Aurora’s POV
I slipped a hand into the crook of his elbow even though in my head I was screaming strings of protests as we walked into this celebration, but nothing about this night felt festive, at least not for me. It was a parade of monsters in tailored suits and fine dresses, who shook hands with the same fingers they used to pull triggers.And I was stuck in the middle of it, wearing a dress that clung to me like a glove and barely covered anything. I was so self-conscious; I saw the way he looked at me, the way they all looked at me.His hand was firm at my waist—Angelo Armani, the man who’d taken everything from me. And now he held me on his arm like a trophy, not a partner, not even a person. Just a shiny, living symbol of what he’d conquered.“Look at you, ragazzo (young man),” one of the older men said with a grin. “All grown up. When I saw you last, you could barely hold a gun steady.”Angelo smiled, flashing his pearly whites.Aurora’s POVI slipped a hand into the crook of his elbow even though in my head I was screaming strings of protests as we walked into this celebration, but nothing about this night felt festive, at least not for me. It was a parade of monsters in tailored suits and fine dresses, who shook hands with the same fingers they used to pull triggers.And I was stuck in the middle of it, wearing a dress that clung to me like a glove and barely covered anything. I was so self-conscious; I saw the way he looked at me, the way they all looked at me.His hand was firm at my waist—Angelo Armani, the man who’d taken everything from me. And now he held me on his arm like a trophy, not a partner, not even a person. Just a shiny, living symbol of what he’d conquered.“Look at you, ragazzo (young man),” one of the older men said with a grin. “All grown up. When I saw you last, you could barely hold a gun steady.”Angelo smiled, flashing his pearly whites.
Angelo’s POVI had imagined this moment many times before in the past, but it’s a lot different now that I was living it than it was in my head. In my imagination, it was a much bigger event, maybe at a different destination. My brother did have a flair for these sorts of things, but now we were at the hall in the mansion. I saw Nico from across the room, with his hands around the shoulders of an older woman, whispering something in her ear. When he met my gaze, he waved at me and began to walk towards us. Lorenzo hadn’t left my side all day. The only place he hadn’t followed me to yet was the bathroom. His hawk-like eyes scanned the whole room, determined to be my bodyguard all night.I had imagined us older, maybe not so much older, but maybe we would have had families of our own, except of course Nico. In my imaginations, he was still dicking around. "Nice party, huh?" He said as soon as he reached us.Lorenzo rolled his eyes, “You seem to be the only o
Aurora’s POVI hadn’t moved since he left, still clutching onto the towel on my chest.The warmth of Angelo’s breath still clung to my skin, like it hadn’t gotten the memo he was gone. My pulse was chaotic, confused, like the rest of me. He’d been close—too close. The way his voice dipped when he called my name. I had never noticed how anyone called my name until him. He made it sound so exotic, it practically rolled off his tongue. And, love? Why did he use that endearment? The first time he said it, my breath caught in my throat.I was gawking at him, the tension in his jaw, the storm in his eyes. The way he looked at me, with lust and desire, all merged into one. It was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. He didn’t look at me with all of the anger I had grown accustomed to; he felt like a different person in that room, almost like the man I saw from across the restaurant. My heart was beating fast, and all the things I felt in that m
Angelo’s POVI did knock, even though I didn’t have to, but I did. I swear I did, but when I walked in, the look of shock on her face told me she didn’t hear me knock.She was straight out of the shower, with a towel around her chest and another one wrapped around her head. She was still wet, and my eyes followed a droplet of water that trickled down her neck, to her chest, and disappeared in between her breasts. She held onto the towel around her chest and the other was brandishing a weapon in front of her, her grip was steady even though she looked terrified.I stared at her in amusement.She peered down at herself and then looked up at me, and I think it hit her that she was barely dressed and I was here, in her room. She took a few steps backward, “Don’t come any closer to me.”I chuckled dryly, “You keep forgetting, love, you’re not in the place to give orders…”I saw the confusion in her eyes at my choice of endearment.
Aurora’s POVI spent the next few days after the cop stopped by bed rotting and bawling my eyes out; frankly, there wasn’t much to do. I didn’t see Angelo since that day, or anyone for that matter. The closest thing to a physical interaction I had had in days was when Rosa stopped by to bring me food and fresh clothing. I was all by myself in this big room, with nothing but my thoughts.At night, I was plagued with memories of that night, the night that my life was completely altered. The night I lost my father and was taken captive by Angelo Armani and his evil army of men.In the mornings, I thought about Isabella and sometimes Luca. I wondered what they were doing. I had lost track of what day it was, the morning and night seemed to blur, and time was slow. I cried until I could cry no more, my eyes were red and puffy. I barely took a bite from the food Rosa would bring.I had never felt this feeling of utter hopelessness. I didn’t know what el
Angelo’s POVLorenzo paced near the bookshelves, his hands behind his back. “You’re really going to go through with it?” he asked for the umpteenth time that day, a look of worry on his face. Lorenzo was my childhood best friend and the closest thing to a brother that I had. His father and my father had been best friends since childhood. Their relationship had birthed ours. He always was the voice of reason, always worried about me, and today was no exception.I didn’t answer right away. I stared at the parchment paper in front of me, the yellowy page and the pretty penmanship. All that was needed was my fingerprint on the paper, and it would be sealed.He stopped pacing. “I mean, all of this is so surreal. Everything is happening so fast. If I had asked you a few weeks ago what you wanted to do with your life, I’d bet you wouldn’t have chosen this path. You had plans…”“Oh, stop spiraling, Lorenzo,” Nico chided him. He was sitting on one of