Aurora (Book #1)

Chapter 17

Next few days I spent figuring out how to get the video from Christian. We haven't talked since he saw me kissing Nico and every time I tru he's either busy or not in his office. Si, he has a temporary office at our base. It's where he spends most of his time and I'm guessing that's where he leaves his laptop the most. I just need to find the right time to enter and download the video. And that day has come. I spy him with our security cams the entire day. To be honest, not only for my secret mission.
Finally, he leaves his office.
"It's now or never" I whisper to myself. I shift out of the room and carefully walk into his office, so no one would see me. I'm In front of his door. I look around for the last time to be sure that no one saw me and enter. His office is small and tidy. It looks like a mini version of Elenas office. I walk towards his desk.
Cazzo di perfezionista (Fucking perfectionist).
No shock he's the best at his job. The pencils are sharped and placed parallel to each other on the left side of the desk.
Why left? Oh, he might be left handed.
And on the right side they are papers and some kind of work related documents. And right in the middle is his laptop. I quickly open it. It requires a password, so I take my phone out. Again, Dio benedica Dante for teaching me how to crack a passwords. It took a while , but I successfully crack it.
Aurora.
He put my name as his password.
Oh, Christian.
I hate myself for doing this now, but I don't have choice. I quickly download the video into my phone. I close everything and walk to the door , but as I'm about to leave, suddenly the door opens itself.
"Aurora?"
Christian.
"What are you doing in my office?"
I don't say anything. I just stare at him. Stunned. He is angry, but not with me, I suppose . Something else angers him at the moment, I just happen to be on his way.
"Aurora, talk" he says in ordering tone.
"I-i-I was here for you" i stutter.
Damn, Aurora, calm down.
He narrows his eyes.
"I wanted to see you, and the door was open and I-I don't know, I came in" I explain.
Why can't I just talk ? Is this guilt? Fear?
He slowly moves to his desk. My gaze follows him.
"No one is allowed in my office, if I'm not in it" he announces and makes him self comfortable on his chair.
Not even me?
Could he harden so quickly?
"Si, singore " I say quietly.
"So why would you want to see me?" He asks trying to hide his grin.
Oh, I know why are you grinning.
I hide my smile and inhale a huge amount of air. What he did to me?
"To explain"
"Explain?" His voice is amused "Explain why you were kissing your ex?"
"I told you he blackmailed me" I say in higher tone and lean on his desk "And he also did that on purpose to mess with you "
"How he blackmailed you?" He asks calmly.
I remain silent and straighten up.
"How am I supposed to trust you if you don't trust me?" he says with the same calm tone.
Do I have to mention that he is not actually calm because his eyes have so much flames in them, that could burn the half of the forests in the entire world?
"I do trust you, Christian, but-"
"But you can't tell me how your ex blackmailed you" he say looking offended. Deeply offended.
I look down in embarrassment.
"Look at me" he same and I do, "I think, everything happened,um, too fast and we need space"
Oddio, never thought that he'll be the one to say that.
It's not like we were in a relationship, but still.
Not being able to say anything I just nodded.
"You're free to go, Morana" he says coldly and opens his laptop, "Close the door after you"
Morana.
"Si, singore " my voice is steady, but my body was trembling. I walk out and close the door after me, as I was told. I lean on it and takes a deep breath to stop myself from crying. It's not the time for tears. I need to find the rat. Maybe then Christian would forgive me.
The next 10 minutes I spend watching the disgusting video. The female voice was surely familiar, but was not Sofias.
It must be fake.
I try to somehow find anything by my own, but my IT skills aren't enough for it. I can't ask anyone from here to check if it's montaged , since the mission is secret and I'm not sure if I can trust anyone at the moment. I know only one person who understands such kind of things.
Nico.
Cazzo.
I can't believe myself. I don't have his number, so I search for his dossier in Elenas office. She always keeps some extra info about people we work with. While searching for Nicos I accidentally find Christians. His address, phone number, email everything is written there.
How Elena collects all this?
His picture is also attached to the document. His cold but magnetic eyes looking right into my soul. I run my fingers though it. There is also a small information about him. I shake my head to bring me to my senses. I take picture to read it later.
Finally I find Nicos. I dial by the number that is written there.
Please be him.
"Nico Ricci" he announces enthusiastically.
I rolled my eyes.
