Chapter 47

Aurora POV

I’ve grown used to danger.

So much so that nothing quite phases me anymore.

However, when Dominic shows up at the safehouse with two unfamiliar men in tow, and my best friend, I’m immediately on edge.

“Hey,” Gianna says, folding me into a hug. “Why are we back here? I was told to get into a car and then they just drove off.”

I shake my head, squeezing her back just as fiercely. “No idea.”

The twins are nothing like what I expect. One of them, tall with a cocky grin and sharp green eyes, throws his arms wide like he’s about to greet an old friend.

“You must be Aurora,” he says, eyes raking over me not with disrespect but genuine curiosity. “The infamous bride-to-be.”

His twin, equally tall with the same jet-black hair and unmistakable Italian accent and swagger, leans against the doorframe with a mischievous grin. “I’m Marco. That’s Luca. We’re Dominic’s favorite cousins, though he’ll never admit it.”

Gianna and I exchange a look.

Cousins?

Dominic sighs behind them, sounding like he is already regretting the decision to bring them here, if the pinched expression on his face is any indication.

“Haven’t I told you both to behave?” he mutters, stepping between them.

“Yes, though I seem to recall there being room for error.” Luca shoots back.

Marco claps a hand on Dominic’s shoulder. “We’re just trying to get to know our charges, seeing as how we’ll be spending the next few days right by their sides.”

Dominic swats his hand off and glares at both of them, but it’s all surface-level. I can tell by the way his jaw relaxes that he’s holding back. This is the kind of banter he’s known his whole life.

It’s… jarring, seeing this side of him. I’m not used to the curtains being pulled back enough for me to glimpse the man he would’ve been had his father never slaughtered his mother—before revenge took hold and never let go.

“We need to speak.” he says suddenly, turning to me.

Gianna lifts a brow at me as if to say good luck, leaving me to follow Dominic outside onto the motel’s creaky back balcony. The afternoon air feels nice against my skin, the silence that settles between us isn’t entirely uncomfortable either.

“Romero and I are leaving tonight.”

My stomach drops. “To where?”

He avoids my gaze, watching the overgrown brush surrounding the property like he expects an ambush at any second. “Underground. We have things to handle.”

“What kind of things?” I ask.

“Digging for answers,” he says, the vague answer slipping out like it’s supposed to be enough.

It isn’t.

Not when the last time we were together, he’d made it clear he wanted my father to pay for what had been done to me. Is this the ‘answers’ he would be digging for? Ways to take out my father without inciting a war?

The thought sends a shiver rolling down my spine.

My brows pull together. “You’re being deliberately cryptic.”

“Because you don’t need to know,” he replies coolly. “It doesn’t concern you.”

That stings more than I thought it would. “Really? Because everything else seems to concern me. You’ve blackmailed me, dragged me into your mess, asked me to marry you, brought me here, and now I’m suddenly not allowed to know what’s going on?”

He finally looks at me then, his dark eyes unreadable. “Enough, Aurora. This is different.”

“That’s not an answer,” I shoot back.

He steps closer, sighing more to himself than at me. “You’ll be safe here. Luca and Marco will keep you and Gianna safe while Romero and I handle what needs to be handled. Your father won’t get to you. I’ve deliberately made sure he has no way of tracking you down.”

That’s actually pretty relieving. “So when will you be back?”

“Before the wedding,” he says.

“That could mean anything.”

“I’m not leaving you for long,” he says, reaching out to touch my cheek, thumb grazing the line of my jaw. “Try not to miss me too much while I’m gone.”

He leaves soon after, rousing more questions in me than answers.

Back inside, Gianna’s already made herself at home once again, perched on one of the stiff motel couches with a bag of chips already open in her hands.

“Well?” she asks as I sit beside her. “What was that about?”

“He and Romero are going underground apparently,” I say, pulling my knees up to my chest. “Won’t tell me why.”

Gianna frowns. “Oh. That sounds… foreboding.”

“Right. I tried to get him to talk but he won’t. Said it wasn’t my business.” I pause. “This feels like it’s connected to my father but a part of it doesn’t really make much sense. Why would he need to go underground in order to dig up dirt? I could tell him anything he wanted.”

Gianna nods slowly, chewing thoughtfully. “Perhaps the information he’s looking for isn’t something you’d know. I mean, it isn’t like your dad ever lets you in on closed-door discussions.”

True…

The thought is a live wire under my skin.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “Something still feels off about all of this. He’s usually a little more open with his plans with me, even if it’s to brag.”

We lapse into silence, the kind that says we’re both thinking too much but neither of us wants to voice our worst fears.

Eventually, Gianna sighs and nudges me with her shoulder. “Look there isn’t much we can do at this point. Unfortunately we’re at the whims of Dominic Guerrero. If he’s going underground for an extended period of time that gives us the window we need to keep doing our own digging.”

I stare at her.

She fixes me with a look. “You know, finding out another lead like the one you used to blackmail him?”

Oh… actually I hadn’t thought about that.

Gianna’s right, though. Now that we’re away from the prying eyes of pretty much everyone aside from Dominic’s strange cousins, that’ll give us plenty of time to get back into our deep dive and find something against Dominic.

“You’re right,” I say, sitting up fully. “We should get working on that before the twins come back and bother us again.”

“Absolutely. I’ll grab my laptop if you find us a good place to park it for a few hours.”

“You got it.”