Aurora’s POV
I shared a glance with my uncle as Matteo gave that piece of information. We had to act fast and help the man that was held captive by Matteo but I lacked ideas on how to do that.
“That’s really good to hear,” I replied nervously and chewed my lips.
Matteo scanned my face intently then placed his hand under my jaw. “You don’t look as bright as I expected you to be. Aren’t you happy that the man who tried to shoot you is in our custody?”
“Sure, I’m happy.” I replied and put on the brightest smile I could then I held his hand. “Thank you for being very concerned about me.”
He nodded in response then got up and walked to my uncle.
“Who are you to her?” Uncle Lorenzo asked and I shook my head, pleading with him not to ask unnecessary questions.
He was in Matteo’s territory for Christ sake! Did he think that he could run his mouth as freely as he wanted? The fact that Matteo was being nice and calm with him was because he was my uncle, else, he’d have locked him up somewhere.
“She’s my girlfriend, I don’t think you have any problem with that.” Matteo replied tersely, gauging his reaction to know what my uncle would do next.
“She’s supposed to be working for you and not fvcking you for her money.” Uncle Lorenzo snapped, his breathing faster than usual and I began to wonder what got him riled up.
His uncontrolled actions made me regret why I wasn’t healthy and free to stop this madness from going on.
“Stop uncle!” I chimed with a yell and felt a sharp pain from the injury.
I winced and willed myself not to cry as it felt like the wound was reopened.
Matteo rushed to me and pressed a button at the edge of the bed rest to notify the doctor that I was in pain.
His eyes flashed with anger as my uncle stood, probably regretting why he lashed out at Matteo. I appreciated that Matteo was being calm and didn’t respond to my uncle, but I knew that we would have to talk about it later.
The doctor came and injected me with something I identified as morphine. I felt dizzy and the pain throbbed as I screamed, my eyes burning with tears. Matteo held me and massaged my scalp as the pain slowly subsided.
“She’ll be fine,” I heard as my eyes started to close and I let sleep claim me.
?
I woke up minutes later and found myself alone. I’d gotten numb to the pain which I was thankful for and my eyes darted to the heart shaped foil balloons which were tied to my bed.
A smile crept up my lips as I admired them, knowing that there was no one else who could do that save Matteo. My eyes went to the window and the setting of the sun showed that the day was over.
The door pushed open and I craned my neck to see who came in. My smile widened as I realized that it was Matteo who came in with one of his hands hidden at the back.
“The sleeping beauty is awake,” He drawled, his voice drawing out some feelings that I thought had gone into oblivion because of the accident. “How do you feel right now?” He asked and took a position on the bed causing it to dip because of his size.
“I feel better, thanks to the morphine. Earlier on, I felt like I’d die because of the pain, it was terrible.” I replied, touching my face with my free hand.
“I’m so sorry that you are here because of me. We should have been enjoying the new status in our relationship. I’m really happy to have as my girlfriend.” He stated and presented the flowers to me.
I received it, inhaling the floral scent of the white jasmine and the pink carnation.
“You’re so sweet, Matteo. I love them,” I gushed over them, “You’re the first man to give me flowers.”
He threw his head backwards as if he didn’t believe me but I was dead serious. “Aurora, you are a beautiful woman and I know that a lot of men were trooping to your uncle’s house to have your hand in marriage,”
“True, but they didn’t think it would be good to give me flowers and honestly, none of them caught my fancy. They were to forward and the rich ones taught that I could be bought over with their money.” I explained, my mind casting back to the past.
I was cold and nonchalant as nothing really interested me aside from my cooking, but things changed completely with Matteo. He was able to incite other feelings I thought I never had. Feelings that made me weak enough to forget about the main reason I was here.
Sometimes, I wondered how he was able to get through to me.
He cleared his throat, jolting me out from my reverie.
“You zoned out, is there any problem you are bothered with?”
I shook my head even though I wanted to confess the truth and be free from the unnecessary weight that had settled freely on my shoulders.
“No. There isn’t,”
“Are you sure?” He inquired, his fingers reaching for my waist as he tickled me lightly.
I giggled, my body convulsing with laughter as I tried to avert his fingers from my body. “Please stop, Matteo. I might get hurt again,”
My reminder caused him to stop then he pulled closer, his eyes ogling at my face then my lips which ached for his touch. We hadn’t gotten intimate since I was admitted to the hospital and I was happy that I would be able to kiss him as long as I wanted.
He closed the gap between us and merged his lip with mine, his breathing slow as I savored every bit of our intimate moment.
I broke the kiss, being unable to kiss him for a long time to avoid shortness of breath. Then I decided to ask him the question that had been in my mind.
“What happened between you and Ginevra?”