♛ Aurora: Without pondering much on who it might be because I had a feeling it was Adrian, I stood up from the couch and walked over to the door, before unlocking it and pushing the handle down. I Opened the door ajar a little and glanced outside. Relief settled cooly in my nerves when I saw that it was indeed Adrian. His dark rimmed eyes fell on me and a small smile tipped his lips, “Rory,” he called out. “Adrian,” I muttered in a low voice. He stood there, tall and calm, holding a paper bag in one hand, and a box of what I presumed to be sweets and chocolates in another hand. His tie was loose, shirt wrinkled from what must have been a long day, his hair was disheveled and covering part of his face. His eyes softened the second he saw my face. “I brought dinner,” he said, lifting the bag slightly. “And desserts” He added softly as he raised the other hand a little “You’re late.” I said as I briefly glanced at the time on my phone. It was already a couple of minutes after 11.
♛ Aurora: Adrian was silent for a long moment, he didn't answer immediately. When he released a deep breath, I realized he didn't want to say who he was suspecting. My brows pulled together, “Who?” He shook his head and ran his fingers through it, ruffling it before finally saying, “I don't want to get you involved in all of these.” His heavy stare fell on me. My frown deepened, “I'm already involved in it. Right from the moment someone decided to sabotage my work at the site. So what do you mean?” “Things run deeper than that. Other than the fact that you have someone who’s trying to sabotage your work because they have a vendetta against you. There’s also someone out there who is working with them because they have a vendetta against me.” I let his words settle in for a moment. My brows creased as I slowly understood the meaning behind his words. Someone was coming after me because of him? “Who?” I couldn't help but ask. “I can't tell you.” “Why?” He shook h
♛ Aurora: Something in me cracked open. I didn’t know what to do with the ache in my chest, his words reached for all the places I had carefully boarded shut. His confession wasn't just words to me… it was raw, trembling truth. I couldn't help but turn to glance at him. And what I saw in his eyes was vulnerability that left no room for armor. Everything he said was nothing but what he felt. I looked at him deeply, the same way his dark eyes stared at me deeply. His jaw was tight, like he was holding himself back from saying more. His fingers twitched at his thigh. He wasn't comfortable in the silence, he wanted me to say something. Anything. I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat, because something inside me was caving in. I hated him. I resented him. I despised him. But I loved him. I missed him. I ached for him. All at once. Adrian’s eyes dropped to my lips, then back to my eyes, his chest rising and falling like he was trying to breathe me in. “Say someth
♛ Aurora: My gaze trailed over to my bedroom ceiling as I blinked my eyes open. I stretched over my bed and released a deep breath, before reaching out for my phone which I left on the bedside table. “You’re glowing.” I froze at the voice, my brows creased and I blinked, disoriented for half a second before I realized Trish was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, her brows raised in something close to amusement. She was dressed in her usual oversized red sweater and leggings, hair up in a messy bun, clutching a mug that smelled like tea. “Excuse me?” I asked, sitting up a little straighter on the bed. I glanced around the room, before my gaze trailed back to her. Events from last night cut through my thoughts and I closed my eyes for a brief second, trying to recall how it had ended and how I had gotten back into my room. I stretched my arms and felt a sharp pain on my shoulder blade, a wince escaped my lips and I brushed my fingers on my shoulder. It was at that
♞ Adrian: I slid my car keys into my pants pocket before looking up at the mansion before me. A deep breath escaped my lips and I ran my fingers through my neatly brushed hair, before making my way inside. I hated this house. I didn't like coming here. Neither do I like the memories it pulls coming here. My father’s message had been unclear to me. All it read was: 'Come home, Adrian. There’s something we need to discuss.' When I read the message first thing I woke up this morning, I almost canceled on it. My intention was to cover it up with me being out on a buisness meeting. But at the last moment, I decided to just come around. Besides, I had a certain other business to handle with someone in this house. The butler opened the door the second I stepped onto the porch, like he'd been waiting all day. “Welcome home.” He greeted with a nod, which I returned before he glanced inside, “They’re in the lounge.” I almost asked where else would they be? Probably perched on those pret
♛ Aurora: I stood by the door, my gaze remained on Trish as I noticed her brows pulled together. After a moment of silence, she finally looked up and her gaze landed straight on me. I glanced down at my phone in her hands. What message was sent? If it was one from an unknown number, then I wouldn't know what to say to her, and Trish would certainly demand an explanation. She wouldn't be happy that I kept it from her. My throat felt tight as I took a step further, and towards where she was standing, “I promise I can explain.” I dived face first into trying to clear the air. Trish narrowed her eyes at me, “Rory…” her words trailed and she glanced down at the phone again, before looking up. Her eyes watched me carefully, and she dropped my phone to the bed, before letting out a deep restrained breath, “Rory, you need to tell me what's going on.” I swallowed the lump stuck to my throat, and my fingers tightened around my tooth brush which was in my hand. “Talk to me before I jump i
