He drives us to the party’s venue and quickly walks inside as soon as he hands the valet his keys. If I didn’t know better, I would say he is running away from me. I put on my mask and walk inside to find Aurora. It’s a masquerade party. I see her standing with a group of people who I am guessing are her friends. I tap on her shoulder to get her attention. I know who she is because of her dress.
“Aurora.”
“Andrea, you are finally here,” she says, sounding excited to see me.
“Happy birthday again.”
“Thank you, would you like something to drink.”
“Yes, please,” I say and feel someone tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see who it is, but the person has a mask on, so I don’t know. “Who are you?”
“Andrea, it’s me, Ivan,” he says, taking off his mask.
“Hey, I am so happy you made it,” I say, pulling him into a hug.
&nbs
The following day I wake up with the most excruciating headache of my life. I feel like they are beating drums inside my head. I walk downstairs to find something to help make the pain go away. I walk into the kitchen to find Mrs. Costanzo making breakfast. She makes breakfast sometimes but most days the maid does it. “Good morning, Katherine,” I say, taking my seat on one of the stools in the kitchen. Mrs. Costanzo prefers for me to call her by her first name. “Good morning, Dear, take this, it will help with the pain,” she says, handing me Advil and orange juice. “Thank you, have you seen Aurora? We didn’t come home together last night. I don’t even know how I got home myself,” I say, trying to remember last night. “Here she comes,” Katherine says, as Aurora walks into the kitchen. “Hi Mom, Hi Andrea,” Aurora says, taking a seat beside me. Sh
I step outside and find Stefano standing beside his car. I walk over to him determined to have a serious discussion about his behavior earlier. “Good, you are done with him; now get into the car,” Stefano says opening the car door for me. “What was the meaning of what you just did?” I say, ignoring his words to get in the car. “I was trying to protect you.” “Protect me, from what? A good friend.” “He is not who you think he is.” “How do you even know him?” “How I know him does not matter; all that matters is I don’t trust him, and I believe he is dangerous.” “This is the same thing you said the first time I was meeting him, and now you interrupt my lunch based on this useless belief you have of him.” “It’s not a useless belief I have done my research, I will only show
I wake up the next day with a terrible headache; I really need to stop drinking. I climb out of bed and walk to the bathroom to freshen up before going downstairs but notice something different. This is not my room or my clothes. Where in God’s name am I? I look under the t-shirt I am wearing, praying my underwear is still there, it is, thank God! I don’t see any pictures around the room to help me figure out where I am. I decide to walk outside the room to find out. I take the stairs and find someone in the kitchen. I carried my shoes in my hand in case the person kidnapped me. “Who are you,” I say to the person with his back to me. “Good morning to you too.” he says, turning around to face me. “Stefano,” I say, dropping the shoes to the floor in shock. “Here eat,” he says, placing a plate of eggs with baked beans and bread in front of me. “What am I doing here?”
In the middle of the day, Stefano, I, and a few of his men arrive in Rome. I have just finished checking into my hotel room. We plan to all meet downstairs and start our search for Petrova. She was staying in Sicily but recently travelled to Rome. We are hoping to find her before she travels somewhere else. I walk out of my room and take the elevator downstairs to the hotel lobby. I find Stefano and the guys waiting as I walk over to them. “I am ready.” “Good, now we can leave, everyone remembers what we discussed in in Sicily. If you see her make sure not to alert her of your presence and call me immediately.” “Yes, sir,” they say. “Let’s go,” Stefano says, walking out of the hotel, with me following behind him. We get into the car he rented for our trip here. We arrive in a poor neighborhood after an hour or so of driving. Where we are is really far from the city.
It’s been a few days since that almost wonderful moment between Stefano and me. That almost kiss situation got me really thinking about why I wanted him to kiss me so bad. I thought I was only attracted to him because he is a handsome man, but Aurora helped me realize it is more than that. She reminded me how much I care about him. You can only care about and be attracted to someone you like. I never thought too deeply about caring about him. I always looked at it as caring for a friend, now I know it is more than that. I like Stefano but I am not sure if he feels the same way. Yes, he almost kissed me that night, but it doesn’t mean he likes me. A lot of people have sex with people they can’t stand. I hope he has genuine feelings for me, not just attraction. We came back to Sicily a few days ago and still trying to find Petrova. That night we couldn’t find shelter from the rain, but we
The next day I decide to leave the house and get some fresh air. I visit an art studio to help clear my mind, art always helps me to calm down. I look at pictures or paintings and try to imagine what the artist was thinking while creating them. It calms my mind and takes me away from my problems. After seeing the art exhibition, I visit a bookstore close by and engulf myself in another world. I am obsessed with historical fiction. When there is romance in it, you have me in your pocket. I spend the rest of my day at the bookstore by the time I am ready to go home, it's dark outside. I call Aurora to come pick me up, she is still busy at the office, so she asked someone else to pick me up. She did not mention who, but when he arrives. I am starting to think Aurora intentionally sends her brother my way. I don't say anything to him as I watch him inside the car, waiting for me to get in. He ro
The following day I woke up to find Stefano still in the chair he sat in last night. I am surprised he is still here, but actually; I shouldn’t be. He said he was going to watch me the whole night, and he did. He always looks peaceful while sleeping; I can’t help but admire him. I let my eyes trace from his full eyebrows to his long eyelashes, all the way to his straight nose, and stop on those gorgeous lips of his. They look to be lacking color, I imagine how they would be once I kiss them. They will be red and swollen once I am done with them. I quickly come back from my daydreaming once he starts moving in the chair. I quietly step out of my bed and walk to the bathroom to take a shower. Once I am done showering, I walk outside to get dressed. I forgot to take my clothes with me to the bathroom. Hopefully, Stefano has left. My prayers are not answered, Stefano is still here, but he is about to step out
The day has come for me to leave... I am sad, but when you are not wanted, it’s best to go. I am on my way to Stefano’s office to say goodbye. Aurora is the one driving me to the airport. She felt I should say goodbye to him before I leave. I knock on his office door and wait for him to respond. He says, comes in, I walk inside. “Hi, Stefano,” I say once I am inside. Once he hears my voice, he removes his eyes from the papers in front of him and focuses his full attention on me. He stares at me and takes in my whole appearance before going back to the documents in front of him. “What are you doing here?” “I came to say goodbye.” “Goodbye?” He asks, looking confused “Yes, I am leaving, I wanted to say bye before I go.” “Oh, really,” he says, not even looking