Aurelia's POVI took a small sip of my wine and gripped the glass tightly, deciding to ignore her. I turned to Mrs. Williams, " So, what's on the group's agenda? Where are we volunteering? A soup kitchen, an orphanage?" The women shared looks and burst into laughter, Mrs. Williams finished laughing and wiped at her eyes."Oh honey, so young, so naive. We don't actually do the work, we just sign checks and send it off to the different places they need to go. Right now, we're donating a new gym to Blackstone Prep, then we're going to send a check to an orphanage somewhere in Africa, we're going to spin, and wherever the bottle lands is the country we'll send it to." I was gobsmacked, I looked around the room so if anyone felt the way I did but they were all the same. Blackstone Prep was one of the most expensive schools in LA, why the hell did they need a new gym, and they were going to play Spin the Bottle to choose where to volunteer next? Oh my gosh, I needed to get out before I g
Aurelia's POV" Excuse me, could you repeat what you said?" I wasn't sure I heard him properly." I said we're having dinner at my parents' house. My mom didn't let me breathe all through my trip, she found out I had gotten married and was very angry. They are demanding to meet you so please do your best not to embarrass me." Judah turned and walked out of the room. I froze. What the heck had just happened? "Diane, did you hear what I just heard?" I turned to look at her.She wiped her hands and gave me a sympathetic pat on the back."I did. There's no time to start deciphering his words, you only have an hour to get ready. You're meeting your in-laws for the time, you have to look your best. And no, I'm not saying this because of what Mr Bianco said, it will be better for you if they like you." I hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my room. I took a shower and had to look for what to wear, I settled on a short patterned wrap dress with red platform heels. I did my hair
Judah's POVI took my time and ate like there was all the time in the world. Like my father was waiting to hear me apart. I raised my head and saw Aurelia staring at me with her mouth open, I gave her a smirk and continued eating. Mom quietly ate her food but her body tensed up. I finished my food and drank the remaining part of my wine. Standing up, I thanked Mom for the delicious dinner and went to my father's home office.I knocked on the door and waited for his response. He did and I entered the room. My father, The great capo dei capi, sat at his desk with a glass of whiskey in hand and rage radiating from him. "Capo, you wanted to see me." I stood erect, my hands folded at my back. "You sure took your time." He said, twirling the glass. I kept quiet and watched him."Why, Judah, why? Of all the men in this world, you chose Giovanni Gianni's daughter, that snake, that slime bag. You couldn't just find another girl to marry." He grated his teeth and gorged down the golden liqui
Aurelia's POVThe air in the room changed as Judah pushed back from the staircase and headed towards me, I saw the fire in his eyes and I quivered. Not wanting to show fear, I stood my ground and waited until he stood in front of me. His right hand grabbed my waist and drew me closer to him while his left hand gripped my face, tinting it up. I drew in a sharp breath, scared for my life."You have quite a loud mouth on you. Tsk, tsk, what am I going to do about this mouth." I kept quiet, our bodies were pressed against each other and I didn't dislike it. I could smell his scent, a perfect blend of his cologne and spice. "You can't say anything anymore, what happened to that chatterbox? What happened to little Miss I need to know everything." His voice went low and his eyes darkened. His hand left my chin and went down to my neck, he traced a line from my thought down to the little plunge that my neckline gave. He left my neckline and gripped the knot where I tied my dress."I coul
Judah's POV"How was dinner with your parents?" Dario asked when the room had cleared up, leaving him and Gavin."Terrific, my mom loved Aurelia and my father hated her. He called her trash and said he never wanted to see her in his house again. Did I mention how terrific it was? I had the time of my life." I chugged down the burning liquor and hissed."That bad huh?" Dario poured me another shot, I gave him a look and chugged down the hard liquid."My father is pissed that I won, he doesn't like to be taken by surprise. He was even more pissed that I married his enemy's daughter. I'm sorry if her father took your father's love, Dario but marrying Aurelia was worth it, my father almost had a clogged coronary when I mentioned Giovanni Gianni's name. I never knew he could get so red in the face. I would pay good money to have that look framed, my joy went downhill quickly when he started calling Aurelia names. I won't stand for anyone disrespecting my wife." My grip tightened against th
Aurelia's POVHe grabbed my shoulder and pulled me against him. The butt of the gun was pressed to my head. It happened so fast that I didn't have enough time to react. The room went silent for a second then people started to scream, cry and hide."Everybody shut the fuck up. I said give me all your money or she fucking dies." He growled, I was shaking in my boots, this was a soup kitchen for God's sake, the people here were poor, where was he expecting them to get money?"Excuse me, please just let me go. I know you want money but these people come here because they have no money. Please let me go, I'll give you some money. Don't hurt anyone." I begged him, my eyes welled with tears. "Shut the fuck up. I'm not here for these lowlifes, I know a rich person is sponsoring the kitchen, you guys have money. You," He pointed the gun at Emilia, " get all the money I need." Emilia was shaking and crying, she couldn't move."I'm talking to you, I will blow her brains out!" He pressed the gun
