“Nature’s beautiful,” she said, eyes fixed across the green ocean of tree canopies. “And peaceful too.”
I halted beside her, one palm on the smooth surface of the concrete parapet. “Yeah, tell me about it,” I murmured.
For the next few seconds, it was silent between us, the air charged with something unspoken.
“How’re you holding up?” I asked, breaking the silence.
She hesitated, stealing a glance at me. “I’d love to say I’m doing just fine, but then I’d be lying.”
“Then don’t lie,” I said, looking right at her. “How’re you holding up, really?”
She straightened and met my gaze. “I’m scared,” the words fell from her mouth. “I’m angry, and I…I feel so guilty about what happened.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.”
“It wasn’t,” I insisted, my gaze unwavering.
“I was the one who told you not to kill that man. If I hadn’t interfered in your affairs, none of this would’ve happened,” she blurted out, her voice laced with pain and regret.
Instinctively, I reached out and held her hand while trying to catch her eyes.
She managed to look at me, her chest heaving with slow breaths. “People are dead, Artur…and their blood is on my hands.”
I glanced down at her hands and said teasingly, “I don’t see any blood.”
A small grin slowly crept into her face, and for the first time, I saw a smile on her lips. Her cheek flushed, and her gaze dropped to the floor.
Was it just me, or did I just make her blush?
“You did good, by the way,” I whispered, my voice soft and laced with pride.
“No, I didn’t.” She raised her head again. “I was scared half to death and almost peed my pants.”
“Hmm. That would’ve been quite the sight.”
A quiet laugh escaped her, her eyes crinkling at the corners. The strands that framed her face danced to the rhythm of the cool breeze.
Gorgeous.
As the silence between us stretched on, I felt something rising within me. It wasn’t lust. But close to it.
“If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I’d have been a thing of the past by now,” she said. “So, thank you.”
My response was a faint grin.
She paused for a second. “Can I ask you something?”
I nodded.
“Do you ever get scared?”
I waited a few seconds. “Yes.”
She shook her head. “I doubt it.”
“And I don’t blame you.”