Aurora’s POV
His question nearly threw me aback but I took a deep breath and counted from one to ten before thinking of a good reply.
Of course, there were several things I was hiding from him. The fact that I’d come with a mission to end his father’s lineage or the fact that Giselle was my aunt, and I slowly entertained feelings that weren’t supposed to be and ended up falling for him which in turn caused me to change my plans.
“Matteo, I..”
His dark stare stopped me abruptly as I lowered my lashes, pondering on what to say to him. I’d acted out of line and if I wasn’t his girlfriend, he might have locked me up and treated me like he’d do to other offenders.
“I don’t want lies, Aurora. I want the truth.”
It wasn’t possible for me to say the truth, at least not yet. Matteo would hate me for the rest of his life and I wouldn’t be able to take it.
“I’ll tell you the truth, but I’m truly sorry for raising my hands on you. My parents were murdered when I was a child and my uncle had to raise me on his own.” I admitted and his eyes softened.
His face bore regret as he pulled me closer, wrapping his arm around me.
“I’m so sorry to hear that, Mamacita. I should never have said those hurtful words to you.” He apologised while I inhaled his musky scent which did several unexplainable things to me.
“I’ve told you the truth now, so will you tell me the truth about you and Giselle?”
He looked away and something told me that whatever happened in the past was really bad. But I wanted to know how bad it was. “Go on, tell me. I won’t judge you,” I said to encourage and lighten up his mood but his countenance was still gloomy.
We returned to our sitting position and a cool breeze which spread around my skin like an extra piece of clothing made the hairs on my skin to rise. Matteo noticed and pulled me closer to him as usual.
“I’ll tell you all about it, but I hope you will still look at me the same way when I’m done.” He asked, his tone vulnerable and slightly terrified.
I liked that he let me see that part of him that no one else could see. “You look so vulnerable right now, Matteo.” I commented and immediately his expression switched from sensitive to hard.
“Unfortunately, you aren’t the only one who has seen that part of me. Ginevra has seen it too and I let her take advantage of me.”
I used to think that I had a hint of what was going on but it was obvious that I was lost.
“What do you mean?”
“I had my first sex with Ginevra at the age of fifteen.” He dropped the bombshell and my head reeled in shock as that was the last thing I expected him to say.
Ginevra’s feelings for him was like an open book that anyone who was very observant could see. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and he held my hands, gazing at me reassuringly.
“I didn’t plan to sleep with her, you know. It just happened after my father had beaten me up mercilessly that night because I made a mistake with the patrol duty I was given. Feeling sad and dejected, I went to my mom’s room and she pushed me away. Apparently, my father had also given her a fair share of his anger.” He explained, his face contorted with disgust and angst like he wanted to return to his past and change some events.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I apologized but he shook his head vehemently in disagreement, his hair tousling in the process.
“There’s no need for that. My only regret was that I didn’t get to kill him myself after causing my mother and I pain.” He said and subconsciously squeezed my hand till it was red, then I winced.
He freed my hand and sprang up to his feet the same times his phone rang.
“I’m sorry for hurting you,”
He picked the call with a deep frown etching his features and took some steps away from me. I waited for him to finish with the call while I played with the green grasses, entwining my fingers with everyone.
“I need to leave, but I’ll have to take you back home first.” He said tersely.
“Is there any problem?” I asked when I observed the urgency in his tone.
He was hesitant in responding which signified that he didn’t trust me completely. “Your shooter is dead but he didn’t die by my hands, and I’m trying to find out who killed him.”
?
I waltzed into uncle Lorenzo’s room as soon as he granted me the permission to come in. We had a lot of things to talk about and I had a feeling that he had a hand in my shooter’s death.
“You’ve finally decided to come and see your uncle, Principessa. Has the Capo of the Outfit made you forget your purpose for coming here?” He teased, taking his laptop from his thighs and placing it on the bed while he patted the empty spot beside him for me to sit.
“No one can make me forget you, uncle. I was just focused on recovering and it’s really sad that you haven’t come to check on me for a while. It’s unfair on your own part,” I said, pouting my lips as I used to do whenever I was in need of something from him.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been very busy.” He replied, wearing a smug grin.
I massaged my jaw, thinking of how to ask him if he knew what was going on without upsetting him, but there was no better way to put it so I let it out.
“What do you know about my shooter’s death?” I blurted out and his grin turned into a scowl, as he got up to his feet and faced the window.
“I killed him.” He muttered loud enough for me to hear.