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The Monster's Protégé - 32 -
AURORASam looked like shit, and I didn't even have the heart to say it. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, her skin was dry and pale, and her hair...when was the last time she had brushed? Sadness was so much unlike her. Sam has a natural radiance, one that has the ability to illuminate every facet of darkness.I watched her enter the bedroom, completely unaware of my presence as she lazily slammed the door shut and turned..."Jesus Christ! Are you crazy?" Sam screamed, staggering back."That's debatable," I smirked in a pathetic attempt to make her smile but later gave up. "Are you okay?"She didn't need to spell out the words. I could already see them etched on her face. Then, without a word, she joined me on the couch, throwing her head back to stare aimlessly at the ceiling.I haven't really gotten my head wrapped around the concept of 'family' while I was growing up. But spending time with these people...Viktor, Dominic, Sammy, Stef...the idea was abundantly clear to me. They had eac
The Monster's Protégé - 33 -
VIKTORI slowly pushed the door and entered his room. The lunch tray was lying by the side of his bed, untouched while my brother sat on the bed with his face turned away.Stef did register my presence, but he simply refused to acknowledge it and stubbornly looked away. Stalking closer, I perched on the side of his bed and exhaled heavily. The road to his recovery was getting tougher every day now with his defiance."This madness has to stop now," I sighed. "You need to eat, Stef."He didn't move a muscle and continued to stare blankly. As much as I wanted to keep my anger in check, it lashed out every second with this unappreciative brat.Pissed, I grabbed his jaw and forced his attention on me. "You know the silent treatment won't work with me.""Fuck you." He wrenched his face away and looked away once again.It made me chuckle a little. "Yeah, that's more like my brother. Cursing is better than your brooding silence."This time, he turned to me on his own accord. "If I am cooped u
The Monster's Protégé - 34 -
"It was words that I fell for. In the end, it was words that broke my heart." ~ Lang Leav, Memories. A U R O R AMy eyes slowly fluttered open as I stared blankly at the ceiling without bothering to look around. Not less than three seconds ago, I came to my senses, and I was already in denial. Not wanting to see, feel, or think.I didn't need to look around to realize where I was. It was Sam's room, and I was lying on her soft Queen size bed because the nauseating aroma of coconut and vanilla assaulted my nasal passages.The woman has an unhealthy attachment to strong fragrances."How are you feeling?" Sam appeared in the periphery of my vision as I winced and tried to avoid.Pity was something I refused to accept in any circumstances. Even when I turn ninety and fucking invalid. And if I ever live up to that age. But not now, not today."Aurora, please talk to me," she implored.I figured that just like every Romano in this house, she can't take a damn signal and shut up. So I shove
The Monster's Protégé - 35 -
AURORASometimes, the sky falls on your head and the ground slips beneath your feet. And that is when you know you have nowhere to escape.I have read this somewhere I could not remember. But the feelings were nowhere close to what I was feeling right now. I felt like someone has doused me into a pool of cold water, and I was counting every second inside my head until I'd stop breathing.Someone squeezed my arm, a feminine touch and probably Sam's, and then a whiff of male cologne hit my nose. I didn't bother to see the people present in the room because everything and everyone has evaporated by now except for that one figure—that one man—I had loved and hated with every fiber of my being.The epicenter of all my happiness and grief.Dazedly, I walked up to him."Aurora, listen to me. Just—"My palm stuck hard against his cheek with a resounding splat, but Marco didn't coil. Maybe he kinda expected it. Instead, he turned his head slowly from where the blow had bowed it. "The first th
The Monster's Protégé - 36 -
AURORA"Present your breasts."Marco's cool grey eyes were anything but hungry as he slowly drank in my naked body that made me flinch. As always, the man was impeccably dressed and that too in a made-to-measure Brioni suit, having just returned from a tedious three-hour meeting. His squared jaw was shaved this evening, and his hair looked perfectly messy in a finger-raked style. I was tempted to reach out and run my fingers through them just to relish the velvet touch. "And keep your eyes on me as you do, Aurora," he added on with his earlier vicious command.I felt mutinous from within. It wasn't fair for him to be so immaculately dressed while keeping me bared and exposed. Every inch of my body was touched and kissed and marked by him. I wore this man every day on my skin.Marco knew that I wasn't embarrassed to shed my clothes in front of him or shied away from his touch, so to intensify my humiliation and maintain the balance of power exchange between us, he'd often employ the
The Monster's Protégé - 37 -
A U R O R AI parked the car in front of the house which definitely required a gardener. It was one of those countrysides set up with quiet and peaceful neighbourhoods where mostly retired people decided to settle. Every house was immaculate though except for the one where I was heading to.Fishing out my phone, I checked the text Viktor had sent me a while back and then looked around. I doubted if this was exactly the place where ex-Navy SEAL would settle down. It was too...domestic.I walked up to the lawn, overgrown with grass and weed, and then knocked on the door. No electric bell. Just old school brass ring.A few seconds later I heard the lock click as the door opened slightly. A man peeked out a little, and I caught a glimpse of his face. Tall, tan skin with cropped hair, almost bald on the sides and an apprehensive look in his eyes."Simon?" I asked.He assessed me with a deep frown. "Depends, who's asking?""Viktor Romano."The cloud in his features cleared out as he nodded
The Monster's Protégé - 38 -
A U R O R A What is the definition of loss and suffering to people like us? A few weeks ago, my misery had peaked to a primed spot. I had mourned, raged and cried over the loss of a man whom I loved, marinated in grief and wallowed in self-pity. There were so many stages of my suffering that I had believed it to be real, but the one unfolding before my eyes transcended all the other horizons of loss and suffering. Before me, there were two parents, howling over their son’s body. Mrs. Romano cupped his boy’s face as if she were trying to coax him into waking up while Alessandro Romano, the man known to be invincible to Chicago, were bested down by Stefan’s death. He stood stoically, but it was his red, void eyes that spoke volumes. The sight was harrowing. I did not even have the strength to reach out to Sammy. She could barely stand or even breathe in the wake of her loss. Stefan was everything to her, to this family. The youngest, spoiled and beloved. She shook violently, cryi
The Monster's Protégé - 39 -
A U R O R ATwo days laterThe phone rang incessantly as I drove through the streets of Chicago. It is from Viktor’s office. Since he was in no position to deal with the daily shit, Marco and I decided to take up the matters but individually. We divided the responsibilities geographically and took up the issues as and when required so that neither Viktor nor Dominic has to bother themselves. But, apparently, the idiots at Viktor’s office did not understand the difference between taking orders and executing them. They would call a hundred times a day, seeking instructions on frivolous things and would strum the last of my nerves until I would pick up a damn baseball bat and struck against their empty heads.I ignored the first few rings but when they did not stop calling for 10 minutes, I picked up.“What now?”“Ma’am,” came a stammering voice from the other end. “There has been a blast at the warehouse.” I slammed the brake so hard, my body jerked forward and the car came to a halt.
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