(AURORA'S POV)
"Hey Ace."
Ace.
No one had called me that in fifteen years. I could feel my body losing balance. I bravely, boldly walked to the bed and sat down on it.
He moved swiftly to the desk side and poured out some water in to a clean glass before returning back to his position.
I eyed the tumbler suspiciously but gulped it down, because I needed it.
I was parched! Drained! Shocked! Surprised!
Then I set the glass down and took a deep breath to steady my racing heart. I opened my eyes when I wasn't feeling dizzy anymore and there he was staring right back at me.
Not a vision, not a dream, not an illusion.
He was here, Alive.
With those eyes.
I avoided thinking of the past, because that's where it should be, in the past. But my wedding day seemed to come with a suitcase of high powered triggers that conquered my defenses.
The wedding dress had made me remember soft, sweet, sad memories with my mother.
And now him.
Adriano Deluca.
His eyes pulled me in to the nostalgia train.
Eighteen years ago….
Loud music thumped through Orange Hill, Don Alessandro Deluca's extravagant estate. It was his birthday party and I was stomping around, looking for my older brother, Marco.
I was searching for my brother, Adriano because I couldn't leave the Don's birthday without him. Mother would not let me go home alone with the chauffeur.
I finally found my brother with an unfamiliar boy playing foosball in one of the rooms.
"You were supposed to look after me." I announced marching up to Marco.
I expected him to snap, to tell me I was being nosy and annoying but he grinned at me instead and went around the table.
"Rory! This is My Friend. Adriano. He's the son of Don Deluca but he was away oversees with his mother. He lives here, In Astoria now."
Marco's arm slung around his shoulders. My eyes had drifted to Adriano's face then—way younger, softer. His dark hair was longer.
"He's not as scary as he looks." Marco said, smirking at me.
I knew what he was thinking, I was quiet, had no questions or observations.
He thought I was scared but I was stunned, starring at Adriano's eyes.
"He doesn't talk much. You get used to it." Marco continued.
Adriano looked at me with cold, beautiful eyes that reminded me of a picture my parents took when they traveled to Alaska.
Blue. Deep. Cold. Beautiful.
"Your eyes, they look like icebergs." I said, wishing I was tall enough to lean forward and look closely. I nodded still. "They're beautiful."
Marco turned to a surprised Adriano and with an embarrassed chuckle, he said ;
"This is my little sister, she's only five years old but she's extra smart and has a sharp tongue. Her name is Aurora. You can call her Rory or Ace." Marco introduced going back to the other end of the table while he left me and Adriano starring at each other.
"Ace?" Adriano repeated and I decided I liked how he spoke, so low yet somehow audible enough.
"Yes, my dad gave it to her, it's short for Aurora Camille Everetta. Come on, Adriano." Marco said moving the foosball rods.
"We need to go home, Marco." I said even though my eyes were perfectly glued to Adriano.
"Ace, I like it…." Adriano said.
We ended up staying two more hours. My longest time at a party.
"Ace!"
Not the boy's voice from the past , it was the man's. Rough, deep. Present.
I blinked.
He was standing right in front of me, his hand extended but not touching, his eyes - those same iceberg- eyes watched me with something I wasn't sure of.
He withdrew his hand, his eyes watching me carefully.
"How did you survive?" I asked, rising to my feet, taking more steps closer to him. "Are you with them?"
I don't know why I asked that. Maybe Impulse. Something I was not familiar with.
"No." Adriano replied coldly and I saw the vengeance in his eyes, mirroring the one in my heart.
By now, we were really close to each other, just two steps and our bodies would have been touching. My eyes dug in to his, searched his face, evidence of hardness over the years…
"You're here." I stated again, disbelief fueling my nerves. It's a good thing I am a woman of modern science or I would have called this witchcraft.
"It's a long story, Aurora." He said softly. "We will have time for that, later. Shower, I'll have dinner brought to you, rest and we will talk tomorrow."
One deep glance and he turned around to walk away.
My patience seized.
I just found out that the masked Devil who forcefully married me and turned my wedding to a bloody scene was my brother's best friend, a face I never thought I would see again.
Adriano Deluca.
I thought he had been killed, along with my brother and the other children. I thought I was the only survivor.
I took some hasty steps forward, my heels noisily moving against the floor and Adriano stopped walking, turning around smoothly.
I stopped walking too.
There was a tensed silence filled with so many questions, so many things to say …
"Why did you forcefully marry me?"