Eliana was flabbergasted to see the same man whom she saved the previous night. She kept staring at him for a few seconds when she realized their proximity. She pulled herself back from Augustus’s grip but it seemed to her that he did not want to let go of her, instead he tightened his grip around her arm.
Gia, on the other hand, was looking at them with a bewildered expression. “Mr. Ferrari, do you know this woman?” Lorenzo asked.
‘Yes.’
‘No.’
The two different answers came at the same time from Augustus and Eliana’s mouths. Gia raised her brow upon hearing the different answers. Augustus looked at Eliana and then turned his gaze to Lorenzo, “Miss Ferrari does not know me at the personal level but we do know each other at a professional level.”
“What?” exclaimed Gia. “How do you know her at a professional level? You have never told me about her,” Gia affirmed.
“I keep my private and professional life separate. Ahh, about your dress, you do not need to make a fuss about this. I know your walking habits when you are drunk so, do not accuse others of your mistake,” Augustus' reply was face slapping to Gia. The volcano of anger started building inside her but because she was surrounded by many people so she did not say anything.
Augustus had let go by then Eliana’s arm. “Miss Ferrari, come with me. I have something important to talk about with you,” Augustus pronounced. Eliana did not budge from her place when Augustus looked at the manager. “I am taking away your part-timer before her working hours so do not cut her wages.” The manager agreed to the command of Augustus who then grasped Eliana's hand.
He stepped forward when Gia asked, “How could you leave your fiancée behind?” Anger was clear on her face.
“You can go home by taxi. I have some important work to handle so, I need to leave,” Augustus replied and left from there along with Eliana. Eliana was resisting first, but he dragged her out from there, straight to the parking lot.
“Let go of me,” Eliana shouted at Augustus, but he did not until they reached the parking lot. He let go of Eliana’s hand and looked at her with a grin on his face. “It seems you are angry at your savior,” Augustus stated.
“Savior!” Eliana huffed. “Who asked for your help? Did I?” Eliana questioned him and turned to leave when Augustus stopped her.
“Miss, I am not done talking so you cannot leave,” Augustus stated and came in front of her. “Don’t you know me?” Augustus asked Eliana who immediately refused.
“Why are you lying, Miss? You saved me last night from those goons and then took me to a motel.” Augustus stated. The smirk on his lips was not leaving.
“I did my work as a citizen. I saved many people earlier as well, but it did not mean I know them. By the way, thank you for helping me there.” Eliana expressed her gratitude. She turned to go when Augustus grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.
“I am not done yet,” Augustus said as he wrapped his hand around Eliana’s waist, thus not letting her go. Eliana frowned and told Augustus to leave her.
“I will after I am done talking,” Augustus affirmed when Eliana kicked him on the left leg. He cried in pain, and he released his grip from Eliana’s waist. He saw her going away while he fell to the ground. “What is wrong with that woman?! Oh my God!! Are her legs made of iron?” Augustus muttered and after some time getting up.
He hobbled towards his car and opened it. He got into the passenger’s seat and wore the seat belt. “That woman! I saved her and she did this to me?” Augustus was angry and baffled. “Drive me to the home,” Augustus ordered the driver as he saw Gia was coming there in anger.
The driver started the engine and drove away from there. Gia stomped her heel against the ground as he saw the car had gone away from there. Lorenzo came behind her and told her that he would drop her home. “Would you like to drink with me?” Gia asked Lorenzo and looked.
“Nevermind. It was fun. Thank you for inviting me and Augustus,” Gia said and turned to go when Lorenzo caught her hand. “I will drop you,” Lorenzo stated and took her towards his car.
Soon they reached Gia’s home who thanked him. “Come inside or are you getting late for home?” Gia asked Lorenzo.
“I am not getting late. Let’s have drinks till midnight,” Lorenzo asserted. Gia nodded and took him inside her house. There was a bar in her house where every kind of expensive alcohol and some rare wines could be seen. “Wait for me here. I am coming,” Gia said and went to her bedroom.
