Aurora’s POV
“My aunt?” I was exasperated.
None of them replied to my question as they both peered at each other like they hadn’t seen each other in months. Well, they actually hadn’t seen each other in years and I wasn’t sure that my uncle had ever mentioned anything concerning his sister.
“Someone should explain to me what is going on!” I snapped, angry that I was bound to the bed by the drip passing through my veins.
“I’ll explain everything to you, but you need to relax please.” Uncle Lorenzo replied to make me calm but I wasn’t having it.
I didn’t even know whether to be sad or happy that Giselle was my aunt. That should be the reason why I felt the strong urge to protect her and Sofia. She was my fvcking relative!
“What are you doing here, Giselle? Did you know that she was your niece?”
Giselle blanched at his question and pushed forward. My eyes caught the sight of Sofia’s bag and I hoped that she wouldn’t come and see what was going on.
“I didn’t know anything Lorenzo and if you didn’t appear here all of a sudden, she wouldn’t have known anything.” Giselle retorted, her nose flared up at uncle Lorenzo’s accusation.
It was strange to see her as my aunt. There had to be an explanation for not seeing her throughout my stay in Chicago.
“Both of you should stop the bickering and tell me what I need to know. I’m going crazy right now,” I yelled and one of the guards shoved the door open and came in, scanning the room and me especially to be sure that I was fine.
“You can leave. I’m fine,” I ordered and he left hesitantly.
Giselle sat on her former chair while uncle Lorenzo leaned on the wall.
“I was already married to Antonio before Aldo killed your parents. I tried so hard to come back home and mourn my sister but my late husband didn’t allow me to. And when I tried to escape, he caught me and locked me up in the house. He whipped me consistently for three days until I was weak and without strength.” She explained, her voice cracking which showed that she was about to break down.
Uncle Lorenzo cleared his throat and approached his sister.
“Is that what really happened? I thought you didn’t care anymore,”
“Why wouldn’t I care? I loved Lucia so much and I missed her till date. She and Eduardo tried to stop me from getting married to Antonio.” Tears rushed out from her misty eyes and my heart began to melt.
I wasn’t there when it all happened, but the pain of not having to know my parents hit me hard in the chest and I burst into tears.
They scooted closer to me and Giselle raised the bed so that I would be in a sitting position, then they hugged me as I released all the emotions that had been bottled up inside of me.
“I’m so sorry, Aurora.” She said, placing my head on her chest as she trailed her fingers through my hair.
I sniffed, drying my eyes with my plain dress.
“That’s why you need to take revenge on his sons so that Aldo would be rolling bitterly in his grave.” Uncle Lorenzo blurted bitterly.
I took a deep breath, thinking of how to inform him of my feelings without getting a bizarre reaction from him as he was already tethering over the edge.
“Plans have changed, uncle. I can’t hurt Matteo or Angelo as I planned on doing earlier.” I admitted with a heavy heart, and peered at him to see his reaction.
His expression was a mixture of shock, anger and disappointment. His fingers were clenched and his face had gotten hard but it wouldn’t change my mind. I couldn’t hurt Matteo.
Giselle pulled away from me gently, obviously lost in our discussion.
“Now it’s my turn to be shocked. You came here to kill him?”
The door pushed open with Matteo barging in, he looked relieved and happy to see me awake but he stopped when he saw my uncle.
“Who are you trying to kill?” He asked, folding his arms.
Uncle Lorenzo snorted and I lost words to say.
“Don’t mind what you heard. My uncle was just being overprotective as usual.” I said in a rush and he glanced at me then my uncle.
“Your uncle is finally here,” He mentioned, making his way towards me while Giselle gave way.
“Yes..” I said and prayed that he wouldn’t pick up the tension that was brewing in the room.
He hugged me and the smell of blood hit my nose. I pleaded with my uncle to restrain his resentment towards Matteo until I could find a way to send him out of the house.
“How are you feeling now?” He touched my forehead then stared at my stomach.
“My stomach hurts and I feel very weak, but I’ll be fine.” I replied.
“Have you done anything against the people who shot my niece?”
Matteo stood up, took some strides towards him then stopped. “It’s a pleasure to have you here. You know I’ve been itching to know the person who raised Aurora to be the woman she is and honestly, you did well.”
“That isn’t the answer to my question.” He chimed in, his voice louder than usual.
“I know, but don’t raise your voice at me. Aurora is my girlfriend and she is very important to me, so you don’t think that I would relax while the man who shot her goes scot-free.” Matteo replied in his Capo tone, trying to show Uncle Lorenzo who the boss was.
“Is he dead?”
“He isn’t dead because he has a lot of questions to answer. At least I need to know who sent him and the reason they were sent to attack me.”
My heart raced faster. If Matteo successfully extracted that information from him, which I knew was very possible, then our secret would be out in the open and he would never forgive me.
“You’re wasting time on a mere assassin,”
“No, I’m not. Because he told me before I came here that he was sent from the Camorra.”