probably from hitting the window or something. “Harper, wake up.”
I slid my finger under her nose and could feel her soft breaths. Relief rushed through my body as I realized she was at least alive. But she was still unconscious and I needed to get help. Suddenly the door behind me groaned loudly as it was pulled open. I didn’t bother to look over my shoulder as I was trying to get mine and Harper’s seat belts unbuckled.
“Are you okay?” a rough voice said from behind me. “I already called 911 and they should be here any minute.”
The seat belt finally clicked and I ripped it away from Harper’s body. I finally looked over my shoulder at the older man and cut my eyes at him. “Why the fuck would you pull out in front of someone like that? That could have killed her.”
He shook his head and his eyes were filled with regret. I instantly felt guilty. The wrinkles were visible on his face and they cut deep as his gray eyebrows pulled together. “I’m so sorry. My eyes aren’t what they once were and I didn’t see your car. Please let me help you.”
“Maybe that’s a sign that you shouldn’t be fucking driving then.”
He winced at my harsh words but I wasn’t about to take them back. Not now, not when Harper was unconscious because of him pulling out in front of us. It was a mistake he never should have made.
“Please let me help you out of the car,” he insisted. “We shouldn’t move her, just in case she injured her neck or something.”
My eyes were wild as I stared at him. “I’m not leaving her in the car.”
“Nico?” Her voice was so quiet and if my senses weren’t heightened in this moment, I would have missed it completely.
I whipped my head back around to her. “Oh, love,” I breathed as a smile pulled on my lips and relief flooded me. “Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
Her eyes were glazed over as she opened them to look at me. I watched her try to nod and she winced as she lifted her hand up to her head. “My head. I think I hit it on something.”
“Shh,” I murmured as I moved her hand away from the bleeding cut on her forehead. Sirens sounded in the distance and the sound grew louder as they moved closer to us. “It will all be okay, love.”
Her lips parted like she was going to say something but she quickly closed them and closed her eyes. It was like the time that was suspended was suddenly catapulted into fast forward. We were surrounded by two fire trucks, an ambulance, and a few police cars. Everyone was moving quickly and it was a bustle of commotion.
I was able to get myself out of the car as I felt stiffness in my legs. I watched as the paramedics assessed Harper and helped her out. She was a little unsteady on her feet but her eyes were a little clearer than they were when she first opened them. They helped her walk over to the ambulance and I had to answer questions from the police officer while the older man spoke to one of the other officers.