Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“Nevio carried Battista for me,” I said quickly before things escalated.
Dad relaxed, but he still fixed Nevio with a hard look. “Did Gioele drive carefully when he brought you home today?”
I pursed my lips. “Of course, why…” Then I got why Dad had mentioned Gioele. Nevio’s intense gaze rested on me. I sent Dad a glare before I pushed Nevio outside, away from Dad’s provocation.
“Who’s Gioele?”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s a doctor in the hospital, and he occasionally lets me ride with him so Dad doesn’t have to pick me up.”
“How nice of him.” Nevio’s voice was hard, and his eyes promised violence.
“It seems some things haven’t changed…”
“I’m still me, Aurora. The murderous asshole you fell for. I haven’t turned into a fucking domesticated housecat so if some asshole thinks he can make a move on you, he better know about the consequences. I don’t share you.”
My heart picked up. “You can’t share me because I’m not yours.”
He didn’t say anything but his face made one thing very clear: I was his.
“Gioele is married, so you don’t have to hurt him.”
“As if marriage has ever stopped anyone.”
“He hasn’t done anything, so please stop it!”
“I’ll stop it, and I won’t even kick his ass if you’ll let me pick you up in the future.”
“And what if you are busy?”
“Then I’ll send someone I trust.”
I huffed. I couldn’t believe his audacity but at the same time I got a sick thrill out of knowing Nevio was jealous. “We’re not dating,” I reminded him.
“But I’ll do everything in my power to change that. I’ll make up for the shit I pulled in the past until I’m worthy of calling you mine.”
He turned and stalked off, leaving me with my heart pounding in my chest. Nevio was still as intense as he’d been before he’d left despite the notable changes I couldn’t deny. Even if I’d never admit it to him, I was glad he hadn’t changed completely. That fact probably made me as crazy as him. Thinking of our upcoming date, my belly fluttered with butterflies. I’d never been on a date. What Nevio and I had done in the past had hardly qualified as one.
I picked up Aurora at the hospital the following day. Fabiano had driven her there in the morning. Because I’d had to visit a couple of casinos for the Camorra, Mom had watched Battista until early afternoon, and I’d taken over after that. By now, the little man had gotten used to me, and every moment I spent with him he grew more on me too.
“Gioele wasn’t at work today. Not as a doctor at least. He was admitted last night as a patient because apparently someone ran him over with a car.”
I bared my teeth. “It’s a dangerous world.”
Aurora narrowed her eyes. “It was you.”
I shrugged. “I’m still me, Rory. I put on my civil mask more often for you, but beneath it, there’s still a monster that hungers for blood, especially when men don’t keep their distance to you.”
Aurora shook her head. “You could have killed him!”
“I ran him over with my car so I wouldn’t feel tempted to kill him because if I’d felt his blood on my skin, I would have ripped his heart out.”
Aurora blinked and slowly turned around to Battista as if she remembered his presence just now. “Did you have fun today?”
He nodded enthusiastically. His curly dark hair bobbed all over the place.
“He and I took a quick dip in the pool.”
Aurora gave me a small smile. I could tell she was still a little pissed, but she knew what she was getting herself into.
“You sure you want low-key?”
I’d given her the choice between fancy and low-key for our date, and of course, Aurora being Aurora had picked the latter.
“Definitely. No dress up or stiff settings.”
“Nothing will be stiff, promise,” I said with a devilish grin. Aurora sent me a warning look, as if Battista would get my innuendo.
I dropped them off at Fabiano’s mansion so Aurora could change out of her scrubs (though I really liked her in them and would have loved to remove them myself) and put Battista to bed before I picked her up for our date.
Two hours later, I rang the bell. Of course, Fabiano opened the door. He barred the doorway with a hard expression, arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked like a bouncer. “I don’t think I have to say anything.”
“I’ll behave and bring her back before curfew,” I said in my best everyone’s darling voice. “Promise, Sir.”
“I don’t know why an intelligent, nice girl like Aurora picks someone like you,” Fabiano muttered.
“Bad boys do it better.”
Luckily, Leona and Aurora appeared behind Fabiano at that moment or he would have punched me in the face. And while I was always eager for a bit of sparring, I was really looking forward to my date with Aurora. That alone showed how Aurora had changed me.