Matteo’s POV
I’d been monitoring the glares that the other contestants fired at her, but the one from the contestant who was next to her was quite alarming and had a lot of threats embedded in it.
I was going to keep it in until I had a fake gasp from him, which spread from the other contestants and then Aurora who was carrying a silver bowl of water, fell flat on the floor.
“What in the world is going on?” I growled, ignoring the cloud of attention I was receiving from the rest of the audience and the women who were busy checking me out.
Aurora got up to her with her cooking attire drenched with water. Her face was smeared with the powder she had applied earlier, which formed a patch on her cheeks and the mascara she had applied ran through her face in a straight line.
If it wasn’t a serious problem, I’d have teased her, but someone was about to stop her from participating in the competition and I wasn’t going to sit down and allow it to happen.
I headed towards the cooking arena, my eyes fixed on Aurora then it darted at the young man who was trying to hold back his cheeky smile. He was obviously the reason why Aurora was drenched and embarrased.
The idiot! I spat.
Killing him wouldn’t be difficult, and if he knew who I was and what Aurora meant to me, he wouldn’t have crossed her path.
“Are you alright? Can you still continue?” I asked, placing my hand on her shoulder as she nodded incessantly while the medic surrounded her, making sure that she wasn’t hurt physically.
“I’ll be fine, I just hope I can meet up with the time,” Her voice was shaky and even though she avoided my gaze, I knew that she wasn’t that confident as she was before.
I left her and went to the coordinators of the program to pressure them so that they would look into what had happened. It would have been easier if it happened in my territory, no one would have to humiliate Aurora at all.
“Good day, sir, I don’t think this is the right place for you to be,” The staunch man with a pot belly said as I furrowed my brows.
“Oh really? Well something bad just happened to one of the contestants who is my girlfriend and it can affect her participation. Do you mind investigating what happened right now because I’m sure that she didn’t fall on her own,” I suggested, squeezing out the few droplets of civility that remained in me.
The man noticed the deadpan look on my face and nodded, knowing that I would do something really crazy if he didn’t listen. I wouldn’t mind telling him who I was so that he could do what I wanted.
“Alright, sir. We’ll look into it and give the lady extra time so that she can catch up.” He replied.
“Thank you,” I said curtly then replied to Aurora who was already mixing the raw eggs with mascarpone together.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” I assured her and pecked her cheek lightly then left the stage.
I glanced at her and she felt relieved, her face glowing from the kiss which made me relax. But it didn’t stop the plans I had for the scrawny young guy who was boiling furiously.
My phone vibrated in the pocket of my pants and I rushed out of the hall quietly to avoid attracting attention to myself and picked the call.
“Is everything set?” I asked, my eyes scrutinising the environment to be sure that everywhere was safe.
“Yes, sir. Once you are ready to come over, I’d inform them.”
“Well done, Marco. You’ll get your pay in a few minutes,” I said and heard a chuckle from him, simultaneously, my eyes caught the sight of a man dressed in a black long-sleeved turtleneck and black pants.
Our eyes met and he looked away when he noticed that my gaze was fixed on him.
Someone bumped into me and mouthed ‘sorry’ which I nodded to then decided to end the conversation.
“Thank you, Capo. We’ll talk later,” He replied enthusiastically as I ended the call.
I searched for the man on black but I couldn’t find him anymore. Something was about to go wrong but I didn’t know what it was. I had to return to New York tomorrow so that I could ensure the safety of my family.
I returned to the hall and checked the timer; it was just ten minutes left and Aurora already had the first dish served.
“Please, win.” I muttered under my breath.
For the first time in my life, I wanted something good for someone else apart from my brother. She deserved the win and I also wanted to take our relationship to another level.
I appreciated her company and her wisdom. She was a sweet person and the only good thing in my life; she was the light in which the darkness that lurked deep in my heart couldn’t comprehend.
A bell jingled signifying that their time was up and my lips stretched into a smile as I stared at Aurora who searched for me with her eyes.
They cleaned up the counter where they had prepared their ingredients then served the food to the judges. My palms were sweaty as I felt nervous for her, I wasn’t the one competing yet it felt like we had switched places.
Her calm demeanor made me respect her more as someone else who experienced what she went through today would have been forced to give up.
A whizzing sound blared from the interaction the microphone had with the speaker as one of the judges cleared her throat.
“I want to thank every contestant who participated in this competition today. We have several high-class chefs amongst us and other cooks, but whoever will be pronounced winner won as a result of creativity and not because the other contestants’ cooking skills are not up to par.” She paused, causing everyone to clap.
“However, one of the contestants decided to be a bit mischievous so that he could stop fellow contestants from participating. He has been investigated through the cameras which were fixed on the ceiling to monitor them and it’s safe to say that contestant number 4 has been disqualified.” She announced and my lips twitched while he glared at Aurora.
I actually wished that he took the wrong step towards her so that I would have more reasons to teach him a lesson.
“This implies that he won’t be given any compensation and he would also have to face the law. We have tasted the meals served by the contestants and we have gotten a winner who will be announced by the coordinator.”
The staunch bald headed man stood at the podium with the contestants standing behind him.
“And the winner is…” He drawled and my heart palpitated.