She hasn't had a proper meal in two days. She hasn't been herself since she showed me her scar. I've done nothing but hover around her, but it's like she doesn't even see me. She's made herself a prisoner in her own mind and it's been killing me.

I stood on the other side of the kitchen counter, pretending to make my coffee but really, I was just watching her push berries, she wasn't going to eat, around in their bowl.

"Sweetheart," I called out gently. She jumped at the sound of my voice anyways. "Please take a few bites."

"I'm not hungry." She mumbled into her glass of water. She wouldn't even look at me. I felt like all of the progress I'd made with her was gone.

"I know baby girl, but you haven't had a real meal in a while. Please just take a few bites for me." I tried. She nodded and scooped up a spoonful.

There was a knock at the door and turns out Fiero decided to just drop by unannounced again. Great. I couldn't be made though. I knew he was just worried about her.

"Hey man." He clapped me on the back. "Where's the kid?"

"She's at the bar eating breakfast." He followed me back into the kitchen, but Nora wasn't where I left her. A stab of panic shot through my body.

"Nora?" I called out, but she didn't answer. "NORA?!" I ran through the kitchen to the living room, but I didn't see her there either. The only thing that was somewhat pacifying me was the fact that Tank wasn't here either, so hopefully they were together. That dog would die before letting anything happen to his girl.

"Hey!" Fiero called from the kitchen. He was stood at the door that led to the backyard where I could see Nora sat in the grass with Tank dutifully by her side.

I didn't hesitate to rip the door open and run out to her. I knelt down to her level and I couldn't help but scold her.

"You scared me!" I gripped her shoulders. I could feel my pulse rise and my face flush with anger. "Why would you come out here by yourself, without telling me? You know you're in danger! What would you have done if someone had gotten into the yard and taken you? What if Varlam had gotten his hands on you, huh?!"

"LORENZO!" Fiero shouted, pulling me off of her.

It was like he broke me out of a trance. I didn't realize I was so upset. When I looked at her, she had her arms around herself and tears rolling down her cheeks in big fat droplets. She looked so much like the girl I found in the basement of her uncle's home.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed. She hung her head and curled in on herself even more.

God, I'm an asshole.

"Baby, I-" I reached forward to comfort her, but Tank put himself in front of her, shielding her from me. I was completely taken aback. I had acted so poorly, the dog thought he needed to protect her from me, as if I would ever hurt her.

Look at her genius. You did hurt her.

"Come here kid." Fiero offered her a hand that she took without hesitation. She was sniffling, trying to catch her breath.

"I'm sorry Fiero. I didn't mean to cause trouble." she cried, gripping his hand tightly.

That green monster, that only rears its ugly head when she's concerned, came out full force, but I kept my mouth shut. I knew I had fucked up.

"You didn't do anything wrong kid. You just scared Mr. Grumpy Pants over there and he didn't handle the situation well." He gave her little head a pat and she nodded at his words. "Now why don't you go give him a goodbye hug because I have a surprise for you."

"I have to leave?" Nora said slowly, as if she didn't comprehend what Fiero was telling her.

"I told Rosie it was your twentieth birthday a few days ago and she really scolded me kid. You have help me get out of the doghouse. She said it positively criminal you didn't have a party or cake or any gifts." Fiero whined dramatically. He was always one for theatrics.

"Enzo isn't coming?" She finally looked over at me, her wet eyes were wide and full of fear. I just wanted to go to her, but I didn't want to make her feel overwhelmed.

"Mr. Grumpy has an errand to run." Fiero answered offhandedly.

"I do?" I furrowed my brows trying to think of what he could be talking about.

"Yes, you do." Fiero said pointedly. I took the hint and didn't say anything else about my mystery errand. "So, I thought we could go ahead of him so you could help Rosie decorate your cake. She thought it would be fun for the two of you to have some girl time." He explained to her. She only fidgeted with her fingers in response.

She looked thoughtful for a moment before she took the few steps it took to close the gap between us and wrapped her arms around my waist. She very seldom initiates the physical contact, so this took me by surprise. "I'm sorry I was bad." She mumbled into my chest. "Please...I don't want to be away from you. I only came outside because I was scared at who was at the door. Please don't send me away." She sounded tearful again.

"Woah woah woah. Who said anything about sending you away?" I stroked her silky hair and sent Fiero a glare over her head.

He just held his hands up in mock surrender. "Yeah kid. I'm not trying to kidnap you or anything. I swear Rosie just wants to throw you a birthday party. You can even bring Tank along."

"We haven't really been apart since all of this started, have we baby?" I stroked her cheek, and she closed her eyes at my touch. "Apparently I have an errand to run." I saw Fiero roll his eyes. "I'll be real quick and then I can meet you at Fiero's place. You're going to have lots of fun with Rosalinda."

"You promise?" she asked me so quietly I nearly didn't hear her.

I offered her my pinky finger and she smiled softly before wrapping her own pinky around mine. I kissed her hand to seal the promise.

"Besides, who else would steal all my covers and hog the whole bed?" she flushed red at my words and glanced at Fiero before hiding herself in my shirt. I chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Run upstairs and get some shoes on kid before Rosie accidentally eats all your frosting." Fiero said cheerfully, giving her a teasing shove.

She did as she was told with Tank in tow. When she was out of earshot, Fiero rounded on me. "What the fuck was that?"

"Look I just got freaked out. She wasn't where I left her just seconds before and I know she forgets to lock that damn back door all the fucking time. I didn't know if someone had taken her or not, or if she was hurt!" I snapped back. He only shook his head at me as I spoke. I took a deep breath before speaking again. "Look, it's just been a lot lately. This whole Varlam thing really has me fucked up. If anything happened to her, I would lose it."

I've never been this person who showed their emotions or lost their cool but that's all I've done since Nora has come around.

"Being scared is no fucking excuse for yelling at her like you just did. You're scared? Imagine her. We don't know the extent of the things she had to go through before she came to us. She's working on getting better and the last thing she needs is you screaming at her, especially when she did nothing wrong. She was just trying to protect herself by not being in the house when someone came to the door. Could you imagine living in fear like that? So scared that every time a doorbell goes off you feel the need to hide because you don't know if they want to hurt you?" It would have been better if he had yelled at me. "So next time you get the urge to yell at her, fucking don't."

He shoved past me to go back into the house. "Go buy her a fucking birthday gift you asshole." He called over his shoulder.