She knew she had a colorful personality but she'd never been called a rainbow before and the way he said it was nice, really nice. But it also told her something—he didn’t recognize her. Nothing.
The blade came to her chin then, almost like his fingers always did, directing her focus back to himself. “Who am I?” he demanded quietly, her face level with his waist, her eyes enraptured with his. “What?” “Who. Am. I?” She swallowed. “My husband.”
“I can be there for him. I promise. What’s his name?”
“You’re a sweet child.”Zephyr nodded. She liked being sweet. “His name?” she asked stuck on the boy who didn't have a family
“Alessandro. Alessandro Villanova. Alpha.”
Little by little, she’d shifted things in his life, minuscule bit by minuscule bit, in a way he’d not even been aware of it happening until it had stopped. And now she was a part of his lifeblood, vital to his functioning.
“Are you done?” he asked, his voice deep and dark. She nodded, giving the ladies a small smile. “Thank you for talking to me.”
They gave her nods and waves as Alpha picked her up by her hips again, putting her on her feet, and led her outside.
“We'll be okay, won't we, handsome?" she whispered softly, almost fearful to hope for better. His arms tightened around her, a kiss on her head. "The gray won't be forever, rainbow.”
No, it wouldn't be.
He pressed his head to her stomach. “I don’t know where I’ll go from here.” Arms slid under her knees and neck, picking her up easily. “For now, you’re going in our bedroom,” her husband declared gruffly, carrying her through the adjoining door and dropping her on the bed.
His gaze lingered on her for a moment, puzzled as though he was trying to figure her out, before he murmured, his words brushing her lips. "I will scar you."
"I might want it," she replied, puzzling him even more, passing whatever tests he kept throwing her way.
‘One day, when I have money, I’m going to buy you the prettiest ring, sunshine.’
Zephyr felt her nose burn and looked out, remembering the whispered promise on the last night she’d seen him before he’d disappeared from her life.
She brushed his hair away from his face, straddling him, taking the eye patch off, exposing the scarred tissue underneath. She loved that he let her see him like that, at what he felt was his ugliest. Idiot man. His ugly was her beautiful.
“I’m sorry I forgot you,” he told her quietly, and Zephyr soaked up the moment, his sincerity, his softness, his touch.
She patted his scar “It’s not your fault.”
He leaned in, giving her a tender kiss. “We’ll make this work?”
“You’re a different man, and I’m a different woman, and while my heart still loves you—”“Zephyr—”“—I think this was the closure I needed. I tried, and it didn’t work, and I’m okay with that. Really, I am. But I need to let you go now. Move on. Maybe find someone else,”
And she hated the way her traitor heart fluttered at his tender petting. “I miss you, rainbow.” His gruff words in that deep voice made her clench her eyes shut.
No. No. No.
He wasn't doing that. Nope.
“She loves you,” Zenith said quietly in the space between them, tilting his world askew. “And she’ll kill me for telling you this, but she’s loved you for a very long time.”
‘You forgot me.’
Fuck. She'd been a part of his life. Had he loved her once too?
“I can be there for him. I promise. What’s his name?”The woman laughed again, a tear going down her face, and hooked her rough pinkie with Zephyr’s. “You’re a sweet child.”Zephyr nodded. She liked being sweet.
Zephyr laughed. "Okay. What if a boy comes to flirt with me while you're not here?"His eyes darkened. "Tell him you're mine. He'd get away if he knows what's good for him." Zephyr chuckled as he pushed his hair back from his forehead
Zephyr recognized Jasmine right off the bat. The other girl turned to look at them and gave Zephyr a smile. “Well, look who it is. Mr. and Mrs. Villanova in the house!” She wasn’t going to lie, it gave her the best thrill to hear that.