Chapter 369

Nina

We finally broke the tension by taking a sip of our milkshakes and digging into the fries. Somehow, the act of eating felt like an unspoken agreement to a truce—at least temporarily.

“You know, I’m good with your stipulations,” Enzo said, catching my eye across the table. “And I’ll make it a point to visit you in the werewolf realm as much as possible. We’ll figure this out, Nina.”

I sighed, playing with a fry as I spoke. “I wish it were that simple, Enzo. You know as well as I do that Mountainview is in a weird location—the veil between the realms is only thin enough here for portals to open here and nowhere else. And you can’t open a portal yourself.”

He put down his milkshake and looked at me earnestly. “Like I said, we’ll make it work. I can fly back to Mountainview when possible, and Luke can open a portal for me. I’ll be there with you before you know it.”

I sighed, stirring my milkshake with a straw. “I hope you’re right. I’m just worried. What if I can’t travel through the portals as the pregnancy progresses? What then?”

He leaned forward, gripping my hand tightly as he spoke. “Then I will move heaven and earth to be by your side, Nina. You won’t go through this alone.”

It was sweet, hearing him say those words, and I wanted to believe him. But my gut told me there was more we needed to discuss. Taking a deep breath, I shifted gears. “Enzo, I’m worried about you too. Not just the logistical stuff but...your state of mind.”

He paused, his hand freezing around his milkshake. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been...different lately,” I said cautiously. “More aggressive, angrier. What’s going on with you, really?”

For a moment, he didn’t speak. His eyes were downcast, locked onto the melting milkshake in front of him.

“I just… I feel out of control,” he finally admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “With everything that’s happening—the baby, the job, the looming separation, Edward, the burglar—I don’t know how to handle it all at once.”

“Enzo, that’s not good enough and you know it,” I said in a firm tone of voice. “We both went through hell with the war against the Crescents. And I know I’m not the only one suffering from the trauma of it. I have visions of a shadow entity haunting me, sure, but that doesn’t mean you’re not hurting just as much. There’s no way this is all just about ‘control.’”

He looked up, his eyes meeting mine, full of a vulnerability he seldom showed. “I know, Nina. But it’s hard for me to talk about it. Especially now, when everything feels so uncertain.”

“That’s exactly why we need to talk about it,” I insisted, but he shook his head, visibly shutting down.

“Not now, Nina. Not in public. Please.”

I bit my lip, trying to decide if it was worth it to discuss this right now. Finally, I decided that it could wait.

“Fine,” I said quietly. “We won’t discuss it now. But know that I’m keeping an eye on you, Enzo. We can’t afford to ignore the emotional aftermath of what we’ve both been through. Not when there’s a child involved.”

He sighed, the sound filled with a heaviness that felt like it carried the weight of our collective fears and uncertainties. “You’re right,” he said. “We can’t ignore it. But for now, can we just focus on the present? On us?”

I nodded, making a mental note to revisit this conversation sooner rather than later. “Okay,” I said softly. “For now, we’ll focus on us.”

He looked relieved, and that in itself made my heart ache. We were both so fragile, so on the verge of breaking, and yet, so incredibly resilient. I felt it in the way he held my hand across the table, his grip tightening ever so slightly as if to affirm our solidarity.

“And Enzo,” I said, catching his eye one last time, “I mean it about keeping an eye on you. We’re both struggling, and we owe it to ourselves, and to our baby, to get the help we need.”

He nodded, his eyes never leaving mine, and in that moment, I felt a strange combination of hope and dread, of love and fear. But most of all, I felt grateful—for the love we shared, for the child growing inside of me, and for the messy, complicated future that awaited us.

…

We left the diner after paying, our bellies and our hearts full. The car ride back to the house was a bit quiet, but not entirely uncomfortable. I think that there was more that both of us wanted to say, but we had a silent agreement to just leave it for now.

Once we got home, we exchanged tentative glances.

“Movie night?” Enzo suggested, gesturing to the TV and the plush couch that beckoned for us to escape reality, even if just for a little while.

“Yeah, that sounds perfect,” I said, gratefully slipping off my shoes and sinking into the cushions as he picked a film from our watchlist.

He settled in beside me, pulling a thick, soft blanket over us. The room dimmed as he used the remote to turn off the lights, leaving only the warm glow of the TV screen to cast flickering shadows on our faces.

As the opening credits rolled, Enzo popped the cork off a bottle of red wine, pouring it gracefully into a glass. “Cheers,” he said, raising the glass toward me before taking a sip.

“You know I can't drink that now,” I said, half amused, half annoyed.

He grinned, his brown eyes twinkling in the dim light from beneath his mop of curly brown hair. “More for me, then.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “You’re terrible.”

He chuckled, taking another sip of wine. “That’s why you love me.”

“Is it, though?” I teased, but my voice had softened, the mood suddenly taking a turn for the intimate.

We found ourselves drawn together, our lips meeting in a gentle kiss that quickly deepened. I felt him put his glass of wine on the coffee table beside us, his free hand reaching around my waist to pull me closer. There was a sense of urgency in his touch, as if he were running out of time to touch me.

The air felt charged as his lips moved to the curve of my neck, each kiss sending electric shivers down my spine. I felt a wave of warmth wash over me, my fingers clutching at his shirt to pull him closer. And for a few minutes, we lost ourselves in each other, letting our bodies take over for the night as the movie began to play in the background.

I could feel his warm erection straining against his sweatpants as he grinded his hips into me, his breath growing husky and tense. Smirking, I reached down, loosening the waistband. My hand found the familiarity of his cock, and I began to stroke it gently and slowly, reveling in the sound of his labored moans.

But suddenly, before we could get fully into it, a knock on the door jolted us back to reality. We broke apart, staring at each other in a blend of irritation and disbelief.

“Are you expecting someone?” I asked as Enzo quickly sat up and fastened his pants.

He shook his head. “No, and it’s past ten o’clock. Whoever it is had better have a damn good reason for interrupting us.”