"It's Aurora, no need to show off" I utter.
"Aurora?" His voice suddenly lost the confidence it had. He coughs.
"Si" I say "But I didn't call you to chat, I need a favor"
"What makes you feel I would do anything?" He asks in fake deep voice.
Why men even do that? I blame it on toxic masculinity.
"Because,unfortunately, you are the only person I have a little trust for and plus you owe it to me, after your spectacle"
I hear a heavy sigh and that's when I know he agreed.
"Tomorrow im bringing some armored vests, so I'll see you then"
"Va bene, ciao" (alright, bye)
"Ciao" he hangs up.(bye)
I couldn't fall asleep. Mostly because I spent half of the night reading Christian dossier. Turns out he spent a week in juvie, which shocked me. His father had enough connections to set him free the same day he was put there. The reason is also unknown. I start to imagine how would he look as a child. In juvie.
"I think, everything happened,um, too fast and we need space"
His words echo in my head.
Ah, Christian, if only you knew.
I walk to the base this morning. When I enter the area, Christian was getting out of his car.
Oh no.
He stops for a second, and even though he is wearing sunglasses, I can feel his gaze on me. His brow flies up in suspense. As I walked past him,completely ignoring his presence, he suddenly speaks.
"Did you walk here?"
I turn around and raise my eyebrows.
"Si?"
"Why did you walk here?"
I don't answer. I don't know what to say.
"Don't you have a car?"
"I just wanted to walk" I lie.
He takes off his sunglasses. His eyes are narrowed. He doesn't believe me.
"You're a hopeless liar, you know that right?" He asks.
Well,I'm not a hopeless liar. Actually I'm pretty good at it, but there are two people I can never fool. Elena and Christian.
Oddio, they are so much alike.
No surprise, they got along well.
"I'm not lying"
"Something happened to your car?"
God, did something happen to my car? He wouldn't believe a word i say, because he already knows that I'm lying. He just plays with a food like he always does.
Phone call.
It's my favorite sound now.
Familiar number.
It's Nico.
"Morana" I answer the call.
"Im already at the base" he says "Backside"
"Bene" I say and hang up.
I turn around to leave.
"I thought I asked you a question " he walks towards me. I turn back and face him.
"I thought you needed space" I snapped and finally walked into the building. I know I have no right to speak to him that way, but I need to keep him as dar as possible. As I walk to the back door I see some of our people holding and trying on some vests.
"Aurora" Nico calls my name.
I turn my head to him and we both greeted each other with a nod. He comes towards me.
"So why do you need me?"
"You are an IT genius, aren't you?" I mock him.
"Well, I don't know about the genius" he ran his hand through his hair "Well, basically, yeah"
I roll my eyes . I remember myself falling for this confidence, but now I find it annoying.
"Follow me" I order and he does. We go to Elenas office. She has business meetings to attend, so her office is free today. I plug my phone into the computer and download the video on it.
"Sit" i move Elenas armchair, so he can sit.
"You became bossy" he teases as he sits down and I turn on the video. He watches it with confusion.
"Bene" he says when the record is finished. "Should I rate it or something?"
Agh, his stupid jokes.
"It's a video of Sofia talking to Salvadors" I clarify.
"Cosi?" he said still not satisfied with my answer.(so?)
"It's fake,Nico"
Dannare, do I have to explain everything?(damn)
"Ah, and you want me to check if it's true" he explains to himself.
"More to prove my words" I reply.
He narrows his eyes.
"Nico,you are the only person I can trust" I say desperately.
He hesitates for a few seconds.
"Bene" he replies in annoyance.
I nervously walk back and forth, while Nico is trying to find anything.
"Someone really wanted Sofia out" he mutters.
"What do you mean?" I asks.
"If it's really fake as you claim,then this is a really good job" he replies.
"It's fake, I can feel it, I know it"
He sighs and continues his work.
That person should've missed something. They had to miss something.
"Aurora" Nico starts, his eyes still locked on screen.
"Hm?"
"I wanted to apologize for my behavior on that day"
What?
I narrowed my eyes.
Nico? Apologizing? Well now I've seen pretty much everything and can die as a satisfied woman.
He looks at me and reads my are-you-kidding-me expression.
"I'm serious" he continues "I am sorry. For Everything, not only this. But also for cheating on you.I am an asshole, I know. I know sorry won't fix anything, but I just want you to know that whatever I've done was wrong and I admit and regret it."
