"You're not wrong," I reply, hugging her to me. "Are you okay?" I whisper into her ear.
"Yeah. All good," she replies as I let go of her, and she throws her arms around Lex.
I'm about to do the same with Ade, but he steps back, his eyes so full of thunder, I freeze right where I'm standing.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" he yells at me.
Chapter Eighteen
Ella
My mouth hangs open as I'm staring at Aiden.
He's never yelled at me before, and I can't say that I care much for this side of my fiancé.
This is the last thing I expected.
I scramble to find a response, but come up blank. It's as if my brain has stopped working.
The knot in my stomach I thought would disappear with Niccolo is now more oppressive.
Ade and I stare at each other, the tension mounting. I don't understand.
"Um, we'll leave you guys to sort this out," Lex says, taking Rhia's hand, trying to pull her into the house.
She opens her mouth to protest, but Lex cuts her off. "Trouble, I know you want to stay and help Ella, but this is between the two of them."
Her gaze wanders from Aiden to me before she nods tightly. "Holler if you need me," she tells me before she lets Lex drag her inside, closing the door.
"I cannot believe you just yelled at me after the ordeal of dealing with that lunatic."
"Exactly!" he raises his voice again. "Romero is a lunatic! An unpredictable, unhinged son of a bitch! What were you thinking stepping out from behind me at the heliport?"
"Oh, I don't know," I retort sarcastically. "Perhaps that a confrontation with Niccolo was unavoidable and that we might as well face this debacle together… you know, like a real couple? Like we're about to promise each other… for better and for worse… that sort of thing!"
Ade's face is red, and he drags his hands through his hair repeatedly. Have I ever seen him this angry?
"Ella, I've been trained for a situation like that. You should have let me handle it. You have no experience in dealing with these sorts of people—"
"Don't I?" I cut him off. "I was thrown into the mafia world. I dealt with Tiero and Molinaro, soldiers and thugs," I claim. Though only thebeingthrown inpart is truly accurate.
As for dealing with those mafia men… I was completely out of my depth. I did not know what I was doing, playing it by ear the entire time. Aiden is right, he's trained to deal with dangerous people… I am not. But the stubborn part of me refuses to acknowledge that.
I'm irate now too. If he thinks he can just walk all over me, he has another thing coming.
"Don't belittle my ability to handle these thugs and stop treating me like a damsel in distress. We're meant to be equal partners. Or is that no longer the case? We need to get clear on that before we promise each other forever."
That seems to level Aiden, and he takes in a sharp breath. He runs his hands vigorously over his face, then folds them together as if praying and resting them against his chin and nose.
He doesn't look at me but out to sea instead, trying to calm himself down.
I should do the same. Nothing good ever comes from lashing out in anger. We usually live to regret it, and I never want to hurt Ade.
He lets out a long sigh and turns to me, reaching out his hand for mine. When I take it, he pulls me against his body. He's still shaking, and I realize it's not with anger. It's with anxiety… worry; the same emotions I'm still experiencing.
My heart that closed off to him after his outburst, opens like the sky after a storm. Compassion and love are all I now feel, as Ade engulfs me in his powerful arms.
"I'm sorry, Sunshine, for yelling at you," he whispers into my hair, his voice contrite. "There's no excuse for it. I was just so… so scared. You are everything in my world. All I ever want is for you to be safe and happy. When you walked off with Romero into the bedroom, I nearly lost it. I was going out of my mind with worry about what he might do to you, and I was helplessly bound there. I felt like I was failing you… failing us. And I took it out on you. I'm sorry."