♞ Adrian: My fist tightened around his collar, and his fingers gripped my hands, trying to pry them off. “Can you fucking tell me what this is about before choking me to death?” Gabriel’s sharp eyes met mine. “I deserve to at least know what I've done wrong this time.” “Killing you here and right now would just make everything better for me, you know?” I asked, watching the change in his expression. I had received a call from Giovanni after I left Rory with my Dmitri and Leon yesterday to attend a meeting. I wasn't sure how he got it done, but he had somehow figured out that my step-brother was also pulling the reins behind the collapse at the site. Why he was doing it? I had no fucking idea. But he’ll eventually tell me if he wants to live. “How long did you think it would take me to find out you are somehow connected to Vincent Rein?” I asked him, tightening my hands around his collar. Gabriel's brows pulled together, and he blew out a breath. His frown deepened an
♛ Aurora: I arrived at my workplace an hour later than usual. The elevator was silent, safe for Bonnie absentmindedly tapping her feet beside me. I don't think she realized she was even doing it, her gaze was rooted to the screen of her iPad. I spared her a side glance, and pressed my lips into a thin line, before glancing at the count of numbers to the top stairs. A deep sigh escaped my lips, and I shut my eyes close for a moment. Adrian and I had come to the conclusion that it was better to feign ignorance for the meantime till we are able to track every single person connected to the collapse on site. While I didn't completely agree at first, it later dawned on me that it was the only best option we had, at least for now. So, somehow I agreed to act oblivious to it for the next couple of weeks. By then, I would also keep an eye on Bonnie’s every movement. Eventually, she’ll make a mistake that would be too big to hide. I brushed my fingers through my hair, and a deep sigh es
♛ Aurora: With my arms crossed to my chest, I stared blankly at the person sitting in front of me. “You know, there could have been other methods you could reach out to me than this, right?” “I know.” He responded. And added almost immediately, “Do you realize how long I've been trying to reach out to you? you weren't answering my calls, neither were you replying to my text messages. And from the last time, you did warn me to not bypass your receptionist without an appointment.” My brows furrowed tightly, “You never texted me. Nor called.” I dropped my gaze to my phone and picked it up, before reaching out for it. “I did.” “Noah, you didn't.” “I swear, I called you and texted numerous number of times.” Scrolling through the call logs of my missed calls. I didn't see any message or missed calls from his number which I had saved to my phone. I looked up at him with a frown, “There’s no message or missed calls from you here.” Noah looked offended, his brows pulled tog
♛ Aurora: I arrived at my workplace an hour later than usual. The elevator was silent, safe for Bonnie absentmindedly tapping her feet beside me. I don't think she realized she was even doing it, her gaze was rooted to the screen of her iPad. I spared her a side glance, and pressed my lips into a thin line, before glancing at the count of numbers to the top stairs. A deep sigh escaped my lips, and I shut my eyes close for a moment. Adrian and I had come to the conclusion that it was better to feign ignorance for the meantime till we are able to track every single person connected to the collapse on site. While I didn't completely agree at first, it later dawned on me that it was the only best option we had, at least for now. So, somehow I agreed to act oblivious to it for the next couple of weeks. By then, I would also keep an eye on Bonnie’s every movement. Eventually, she’ll make a mistake that would be too big to hide. I brushed my fingers through my hair, and a deep sigh es
♞ Adrian: My fist tightened around his collar, and his fingers gripped my hands, trying to pry them off. “Can you fucking tell me what this is about before choking me to death?” Gabriel’s sharp eyes met mine. “I deserve to at least know what I've done wrong this time.” “Killing you here and right now would just make everything better for me, you know?” I asked, watching the change in his expression. I had received a call from Giovanni after I left Rory with my Dmitri and Leon yesterday to attend a meeting. I wasn't sure how he got it done, but he had somehow figured out that my step-brother was also pulling the reins behind the collapse at the site. Why he was doing it? I had no fucking idea. But he’ll eventually tell me if he wants to live. “How long did you think it would take me to find out you are somehow connected to Vincent Rein?” I asked him, tightening my hands around his collar. Gabriel's brows pulled together, and he blew out a breath. His frown deepened an