Lorenzo sat on the counter stool and waited for Gia to come there. A few minutes later, he stood up and took out an alcohol bottle. He took two glasses and made drinks for both of them. Gia came there in her casual clothes and sat on the counter stool.
Lorenzo forwarded the alcohol glass towards her. She thanked him and gulped the alcohol in a go. Lorenzo was not surprised to see that. “He does not love you, right?” Lorenzo asked.
“He loves me,” Eliana told a white lie.
“But it seemed otherwise to me. He does not even look at you the way a man shall look at his woman,” Lorenzo pronounced.
“Shut up,” Gia said. She closed her eyes. “I am sorry. It’s your birthday, and I ruined your day,” Gia asserted as she pinched the skin between her brows. She then took the alcohol bottle which was on the counter, poured it into the glass, and drank that. Lorenzo sat beside her on another counter stool and sipped the drink from the glass that he was holding.
“Break this engagement with him. He does not care for you a bit. I trusted your words all these years, but today I saw myself how he treats you,” Lorenzo asserted.
Gia titled her head to look at Lorenzo. Her eyes were watery. “Love can happen after marriage, too. We two know each other for a long time. He is stressed from the work that’s why he behaved like that,” Gia explained to Lorenzo who snickered.
“Gia, I also know you for long and I have seen how much he ignores you. Step out of the relationship because it is hurting you only,” Lorenzo advised Gia.
Gia skeptically looked at him. “Do you still like me?” Gia asked.
“What?” Lorenzo exclaimed.
“Answer.”
“No,” replied Lorenzo.
“Good for you, because I do not think I will ever like you. You have no right to say such a thing for Augustus. He cares for me,” Gia pronounced.
Lorenzo chuckled. “You are making a fool of yourself, Gia. If he had cared for you, he would not have gone behind another woman whom he barely knows,” Lorenzo affirmed.
Gia did not want to be angry at Lorenzo, as it was her birthday, so she kept her cool. “I think you should leave. Thank you for dropping me home and giving me the company,” said Gia and grabbed the alcohol glass.
“So that you can cry alone here,” Lorenzo stated.
“It should not matter to you. Look, I do not want to ruin your mood,” asserted Gia and poured the alcohol into the glass. Lorenzo took the glass from Gia and placed it on the other side of the counter. “I am staying here,” Lorenzo affirmed. “Don’t drink as it will ruin your mood only.”
Gia glared at him. “Why does it matter to you? Don’t make me mad. Get out from here,” Gia shouted at Lorenzo who did not budge from his place because he knew that if he would go then Gia would definitely do something wrong.
“Why are you staring at me? Get out from here,” Gia again bellowed at him when Lorenzo leaned towards her such that their faces came closer to each other. “Don’t shout because I will not leave you alone tonight.”
They both stared into each other’s eyes when Gia stood up from the counter bar stool and left from there.
Augustus reached his Penthouse and dragged himself inside. He came to his room and laid on the bed. Looking at the ceiling, he murmured, “Does she not know me? I am Augustus Ferrari. Girls ran after me just hearing my name then why she did not?”Augustus touched his lips and recalled the kiss which happened between them last night. “Did she only kiss me? But my shirt was lying on the floor so it means something more had happened between us,” Augustus thought. He sat up on the bed and took out the phone from his pocket.He dialed the number of Luca and put it on the speaker. Luca answered the call after a few rings. “Sir, are you home?” Luca asked.“Yes. I want Eliana to be in my company tomorrow. I have something important to discuss with her,” Augustus asserted.“Sir, what?” Luca exclaimed. He could not believe that Augustus was still after Miss Russo. “Sir, how could I bring Miss Russo to
The next morning, Eliana got ready early in the morning as she had to go to the hospital as well to see her father. She prepared breakfast quickly and went towards her brother’s room. She knocked at the door and said, “Arnaldo, I am leaving early. See you in the evening.” Eliana turned to go when Arnaldo stopped her.He opened the door and looked at his sister. “Sorella (Sister in Italian), I have something for you,” Arnaldo said as he ruffled his hair.“What?” Eliana asked.“A recruitment had opened up in Sapphire Groups. I have filled your name and today you have to go for th
