Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina)

Chapter 232

He Is Home

The drive back home is quiet.

I feel the lump in my throat, my mouth dry. It makes my tongue stick to the top of my mouth and I don't even know how to start this conversation.

Zaid has one hand on the wheel, the other resting on his thigh, and I can see the way his fingers flex every so often. I want to reach for his hand, place it on my lap and caress his

skin.

But I don't know what he needs from me right now. His jaw is tight. He hasn't said a word since we left Elena's. The soft hum of the engine fills the silence between us. Music no longer plays from the speakers, and my thoughts are anything but quiet.

My stomach twists, each turn of the road feeling like it coils the nerves in my gut tighter and tighter. I can't stop thinking about Elena's offer and what that means for me and

Zaid.

A full year in Florence, of painting, of freedom, of finally stepping into something that feels like it was made just for me. It feels like a godsend.

I glance at Zaid. The tension in his shoulders, the way he's chewing on the inside

of his cheek. Leaving him now, after everything, feels like the cruelest thing I could ever do.

"Zaid," I whisper as we turn into the house.

He doesn't look at me. He pulls into the garage and parks. For a moment, he just sits there. Then finally, he says quietly, "It's okay. You don't have to make your decision based

on me."

Before I can argue, he's out of the car.

standing at the island with his hands shoved into his pockets, staring down like the marble surface holds the answer

myself between him and the counter until

choice but to make space for mine. I reach up and cup his face, forcing

1. me.

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He Is Home

you. Everything I do, I take you into account. Every

Always."

and I watch as goosebumps cover his skin. His hands finally move, wrapping around my waist, dragging me close until there's nothing left between

our hips touching. I hum, satisfied by the feeling of his body pressed to mine. We're two puzzle pieces that

each other.

to miss

pinch. "I haven't even

enough to look at me, brushing a strand of

against my

breaks me. "You can't not go, Alina. It's an amazing opportunity. You have to go. You'll regret it if

if I can

soft and sad all at once. "Maybe that's exactly why you

that for a while, wrapped in each other. I don't want to be

like we weren't just on the verge of crying. "Come on.

I blink. "What?"

hand and starts walking us toward the

took me longer to put

laugh it off, but I want to disappear into the ground because no part of me feels like I deserve

now.

walking me up to

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He Is Home