I am in the kitchen eating breakfast before going out shopping later. I decided to stay in California and help with the investigation. I won’t be leaving till we find out who’s trying to kill one of us. While enjoying my breakfast, Stefano walks into the kitchen.
“I need you to come to the office with me today,” Stefano says while going through the fridge.
“Why?”
“I need your report on some documents you helped me take care of while I was recovering.”
“Alright, can I come later? I have somewhere to be.”
“Sure, here,” he says, placing a car key on the table.
“Is this the key for the car I think it is?” I ask, excited about him giving me the key for the Pagani Huayra.
“Bring it back home without a scratch,” he sa
After what feels like forever, Stefano walks out of the office; he says his final goodbye to the man before walking back into the restaurant, with me following behind. While we are walking out, the most embarrassing thing in my life happens. My stomach makes the noise, the noise that tells the whole world you are hungry, and it’s loud. Oh my God, why did you decide to embarrass me like this? I say to my stomach, but it only growls more. I turn to Stefano, for the first time in my life, I think he is smiling or trying to hold his laugh. “Are you hungry?” Stefano asks with the same beautiful expression on his face. He has never smiled before; it makes him look more attractive than ever. He should smile more often. “No, I am not,” I say, trying to deny the growling sound from my stomach, but my stomach betrays me again. “I think your stomach begs to defer,&r
We have the details on Petrova’s travel and we are on our way to Sicily to find her. She is the only lead we have so far, we hope she can help us find whoever is responsible for the attacks. We are currently flying to Sicily in Stefano’s private jet. I am writing new chapters for my book in my spare time but I stop once I feel someone shadowing me. I turn around to find Samuel beside me reading my novel while I am writing. “Samuel, what are you doing?” “Sorry, Miss Andrea, your book is amazing; I couldn’t stop myself once I started reading” “Really, you think so,” I ask, happy someone finds my story amazing. “Yes, when are you going to publish it? I would love to get a copy as soon as it’s out.” “I don’t know if I will ever publish it.” “Why?”
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