SHE BELONGED TO MY BROTHER

UNKNOWN POV: 6 years ago … The flower shop smelled of soil, water, and something faintly sweet. She was there again. Julia Caruso; the only daughter of the Caruso family, bent over a rose bush with so much care that I could see her adoration for them. Stem by stem. Petal by petal. She worked as if the world beyond the glass ceased to exist. Every time I passed, I watched. How she moved with devotion while studying and spraying them with water. The roses were her favorite. I knew that now. Not because she said it, she never spoke when she worked but because of the way her hands softened when she touched them. She was very intrigued and careful. Like the flowers were something she was afraid of hurting. She worked with a smile. Not the kind meant for people to see. But the kind that existed even when no one was watching. Something sharp twisted in my chest. Watching her, watch her flowers made my heart bleed with a weird sensation of want and hunger. But want is a dangerous thing. I’d learned that early. Want makes men reckless. It makes them sloppy. It makes them dead. And yet, every time I saw her, it grew worse. I wanted her, not the way men want beautiful things to display, but the way hunger wants food. Desperate and very needy. Watching her from a distance felt like punishment, and yet the thought of touching her felt like a sin. Someone like her shouldn’t belong to someone like me. I would stain everything I touched. Ruin that softness. Steal the light from her eyes without meaning to. So I stayed away. Distance was mercy. Distance was control. At least, that’s what I told myself. Until he came for her. And distance stopped being an option..