Luca reached the coffee shop where Eliana worked till the afternoon. He talked with the owner of the restaurant first who called Eliana there. Eliana took off the apron and went inside the office of the owner of the café shop. Seeing Eliana there, Luca stood up from his seat and greeted her.“Eliana, this is Mr. Luca Romano, the Executive Secretary of the CEO of the Sapphire Group,” the owner introduced them. Eliana greeted him and they sat on the sofa.“Miss Russo, you have applied for the job of an assistant in our company so, regarding that the CEO wanted to meet you,” Luca told to Eliana who drew her brows her together.“But I did not apply for that. It is like…” she could not complete her words as Luca stopped her in the middle. “Miss Russo, that will be decided in the Company. Please follow me out,” Luca asserted. Eliana could not refuse to that and followed Luca but before leaving she took the
Eliana frowned upon hearing the statement of Augustus. “I do not know what is wrong with you but I am not interested in working here,” Eliana pronounced. “I shall take my leave,” she said and turned to go when Augustus grabbed her wrist spun her around thus, making her look at him.“How many do I need to tell you that do not leave the conversation in the middle?” Augustus questioned her.“Leave my hand,” Eliana said and Augustus let it go. He then stepped back and went towards his desk. Standing against it, he slid one hand in his pocket and with the other he picked the tablet from the desk.“You do 3 part time jobs,” Augustus read out from the tablet screen, showing Eliana his fingers and continued, “You have pending house bills, and a huge debt to pay which your bed-ridden father has on his head. Most importantly, you need a good treatment for your father else he will be dead.”
Gia’s eyes grew bigger after hearing Augustus confession. Frederico and Josefina were also shocked to hear that. Eliana, on the other hand, was baffled to hear that. She turned and saw Augustus was coming towards her. She drew her brows together when Augustus stopped in front of her.“What did you mean by that?” Gia questioned Augustus who stood beside Eliana and put his hand around Eliana’s shoulder.“I like her and will marry her,” Augustus pronounced as he gazed into the eyes of Eliana who was glaring at him. Before she could speak, Augustus said, “Forgive me for confessing this late.”Gia snickered and was going to shout at Augustus when Frederico spoke, “Your fiancée is here. Do not make a fool of ourselves. Come inside as I have something important to discuss with you.” Frederico had an exasperated expression on his face. He glared at Eliana who let go of Augustus’s
Augustus phone kept ringing but he did not answer the call. Luca came to the office and told Augustus to answer the call. “Throw it away,” Augustus said when the landline started ringing. Luca noticed that Augustus’s mood was badly ruined in the morning. Still he tried to calm him down.“Sir, your father might get angry at you later. So, please answer the call,” Luca humbly said. “Did you find everything about Eliana?” Augustus asked as he opened his eyes and straightened his back on the swivel chair.“Yes, sir. Please answer the phone first and then you can go through this,” Luca suggested to Augustus. Luca was like an elder brother to Augustus whom he listened to even if he was in terrible mood. He picked up the mobile from the desk and answered the call.“Come home right away. If you won’t then you will lose the rights over the company in next one hour,” Frederic
Augustus in his car read the mail sent by Luca to him. This time a detailed information about Eliana. “Thank you for coming in my life, Eli. Now, only you can save me,” Augustus muttered. He put the phone aside and started the engine. “She must be at the restaurant for her day job” he turned the steer wheel and drove to the restaurant which was mentioned in the details by putting the address in car’s GPS.Eliana was hitting on her back as today there was more rush than actual. Her feet were hurting, standing and walking in those high heels. “This is the order for table 14” she heard and checked the food trolley. “Eliana, there is someone looking for you at the counter. He even called the manager,” a waiter informed Eliana and told her to go out. Eliana nodded and walked out of the kitchen. She went towards the counter and saw Augustus there.The manager of the restaurant saw Eliana and told