I tilt my head.
"And about the kiss. I got jealous, even though I had no right to be. Something got into me and I just wanted to hurt you, I guess. I regret it too. Im happy that you found someone else, and I hope that he will treat you the way I should've, the way that you deserve"
"I forgive you, Nico" I say, "Not fully, but, I forgive you"
Was there a point not to? Plus he might be a great connection for the future, so why not ?
His face lightens up ,and not only from my words.
"I guess you were right" he says and leaning on the chair.
"What?" I come near him.
"Someone recorded Sofia from the security cams and then put it on a completely different recoding" he stands up.
I knew it. I knew that she was not the rat.
In my wave of emotion i hug Nico.
"Grazie!Grazie!Grazie!"i exclaim.
He gets confused at first, but then hugs me back.
"That's the least I could do, darling" he says.
Im too happy, to scold him about the nickname, so I just look at him and smile.
Then I hear the door opening. We both look at the entrance and, again, Fortuna had turn her back on me. Christian is standing there. His jaw clenched and fire in his eyes. He just shales his head and walks out. I release myself from Nicos arms and run after him.
"Christian!"i call his name. He doesn't stop.
"Christian!" And again he doesn't stop.
"Stop right there" i shout.
He sharply stops and I quickly approach him.
"Christian it's-"
"It's not what it looks like?" He mocks.
Well, yes, exactly.
I just blink at him.
"Cut the bullshit, Aurora" he says "So did he blackmail you this time too?"
"No,but-"
He scoffs not even wanting to hear and is about to leave, but I take his shoulder and bring back to me.
"Can you please at least hear me out?"
"I don't want to hear anything, I've seen enough"
"It was just a friendly hug"
"As far as I know people don't hug their exes, especially, the once that fucking cheated on them"
"He did me a huge favor and it was just a "thank-you"hug" I explain. I try to stay calm, but he was too intimidating.
"A "thank-you" hug?" he tilts his head.
I should've not said that. He is angry as ever.
"Why didn't you gave him a blowjob then, since he did you that big of favor?"
Stronzo.
I lightly slap him just to bring him to his senses. What he linked to? Why does he care so much?
"Scusi, i went to far" he apologizes, though I'm not sure if it's sincere, but I ignore it.
"Why do you care so much?" I voice my thoughts.
His face had a confused expression "What?"
"It's not like we're in a relationship or something"
"No, we're not" he says and I can clearly hear sarcasm in his tone.
"We're just fucking" I continue.
"Assolutamente" he replies with the same tone.
Are we?
"Then Why do you care, Christian" I play dumb.
He chuckles and looks away.
"What?"
He doesn't answer, but his searching for it. I start to press him a little.
"Why, Christian?"
He shakes his head and looks back at me.
"Why do you care so-"
"Because I fucking love you, Aurora" he says.
I inhale sharply.
Now, this is not something I expected.
My breathing got heavier. It's like there is not enough air in here.
Love me? No, he can't, he can't.
"You what?" I ask with a trembling voice. Hoping I misheard him, and at the same time I hope I didn't.
"I love you" he repeats, "I really tried not to. But I couldn't help, but fall completely and madly in love with you"
I shake my head negatively and whisper "No,no,no,no"
I take a step back.
"You don't ?" He asks and taking a step forward.
"You don't love me"Another step back, "You can't"
"I can and I do" he says "Answer the question"
I love you. Unconditionally. Irreversibly. Madly.
I open my mouth to say this words, but I don't. Some invisible force stopped me.
"Vedo" he rasps, " For the first time in my life I opened up to someone, let into my soul, broke the rules, principe and boundaries that I made for myself and it wasn't enough for you? I finally thought that if you are- were here than I maybe, just maybe , I deserve love."
You do. All the love in the world.
Tears form in my eyes.
My poor boy.
What have I done?
"I softened. Just for you" he continues"I won't make this mistake again"
He leaves. I stand there for several seconds,maybe minutes. I can't believe this. I fucked up this time. I truly did.
I need someone to talk to.
I walk out of the building. A rain is pouring down, but it doesn't stop me.
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hi friends<3
hope you enjoy this book, and for those once who are here I have something really fun is coming up in the next chapter...😉

your humble author ;)