Chapter 52

Aurora POV

“Miss Aurora.” There is a knock at my bedroom door, one of the twin’s voices on the other side of it. When I rise to open it, a phone is shoved in my face. “It’s for you.”

I don’t even have to check the caller ID to know exactly who is waiting for me on the other line. It’s clear in Luca’s pinched brow that he’s been absolutely chewed out by Dominic.

It almost has me snorting.

I shouldn’t be surprised to hear from him. After being brought to the one place I knew Dominic never would’ve wanted me returning to, it’s clear whatever conversation had transpired before the phone had gotten passed to me had been quite volatile. A storm I’m thankful to have missed.

Honestly, they deserve it.

Even if I had been the one to push Gianna into asking to go—which, for the record, I hadn’t—I knew Dominic wouldn’t be thrilled if and when he found out. If I had run into my father again, the situation could’ve gone sideways fast. A single wrong look. A single comment. A single moment of anger and I could’ve ended up being beaten back enough to end up in a hospital or worse.

So, yeah, I get it.

But still, when I finally hear Dominic’s voice directly after taking the phone from Luca’s hand and putting it up to my ear, I’m caught off guard by how much calmer he sounds.

“You aren’t answering your phone.” Is the first thing he says to me. There’s a pause before he continues. “Are you alright?”

My breath catches. “Oh, um… sorry. I didn’t hear it go off. I think I buried it in my bag somewhere.”

He sighs softly. “I see. Luca told me he brought you back to your family’s estate. I… was a little worried you ran into your father again.”

His words stun me.

Worry?

Dominic had been… worried about me?

The thought makes my stomach twist in knots. I don’t know how to feel about that. I really don’t. It’s not the kind of thing I’ve come to expect from men in my life and especially not from one like Dominic Guerrero.

But then, he’s never really fit into a mold, has he?

He always sends me spiraling. I never know what to make of him. The more he drags me deeper into this twisted world with every choice he makes, the more conflicted I feel. Every command he gives, every promise he gives like it actually means more than the words spoken, has me second guessing everything.

Why is it always like this with him?

Why is it that hours ago I had been ready to pack my things, grab Gianna, and run for the nearest airport to start over in some city and now, with just a handful of words, I’m hesitating once again?

Now I don’t know what to think. I don’t know how to feel. He always twists my emotions around until they become unrecognizable. Until I’m left faltering through the unknown with no light in the distance to guide me.

For a while, neither of us says anything.

“What happened while you were there?” He asks.

I’m tempted to tell him about Camilla’s offer. To see what his reaction would be. Even though I know it will cause us to argue or, in the worst case scenario, entice him into locking me up, I’m still curious.

If he’s worried about me going back to my family’s estate, suggesting wanting to leave the country entirely, and subsequently him behind, will definitely not go over well.

“I just grabbed a few things. Clothes and some skin care stuff. I didn’t really have much else that I cared to take with me.”

He hums at that. “I see.”

“How is the underground stuff going?”

“Fine. I’m handling things.”

“Did you have to go far? Leave the city?”

He’s quiet again. This time though, it doesn’t seem like it’s because he’s lost in thought. It’s almost as if he’s trying to come up with something to say—some way to navigate around the truth without actually lying to me.

He’s done this before, plenty of times in fact, that I know better than to let it slide.

“Dominic. Where are you?”

Reluctantly, he answers: “Russia.”

That has me blinking.

Why in the world would he be all the way in—?

But then it clicks. The Bratva. The one who helped him kill his father. He must be there settling things. Or sorting out the job and whatever payment had been agreed upon for a job well done.

A shudder rolls up my spine at the thought of Dominic shaking hands with the people responsible for the mess that was made at my wedding. At working out the terms now that the job had been successful and the payment due. I’ve been surrounded by people like this all my life but it never fails to make me nervous.

Then again, that bratva also did save me from being raped that night by a man my father’s age.

So… I suppose I can’t be too wary of them.

“What are you doing over there?” I ask, curious.

“Negotiating.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “Do you owe them a lot?”

“Certain territories.” He says, his words a little slow—measured while he speaks them as if trying to keep things intentionally vague. “Power. Resources.”

“Sounds like a lot.”

“Well, I did request them at the last minute. And they did quite the expert job at doing what I asked.”

True…

Still, all of this makes me apprehensive. A part of me wants to push further to demand more answers. Dominic has never let me in to this side of his world. In general, I’ve never had any kind of serious exposure but that’s mainly because I’ve intentionally kept my head down.

After all, it had been drilled into me from a young age that my only value is my virtue.

Growing closer to Dominic was never supposed to be part of the plan. In fact, I never wanted to be involved in his world to begin with. But no matter how much my mind knows that, my heart doesn’t at all agree.

I worry for him more than I should. More than I want to and it’s causing me to flip-flop on everything I thought I knew.

“Just... please be careful dealing with them.” I finally say.

The line goes silent again for so long that I pull the phone away from my ear to make sure the call didn’t drop.

His name and our timestamp is still on the screen.

“Dominic?”

“Are you… worried about me?” he asks finally.

“Yes.” The word comes out honest. Painfully so.

I don’t know what I expect. Maybe a smug response or some kind of taunt. Maybe even a sarcastic jab before scolding me for being weak.

The last thing I ever expect to hear him say is: “I will be home soon. No need to worry. I am safe.”

I swallow around the lump starting to form in my throat. “Promise?”

“Of course I do.”

With that, the call drops. I breathe out slowly, pulling the phone away from my ear and let it drop down into my lap.

What the hell am I doing?

I should want out. I do want out.

…Don’t I?

That’s what Camilla’s offer is for. What this whole plan is supposed to be about: freedom. Escape. Cutting myself loose from the insanity that is the mafia world before I’m pulled down for good like the rest of the people around me.

I don’t know what to do anymore.

I lie back on the bed and stare up at the ceiling.

How do I run from someone I might already be falling for? How could I not run from someone who’s capable of so much destruction?

My world was never simple before all of this. But now, it’s turning into something else entirely. A labyrinth of lies, alliances, death and betrayal.

And at the center of it all stands Dominic Guerrero.