Eliana still wanted to negotiate with Augustus so she said, “You want me to be your bodyguard, right? Fine, I will do that. I will protect you. You can find some other woman to get into a contract marriage with you because I cannot do that.” Eliana expected for a positive answer from Augustus who refused that idea.“You are the one and only woman with whom I can get into this contract marriage. Others might rip me out of money later when the contract marriage period will get over,” asserted Augustus.“Why are you taking so much time in thinking? It’s a win-win for both of us. We will not expose it front of the world so that our lives can’t be hindered. You just need to act as my fake wife in front of my family for sometime. In the office, you will work as an assistant for me. I will take care of every other thing myself,” stated Augustus.Eliana was still hesitant but then Augustus was not ready to let
Eliana came downstairs after she quickly freshened up to cook breakfast for them, but she did not find him in the house. She wondered where he could have possibly gone and called his name. She searched for Augustus in the living room and the garden, but she did not find him there. Eliana ran to the bedroom and picked up her phone from the table and dialed Augustus’ number. She got stunned when her call got cut from the other side. He did not want to talk to her and he did it again when she gave him the call for the second time. She ran her fingers through her hair and lowered her hand. She took a deep breath and then, exhaled a deep sigh when she heard a ping on the phone. She checked it and saw Augustus’ message on the screen. She read the message and it said, “I have left for the office.” “Without having the breakfast?” Eliana typed the message and sent to him. “Yes. I was not hungry.”“Sorry. I have the faint memory from the last night. The only thing I remember was when I tol
The bright sunrays found their way to fell over Eliana's face through the gap of the curtains. She brought her hand on the top of her face and tightly shut her eyes to prevent those rays to invade her eyes. Her hand moved on the bed and rested on something soft. It felt skin to her. She continued to move her fingers over the skin and then pried open her eyes when she suddenly got a realization. She had lowered her hand and saw Augustus, who was next to her. He was naked and was laid on his back. His face was toward her, his hair was disheveled.She then looked at herself and lifted the blanket. Her eyes grew wide to find that she was naked too. Her mouth widely opened and she brought her hand to cover her mouth. "Did I do it with him?" She murmured and tried to recall about the last night. She remembered very well about their deep conversation and then Augustus asked her if he could kiss her. She had this vague memory of being kissed, but after that there was nothing. Her mind was
The kiss was intense, full of passion and love. Both had forgotten their surroundings. A sweet moan escaped her mouth when he bit her lip and licked it, asking her to give permission to let him invade her mouth. Eliana slightly parted his lips while Augustus shoved his tongue in. Their tongues rolled over each other. Her hands raked through his hair. Her control on herself had lost completely. Her mind was no more controlling her body. Eliana left breathless and she gasped for air when he let go of her lips. She didn't want him to withdraw from the kiss. Her insides burned once again when Augustus' lips touched her neck. He continued to kiss at a particular spot right below her ear and another moan escaped her mouth. "Your sounds make me want to do more," Augustus said and his hand moved under the hem of the t-shirt she had put on. Eliana didn't resist it, instead she was liking it. "Shall we go inside?" Eliana asked him while resting her chin on his shoulder. It seemed he was wai
Eliana kept her eyes fixed on Augustus. She took a deep breath and put the wine glass on the table. She put her hand over his and patted it. "Augustus, it must be tough for you. However, it was all for you. She wanted to protect your future," Eliana said. "No. My future would be more secure if she had been with me today. She never felt the happiness in her marriage. Can you imagine the pain that I had to undergo seeing her in that state? This is the reason I am unable to respect my father. I stayed in that family because my mother made sacrifices. So, I had to acquire the company and become the CEO." Augustus' eyes turned misty upin recalling his mother.Eliana moved her hands up to his shoulder and pulled him into a warm hug. She patted his back with her left hand and said, "You should be happy that your father didn't abandon you even after your mother left you. He still loves you." She started to caress his back and did it for a few minutes. He withdrew and put the wine glass on
