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- 8 -
PEACHESHey guys! That's chapter eight for you all. It's slightly slow-paced because Marco and Aurora have this age-gap romance, and both of them have different ways to interpret situations. While she is way naive, Marco is too careful.
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The Monster's Protégé - 9 -
A U R O R APastMarco's definition of 'run' was two miles out in the freezing weather. And if I whined about the cold too much, he would make me increase the pace. By the time we came back, I was a sweating mess—flushed and entirely out of breath. But it didn't seem to please Marco one bit.Half an hour later, he dragged me into the gym again for another endless session of workouts to add on to my misery. And with each passing day, he would push me further until he was satisfied. Every time I would get the hang of something, Marco would change the course. Just like that, one morning, he suddenly decided that all these kinds of torture were not good enough and made me do additional exercises as well, failing which I would have to work ten times more."Thirty laps," Marco instructed one day, reclining against the lounge chair.Swimming wasn't the part of the curriculum until then. Somewhere down the line, I realized that you couldn't impress this man no matter how hard you have tried.
The Monster's Protégé - 10 -
"Life is a fight from the minute you take your first breath to the moment you exhale your last." ~ Ronda RouseyA U R O R ASitting behind the closed wooden door, I could hear the animalistic uproar along with the pounding of my heartbeat, drumming in my ears. Both the sounds were terrifying on its own."It's just a fight—a fair fight. Remember every move I taught you."Marco's words floated out of nowhere into my subconsciousness as I tried so hard to find my strength out of them. However, instincts never lie. Something in my gut told me that I have good reasons to be afraid."Let's go. It's time," someone clipped out. I looked up to find a beefy man with a bald head stood by my side.Unable to find my voice, I nodded and stood up on shaky legs.Several steps later, the wooden door thurst opened, the only thing that separated my mind from the horrible onslaught, and the collective roar of beasts deafened my ears. Despite the humid, testosterone-charged surrounding, my skin turned froz
The Monster's Protégé - 11 -
"In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance - when you least expect it - sets you on a course that you never planned, into a future you never imagined." ~ Nicholas SparksM A R C OThe last time I held my breath for this long, Ralph was teaching me how to evade the waterboarding torture method. It was an exquisite torture plan by pouring water over a cloth covering the face and lets you experience the sensation of drowning.There were times when I had managed to hold my breath longer than usual. But there were occasions when I faltered, and the water would plunge straight into my lungs, burning up.It was an indescribable agony I had endured so far. No amount of bleeding wounds, broken bones, or dislocated shoulder equaled to the pain of burning lungs and lack of oxygen in the system.But when I saw Aurora, walking into the cage with panic-stricken eyes, sweat-sheened skin, and shaky legs, it surpassed every other suffering I had experienced before.Every time her eyes sought
The Monster's Protégé - 12 -
D O M I N I CWhen I walked out of Marco's place, a black Aston Martin was waiting for me outside. That's funny—because if I correctly remembered, I drove a Ferrari in here an hour ago. And it could not magically morph into an Aston Martin—cars didn't possess such powers, at least not in this century.Frowning, I walked in that direction as a dark-suited man promptly opened the door for me, and I climbed in."One day this bad habit of yours is going to get you killed," I said, without making eye contact as I eased myself on the seat."I have so many that I lost count," said the smooth voice beside me. "But for the sake of the conversation, which one are you referring to?"Marco was ready to cut his dick off and he was joking?"The one where you intentionally piss off people to get a reaction out of them, Viktor," I sneered, turning to face him for the first time getting into the car.He didn't shift at all, and instead gazed out of the window of the moving car, and watched the faint fl
The Monster's Protégé - 13 -
"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of... We know the truth not only by the reason, but by the heart." ~ Blaise Pascal"M A R C OThree days had passed since I pulled Aurora out of the cage. But it seemed that I had put myself in one. I confined my thoughts to every nuance of her being—her strength, her weakness, her fears, her defiance. Every little thing about her affected me in ways I couldn't have imagined. My mind wandered to all possibilities of life I could have introduced to her if only she would be wise enough to learn and evolve.Aurora was a compound of wildflowers, raw flames, and a flowing river. Each component was fierce, untamed, and beautiful, and you have to appreciate the indigenousness in its natural form. Like these natural elements, she has a mind of her own, and the complexities were still mysterious.A month ago, I wouldn't have imagined putting myself through these great lengths to be the man of influence in her life. But now, I couldn't even
The Monster's Protégé - 14 -
M A R C OOf all the experiences life taught me, there was a valuable lesson which I never forgot, and that was: when a Romano shows up at your door, unannounced, it means trouble. T-R-O-U-B-L-E in capital fucking letters.And right now I was staring at the epitome of trouble—Samantha Romano. Hurricanes and typhoons might as well be named after her.Beaming, she stepped up and raised her arms, revealing the takeout bags. "I brought Indian."I eyed her head-to-toe before frowning. "You also brought yourself.""Hmmphf!" Sammy, the shorter version of her name as we called her, pouted. "Where are your manners, Marco? Move please, and let me in!" As expected, she shouldered her way inside the house and trotted into the kitchen."I am not sure you care much for manners," I muttered before closing the door and followed her to the kitchen."Sammy, to what do I owe the pleasure of your surprise visit?" I asked her. Sammy busied herself with the food by taking out them. God knew how, but she wa
The Monster's Protégé - 15 -
MARCOSammy's divine Plan B was to tell on Viktor—yes, telling on. The thing I did when I was...No, I never 'told on' anyone. It wasn't my style because I considered it to be beneath me. Yes, I broke their noses, fractured their limbs, kicked them in the balls—but I never 'tell on' anyone.I highly believe that even a monster should have standards.But Sammy didn't share my philosophy. Growing up around three brothers, she liked to play dirty all the time. And as long as she won, she didn't mind playing the game.Coming back to her Plan B, she thought it would be worth introducing Aurora to Mrs. Romano. The undercurrent threat was to blackmail Viktor with what he did at La Preda.Viktor's mother, Mrs. Romano, was the bonafide ruler of their house. She made it clear to her husband since her early days of marriage that Alessandro Romano he might rule over Chicago, but when it came the Romano Mansion—her word was law. Apart from that, there was another mandate she has established: innoce
The Monster's Protégé - 16 -
A U R O R A(A year later) Eighteen-year-oldOne year flew by in the moment's spur. Well, I wouldn't exactly call it the spur of the moment because there were times when time passed at a snail's pace, especially when Marco would push me to work harder every morning. To this day, I wasn't sure how I had managed to follow every letter of his instructions like an obedient protege would listen to her master.It was unnerving—impossible every so often; yet I managed to strive through it all—bleeding, sweating, and panting. And Marco stood by my side, held me tight on occasions when my limbs failed to support me, and then helped me fight back—every step of the way.Marco was a double-edged sword, though. But, sometimes, he could freeze the blood in my veins too. A lesson well-learned in the past year was that: he was not a man to be trifled with when fuming unless one has a death wish. But I was way past my meaningless rebellious stage, knowing very well I wouldn't win against him. Not that
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