Aurelia's POVI exhaled dramatically, "Okay fine, I didn't have a big lunch, I just wasn't in the mood for dinner. It's that time of the month and I just wanted to be alone." Judah's countenance changed and he looked a little bit uncomfortable. He let go of my arm and stepped back. Aha, the next time I needed to get out of an awkward situation, I was going to use my period as a way out. It worked like a charm."Oh, are you much better now?" His eyes softened as he spoke." I'm much better, I was feeling nauseous yesterday and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep any food down." It wasn't a lie, after what I had gone through yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to look at food."Okay, do you need anything from the store? Pads, tampons, hot water bottle, chocolates, wipes." I watched in awe as he listed them out. If only I was actually on my period."It's for. Thanks for offering though." I smiled at him and he nodded. We walked down the stairs together."So how are you enjoying the volunteer
Aurelia's POV "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so clumsy." He steadied me and let go slowly." Much better?" He asked, I nodded and adjusted my dress. I was sure my face was red with how hard I was blushing. He smiled brightly, "And don't be embarrassed that you fell in my arms. It's not every day that a beautiful, exquisite woman in an impeccable dress, falls in them. They were very disappointed to let you go." My my, what a charmer. If this were the 1800s I would have swooned."Thank you. You are very handsome, yourself." I have him a shy smile, he laughed and I could almost swear he stood taller. He was more than handsome, he was gorgeous, and his dirty blonde hair was newly cut and combed backwards. He had green eyes that I could die in and an amazing smile. He was dressed in an impeccable black suit."I'm Silas DeLaCruz and my beautiful companion is?" He stretched out his hand and I put mine on it, expecting a handshake but instead, he kissed the back of my palm. Wow, I was not expecting
Aurelia's POV"Beloved, we are gathered here to celebrate the life of the deceased, On behalf of all family and friends, I would like to welcome everyone as we have gathered today to remember the deceased. Your presence here today is an affirmation of your love and support to the family. Thank you for being here. Although the family may not remember every word we share here today, they will remember your presence for the rest of their lives." I blocked out the pastor as he spoke focusing on the casket in front of me, I still couldn't believe that I was at this funeral. It seemed so surreal, I kept waiting for someone to say bring out the cameras, and yell ' surprise' because it was all a prank.Judah pulled me close and wrapped his arm around my shoulder gently, trying as much as possible not to touch my cast, I rested my head on his chest and wept. I felt someone's hand on my back, giving me a soothing rub, I raised my head and looked behind, and Diane gave me a small sad smile. She
Aurelia's POVLucia's eyes widened and she hurried to the door, as she was about to open it, the door slammed open with great force, hitting Lucia and sending her flying across the room."Aurelia, you bitch, what did you tell Judah when he called you? What clue did you fucking give him?" He grabbed me by my hair and dragged me towards the door.The sounds of gunshots echoed within the building, giving it a dramatic flair that I quite liked."I didn't say anything, you were there, weren't you? All I did was ask him to save me. Do you really think my husband is that dumb and he just lets me walk around without knowing where I am twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week? I have an inbuilt tracker, you can take me anywhere and he will find me." I was lying through my teeth, I had no idea where the tracker Judah put on me was but I hoped it wasn't built.Giovanni's nose flared and his skin reddened." He might have found you but that doesn't mean he's going to save you, I'm going to kill
Aurelia's POV" AURELIA!" Giovanni's deep tenor voice boomed, I heard him before he opened the door and charged at me. I scurried back and hit my back on the wall. Fuck, there was nowhere to run to."You bitch, you think you can deceive me?" He grabbed me by my neck, raising me and choking me. My hands were still bound so I couldn't claw his fingers away.Luckily, my legs were free, I kneeled him in the balls, he growled and dropped me. I landed on my arm with a loud thud and a crack. Pain surged through me from my arm to my brain."OH MY GOD, WHAT DID I DO TO YOU? YOU BROKE MY ARM." I cried, I couldn't even move my arm. "Good, I'll break something else. The necklace you gave me is fake, it wasn't a true emerald. Where is Trista's necklace, Aurelia?" I managed to act surprised, " it isn't the real one. Oh no, I don't know what happened to it. I've been wearing that necklace all my life, I can't believe it's fake. Maybe someone stole it from me."Giovanni growled, picked up a wooden
