The Italian's Runaway Bride

"You are ruining my life!" Avena slammed the door in Aurora's face as she yelled at her parents. Aurora was used to Avena losing her cool with her parents; being the daughter of one of the richest landowners in the whole of Sicily, she was allowed her random outburst. Aurora stood in front of Avena's door; from the outside, Aurora could hear her cussing her head off. Aurora was well aware of the type of girl Avena was but she could not help but feel for her. Often people would describe Avena as spoilt, conceited and downright crazy but Aurora could not help to think that there was more to her than that. "Aurora!" She jumped up as she heard Signora Mia Russo call out to her. "Si, Signora Mia, I am coming!" Aurora responded. Walking down the steps, she fixed her dress, making sure that nothing was out of place. The last thing she wanted was to upset the woman of the house. Aurora arrived at the living room and stopped as she saw both Signor and Signora Russo. She bowed her head as to

"At least you were adopted!" Aurora told her, but quickly shut her mouth. She knew that someone such as Avena would never understand what true pain felt like.Aurora watched as Avena's eyes grew wide. For the first time, she had raised her voice at any member of the Russo household but she had finally had enough. Avena always had her way and when she did not, she cried wolf."Do not raise your voice at me, I am a Russo and you are a—" she stopped herself but till pointing her index finger at Aurora. Aurora was not blind to the truth; there had been countless times when Avena had pointed out that they were from different worlds, Aurora's world being the lesser than."Say it" Aurora dared Avena, her voice trembling with all the emotions flooding through her body."Just because I call you my friend that does not mean that you should take advantage of my kindness" Avena gave Aurora the last stern warning before she turned and walked towards her window.

Leonardo stood behind both his parents as he watched them reunite with their oldest friends and soon to be in-laws. The sickening feeling he felt in his stomach, derived from knowing that he might never be as happy as they were now when he eventually got married.Not that he had never thought of the prospect of marriage, at the age of thirty-six, Leonardo had always thought that by now he would have been married with children. The only thing he loved was his students and his profession.'My friend it has been such a long time!" Giovanni hugged his friend one last time whilst the women chatted away, leaving Leonardo to stand there like a statue.'It has been, here! Here is my son, your soon to be son-law" His father presented him to his best friends as though he was some kind of sacrificial animal. Leonardo plastered a quick smile on his face, an action that has become part of him in the last two weeks.'Buona serata Signor Giovanni, Signora Mia" Leonardo

“Oh, you’re here” Signora Mia found Leonardo standing by himself in the garden, looking upset.“Si signora Mia, I am just admiring your beautiful garden” Leonardo lied as he had not noticed the outline of the garden nor its beauty, his mind still stuck on the beautiful and arrogant woman he had just met.“Well you look awfully upset, come inside, some of your old friends are here to see you” Without waiting for Leonardo to reply, Signora Mia took hold of Leonardo’s arm and walked him into the hall.Seeing old friends had not done anything to put Leonard out of his misery, as the only thing on his mind was the beautiful dark skinned woman that he had met earlier. Something about her arrogant attitude made him want to put her in her place, he was used to such women growing up. Women who thought that their money could buy the people around them as well as the respect they thought they deserved.“My son, you look very disturbed. Did something happen?” His mother questioned him. Leonardo q

If there was ever a time that Aurora was thankful to Avena for calling her, this was the time. In the time that Avena had yelled out her name, the handsome stranger had turned his attention towards the tailor. She had hoped that he would not come after her and surely, she had not seen him again.She had wanted to apologize to him but seeing him in the store had only made her angrier as she figured out the kind of man he might have been. From the way he spoke, he sounded Italian, at least one that has lived out of the country for quite some time.Aurora had come across such men before; they would come back and use the local girls, whilst flaunting their money or rather, money that belonged to their parents. They were the kind of rich kids such as Avena.“You look disturbed” Aurora turned to face Avena and quickly plastered a smile on her face. Avena was not one to care whether someone looked upset or not therefore, her comment was strange.&ldq