Chapter 8

AURELIA

“Hi, I’m supposed to have a third round of tryouts for the Milan runaway. Can I go in?”

The receptionist eyed me with disinterest, clearly annoyed I had interrupted her lunch break. She took her sweet time before responding, obnoxiously chewing on a bubblegum. 

I had no patience for her rudeness. I had looked over my shoulder all the way into the building, worried that my absence had been found out, and I was going to be hauled into some kind of dungeon by my devilish husbands. 

“Can you please hasten up, I’m kind of running late.” I muttered through a fake smile, before throwing another glance over my shoulder, my heart pounding erratically.

“What’s your name?” She asked, not bothering to return my smile as she flipped through some sort of list on her table.

“Aurelia Mo... Aurelia Reed.” I caught myself before I said the wrong thing. Technically, I was a Moretti now, but nobody here needed to know that.

She found my name on the list, and I was finally free to go in. Vivian found me immediately, her mouth set in a disapproving line. 

“What the hell took you so long? Tryouts began half an hour ago.” 

“I’m so sorry…” I trailed off, rushing to change my clothes before my name would be called.

Finally dressed, I joined the line of waiting models, but I could barely concentrate. By now, someone should have found Enzo, and contacted the brothers. I started chewing my nails again, my nerves all over the place.

“Why the fuck do you keep looking over your shoulder, fucking focus Aurelia.” Vivian stated, low enough for only me to hear.

I hadn’t even realized I had been doing that. I ducked my head, and Vivian must have seen the fear in my eyes because her eyes softened with concern. 

“Are you ok? You have to calm down and focus. This is the deciding factor, everything we have worked for. If you’re worried about how well you’ll do, don’t be.”

Vivian couldn’t have been more wrong, but I appreciated her concern, nevertheless. Again, I forced another smile, as I squeezed her hands briefly. “Yeah, you’re right. I should focus.”

She squeezed my hands in return, before patting me on the back. I didn’t want to disappoint Viv, so I squared my shoulders and tried to shove all my worries about the brothers to the back of my mind.

“Aurelia? Aurelia Reed?” A lady called, her eyes roaming over the line. “You’re up next. Mr Jason would see you now.”

I followed her through a set of doubled doors as she walked primly, her shoes making a click-click sound on the tiled floors. 

“Thank you, Beatrice. You can leave now.” 

The woman—Beatrice—turned on her heels and left, locking the door behind her, and leaving me alone with… a man I didn’t recognize.

I gulped. The man was short, and stocky with hair that he had slicked down with copious amounts of gel. His eyes were beady, set in a face that was round and ruddy, but nothing bothered me more than the way he was looking at me… lewd and assessing. 

“So, Aurelia. I don’t think that name rings a bell. Would this be your first walk?”

I nodded. “Yes. But I’ve always wanted to be a model and I’ve been practicing since I could string two sentences together…”

He coughed, interrupting me rudely. “I didn’t ask, Miss Reed. I’m sure everyone outside this door has the same story to tell, and frankly? It bores me.”

I bit my lip nervously. This wasn’t going like I had expected at all, not like I could have expected an asshole like Jason Hash to be the judge. 

“Walk.”

“What?” I asked, too engrossed in the long list of expletives I had come up with to insult the son of a bitch in my head.

“I said you should walk, Aurelia. Imagine this room as the Milan runway, and walk as elegantly as you can.”

I drew in a breath. That I could do.

I started. Shoulders squared, chin held high as I walked with all the confidence and elegance I could muster, while trying to ignore the way Jason’s hands were moving suspiciously under his table. Was the bastard jerking off to my movements? 

“You can stop now, Miss Aurelia. I’m afraid there’s nothing special about what you just did.” He deadpanned, making air quotations as he delivered his cruel speech. 

My heart dropped to my stomach. “Wha..what do you mean?”

He cackled. “You’re not only talentless, you must be a little slow too. Let me spell it out, you won’t be walking the Milan Runaway. You simply don’t have the… perfection… we’re looking for.”

My eyes filled up with tears instantly, like someone had opened up a dam behind my eyes and forgot to turn it off. 

“You can’t do this. I… Please.” I begged, my voice cracking. I had passed every phase of the acquisition to secure my place, I couldn’t lose everything now.

Jason sighed dramatically, a wicked grin on his face. “Well, since it means so much to you. I could reconsider if you’d do something for me in return.”

I sniffled, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. Jason was a slimy, sneaky old fool, and I was sure whatever his condition was, it could only spell trouble.

He stood up from his chair, to circle me like a predator teasing its prey. 

“I know the moment you entered my office, you wanted me to fuck you.”

No way. I moved a few paces back, wanting to get out of the room, until I remembered Beatrice had locked the door. I was trapped with a delusional creep.

Jason’s hand circled my waist, and without thinking I slapped him hard. Watching him clutch his cheeks, his face turning a purplish shade of red filled me with so much joy that I kicked him in his balls, just to see him doubled over in pain. 

“You bitch!” He yelled, spittle flying as he screamed. Before I could make a run for it, he grabbed my top— and with an incredible amount of strength I hadn’t expected from someone his size—ripped it open.

I struggled in his grasp, scared out of my wits at the realization that I was now half naked,  the doors were reinforced, and nobody could hear us. 

Suddenly, the doors swung open and I heard the deafening sound of gunshots. It took me some time to register that Jason had loosened his grip, and his blood and brain matter was now splattered all over my body. 

I screamed, and screamed. My hands covering my ears. Jason was dead, his eyes wide open in a frozen state of horror.

I could see Leone in my hysteria, his face a mask of rage as he stared down at me. 

“You’ve been a bad, bad girl. Little mouse.”