Chapter Fifty Four

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

ARIA

I woke up to a pounding headache. It was like a heavy drumbeat that wouldn’t stop, echoing in my skull. I groaned as bits and pieces of last night’s chaos clung to me like a heavy fog. Dancing in the club, getting wasted, calling Maximo.

I groaned again as each memory became sharper. I remembered feeling his arms around me as I drifted into sleep, him pulling me into his car, him appearing in the club minutes after I called him...

I told him I loved him.

A slight shiver washed through my body. The room was dim, the curtains drawn tight against the morning light, but then a warm, inviting smell began to weave its way through the air. I sat up, pulling my body from the cocoon of my blankets. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and planted my legs on the cool hard floor.

Barefoot, I made my way to the kitchen, and the aroma grew stronger--eggs sizzling, something sweet in the air. My heart raced in a way that was both familiar and terrifying.

I stepped into