♛ Aurora: I stood by the door, my gaze remained on Trish as I noticed her brows pulled together. After a moment of silence, she finally looked up and her gaze landed straight on me. I glanced down at my phone in her hands. What message was sent? If it was one from an unknown number, then I wouldn't know what to say to her, and Trish would certainly demand an explanation. She wouldn't be happy that I kept it from her. My throat felt tight as I took a step further, and towards where she was standing, “I promise I can explain.” I dived face first into trying to clear the air. Trish narrowed her eyes at me, “Rory…” her words trailed and she glanced down at the phone again, before looking up. Her eyes watched me carefully, and she dropped my phone to the bed, before letting out a deep restrained breath, “Rory, you need to tell me what's going on.” I swallowed the lump stuck to my throat, and my fingers tightened around my tooth brush which was in my hand. “Talk to me before I jump i
♞ Adrian: I slid my car keys into my pants pocket before looking up at the mansion before me. A deep breath escaped my lips and I ran my fingers through my neatly brushed hair, before making my way inside. I hated this house. I didn't like coming here. Neither do I like the memories it pulls coming here. My father’s message had been unclear to me. All it read was: 'Come home, Adrian. There’s something we need to discuss.' When I read the message first thing I woke up this morning, I almost canceled on it. My intention was to cover it up with me being out on a buisness meeting. But at the last moment, I decided to just come around. Besides, I had a certain other business to handle with someone in this house. The butler opened the door the second I stepped onto the porch, like he'd been waiting all day. “Welcome home.” He greeted with a nod, which I returned before he glanced inside, “They’re in the lounge.” I almost asked where else would they be? Probably perched on those pret
♛ Aurora: My gaze trailed over to my bedroom ceiling as I blinked my eyes open. I stretched over my bed and released a deep breath, before reaching out for my phone which I left on the bedside table. “You’re glowing.” I froze at the voice, my brows creased and I blinked, disoriented for half a second before I realized Trish was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, her brows raised in something close to amusement. She was dressed in her usual oversized red sweater and leggings, hair up in a messy bun, clutching a mug that smelled like tea. “Excuse me?” I asked, sitting up a little straighter on the bed. I glanced around the room, before my gaze trailed back to her. Events from last night cut through my thoughts and I closed my eyes for a brief second, trying to recall how it had ended and how I had gotten back into my room. I stretched my arms and felt a sharp pain on my shoulder blade, a wince escaped my lips and I brushed my fingers on my shoulder. It was at that
♛ Aurora: Something in me cracked open. I didn’t know what to do with the ache in my chest, his words reached for all the places I had carefully boarded shut. His confession wasn't just words to me… it was raw, trembling truth. I couldn't help but turn to glance at him. And what I saw in his eyes was vulnerability that left no room for armor. Everything he said was nothing but what he felt. I looked at him deeply, the same way his dark eyes stared at me deeply. His jaw was tight, like he was holding himself back from saying more. His fingers twitched at his thigh. He wasn't comfortable in the silence, he wanted me to say something. Anything. I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat, because something inside me was caving in. I hated him. I resented him. I despised him. But I loved him. I missed him. I ached for him. All at once. Adrian’s eyes dropped to my lips, then back to my eyes, his chest rising and falling like he was trying to breathe me in. “Say someth
♛ Aurora: Adrian was silent for a long moment, he didn't answer immediately. When he released a deep breath, I realized he didn't want to say who he was suspecting. My brows pulled together, “Who?” He shook his head and ran his fingers through it, ruffling it before finally saying, “I don't want to get you involved in all of these.” His heavy stare fell on me. My frown deepened, “I'm already involved in it. Right from the moment someone decided to sabotage my work at the site. So what do you mean?” “Things run deeper than that. Other than the fact that you have someone who’s trying to sabotage your work because they have a vendetta against you. There’s also someone out there who is working with them because they have a vendetta against me.” I let his words settle in for a moment. My brows creased as I slowly understood the meaning behind his words. Someone was coming after me because of him? “Who?” I couldn't help but ask. “I can't tell you.” “Why?” He shook h
♛ Aurora: Without pondering much on who it might be because I had a feeling it was Adrian, I stood up from the couch and walked over to the door, before unlocking it and pushing the handle down. I Opened the door ajar a little and glanced outside. Relief settled cooly in my nerves when I saw that it was indeed Adrian. His dark rimmed eyes fell on me and a small smile tipped his lips, “Rory,” he called out. “Adrian,” I muttered in a low voice. He stood there, tall and calm, holding a paper bag in one hand, and a box of what I presumed to be sweets and chocolates in another hand. His tie was loose, shirt wrinkled from what must have been a long day, his hair was disheveled and covering part of his face. His eyes softened the second he saw my face. “I brought dinner,” he said, lifting the bag slightly. “And desserts” He added softly as he raised the other hand a little “You’re late.” I said as I briefly glanced at the time on my phone. It was already a couple of minutes after 11.