Augustus found that Eliana had already set the dinette. He was surprised that she cooked food for them in such a short time. She asked him to sit and served the food to him. After him, she pulled out a chair for her and settled on it. Augustus served the food to Eliana before she could. "I will do," she told Augustus, who shook his head and filled the platter with spaghetti and meatballs which she had cooked. Eliana thanked him and picked the fork. They both started eating while a silence prevailed between the two. "Are you still angry with Rafaello?" Eliana asked Augustus, thus breaking the ice between them. "He called you but you didn't answer his calls," she stated. "I called him earlier but his mother answered the call. She told me not to talk to Rafaello as in her eyes we brainwashed him against hers," Augustus asserted. "She is a sick lady!" Eliana remarked. "Why does she have to talk this way? Did you tell Rafaello about it?" She inquired. "No. I didn't want to trouble us
Rafaello found it weird that Augustus didn't answer his call. However, he didn't think much about it. He almost put the phone down when a message popped up on the screen. He found out that it was from Lilith. He checked it and a smile formed on his lips. 'Did you reach home safely?'"Yes," Rafaello typed the message and sent it to Lilith. He waited for her to send more messages, but she didn't. "She is a doctor, Rafaello. She must be busy," he murmured and recalled the kiss. Was she interested in him? He was unable to understand whether to ask her out or not!? He wanted to ask Augustus about it, but he didn't answer his calls. "Are they both good? Even in the morning, they left without telling Luca." He wondered and thought to call Eliana. He scrolled his phone directory and dialed Eliana's number. After a few rings, Eliana answered her call. "Yes, Rafaello?" Eliana said from the other side. Augustus glanced at her. "Are you two good? In the morning, you two left somewhere. Augus
Eliana didn't tell Arnaldo about their father's condition. She thought once he would be home, then she would discuss it with him. She sat down on the couch and brought her hands under her chin. She could not believe that her father's survival chances were so low. She tapped her right foot on the fluffy mat. She was restless and every kind of weird thought appeared in her mind. Augustus reached their bedroom and found her in deep thoughts. He quietly sat beside her after removing his blazer. "Augustus, I don't want my father to die. Why do good people have to suffer so much? My father never did anyone wrong, yet he had to see all such things," Eliana said and waited for his response. "Truth to be told, even I do not know," Augustus replied and put his hand on her thigh. He caressed it and turned silent again. "I thought my father would wake up one day," Eliana said with a dejected expression. "Don't be pessimistic. Your father is still alive. That means your father has slight cha
Rafaello and Lilith left after visiting the kid she had promised at his house. "Lilith, kids love to be around you. You are in the right profession. I keenly watched your interactions with that kid and it astonished me truly," Rafaello complimented her. "In what way did it astonish you?" She waited for his response. "Umm… I will take my example. I usually get annoyed by kids' questions. I feel it's kind of tough to handle them. However, watching you it felt otherwise. That's what amused me," Rafaello stated. "I am glad that you felt the other way," Lilith said. "You didn't tell me about your family," she suddenly changed the topic. "Did you not ask your father?" Rafaello queried her. "No. I thought to ask you. It's important to know each other on a date," Lilith replied. "I have a brother. Augustus Ferrari is his name. He's the CEO of the company. Also, we are not real brothers but we are step-brothers," Rafaello said. "Okay. It seems you two don't have a healthy relationship,"
Rafaello closed the deal somehow and asked Luca not to let anyone know that Augustus left before the deal. Luca nodded his head and thanked Rafaello for handling the deal with Ryan Petrakis. He left Rafaello's cabinet as he had to check some paperworks. Rafaello leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes. At that moment, his phone rang and he answered it."Yes, Dad!" Rafaello said. "I have sent you the restaurant where you need to go on a date with Miss Dawson. Also, you need to pick her up from the hospital. I have sent you the address of the hospital too," Frederico said from the other side. "Sure, Dad. I'll check," Rafaello said."You need to leave now because as I said she doesn't like to wait," Frederico stated. Rafaello hummed and assured his father that he would leave right away to meet Miss Dawson. He hung up the call and picked the blazer from the hanger. He called his secretary inside and informed her that he would be leaving the office. Picking the car keys, and his ph