Aurelia's POVPanic clawed at my throat but I refused to give in to my fear, yes my father may have kidnapped his daughters, one who was heavily pregnant and was in labor but I wasn't going to let him see that I was scared.I looked around and couldn't see Lucia, that gave me a little relief, maybe they were finally going to allow her to give birth. I tipped my chin up and put on an expressionless face, " Father, this is a surprise. If you wanted a reunion you could have just come to my house, I wouldn't have kicked you out." Father grinned, pulling apart his lips to reveal his brown teeth from years of chewing tobacco. "Aurelia, you've really grown up, I see you now have a mouth on you, just like Lucia said." I stilled, ice flowed through my veins. What had Lucia had to do with this? When did Lucia tell him that? What the hell was going on?"Ah, I can see the confusion on your face. Don't worry too much, it will all be clear in a minute." He clapped his hands once, a door opened
Aurelia's POVMy fake necklace had arrived and it was beautiful, I could hardly differentiate it from the original. I had to send the original necklace to Sabrina's house so I wouldn't mix them up. I kept the fake necklace in the spot I kept the original in case Lucia tried to steal it again."So how's it going with Lucia?" Judah climbed into bed, wrapped his arms around my waist, and pulled me close to him, he wasn't aware of what had been going on with Lucia and I quickly brought him up to speed but kept the fake necklace part out."What! She's trying to steal from you? No way, she's got to go." His hand dropped from my waist, he jerked up and crossed his arms over his chest."Jude, baby, calm down, I'm taking care of it. I'm not kicking her out, she's pregnant, I won't do that to my niece or nephew."" No way, I don't give two fucks if she's pregnant, I don't want her in this house. This is my fucking house, I don't trust her and my gut tells me she's going to pull some stupid stun
Aurelia's POV"Erm, Aurelia, I don't know how to say this and I don't want you to take it the wrong way but I caught your sister trying to go into your room, two days ago when you and Mr. Bianco went out to have dinner with his mother." My glass of water froze halfway to my lips. For a minute, it was almost like I had shut down and needed a minute to reboot.Slowly I put the glass on the table and took in deep breaths then looked at Opal and Gina through my heavy eyelids.Opal was in front, Gina stood behind her, holding her hand tight and the other hand on her shoulder."I'm sorry, what did you say, Opal?" I pushed my laptop to the side and clasped my hands on the table."Well, two days ago when you guys were out having dinner, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't made Miss Aria's bed, and I forgot to take her dirty clothes to be washed so I went upstairs and I saw Lucia going to your room, at first I thought she had forgotten where her room was but that was impossible because it was
Aurelia's POVJust when I thought I had escaped my family and my life was finally in a good place, Bam, life hit me hard and reminded me that I couldn't have it all.Lucia sat opposite me, wide as a whale, tears flowing down her cheeks, I couldn't bring myself to stand up and sympathize with her. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? It's not too late to kick her out." Judah whispered, he held my hand and squeezed."I'm good, I want to hear her out and see what's wrong. She looks like she needs help right now." I whispered back, he pressed his lips together and glared at Lucia who was still bawling her eyes out."Lucia, that's enough. Why are you here?" I knew my tone was harsh but who could blame me, this was the person who drugged me, forced me to take her place as Judah's wife, and slept with my boyfriend.She reduced her loud wails to quiet sobs, " Aurelia, I'm so sorry but I had nowhere else to go. As you can already see, I'm pregnant for Owen, he broke up with me and said
Aurelia's POVI had barely slept in a week, everything I closed my eyes, I kept seeing myself holding my pen knife and driving it into the bodies of my kidnappers.Insomnia was my best friend now, fatigue was a familiar friend, and unproductivity was now my roommate. I couldn't do anything except to put on a bright smile for everyone. I didn't anyone to worry about me, I wanted to prove that I was strong and fearless but I wasn't. I was a big fraud and I needed help immediately but I was too much of a wuss to ask for it.It was 3 a.m. and I hadn't slept a wink, I tried to, I really did but immediately my eyes shut, Max's lifeless eyes stared into mine and I just jumped up instantly.Judah wasn't home, he had been gone for about 4 days so it was easier for me to fake it. I got out of bed, went downstairs, unlocked Judah's alcohol cabinet, and brought out a bottle of vodka. Not bothering to take a shot glass, I popped it open, sat on the couch, and started chugging it down my throat. T
Judah's POV"Where the hell could she be?" I slammed my hands on the steering wheel."Don't worry, we'll find her soon. She couldn't have gone too far. If she's not on the highway, she's probably still in the woods and we have men combing every corner of it. We will find her." Gavin's reassuring words did nothing for me because then it started to rain."Oh for fuck sake, I don't fucking need this right now!" I screamed to no one in particular." Reverse and let's go another lap, she can't have walked this far by now. She'll probably be at the back now." Dario looked at the window, " It's too far from the warehouse." He was right, I put the car in reverse, turned, and started driving back to where I started from, driving at a snail's pace."Hey! Hey! Someone's there! Look someone's beside the road!" Gavin slapped my arm and pointed at a crumpled body at the side of the road. I recognized the grey cargo parts immediately."Shit, that's Aurelia." I drove closer, hurriedly parked, and ru