Chapter 29: In Which They Traded Secrets

A wild idea skimmed across Aurora’s mind.

She should find out who this motherf*cker is and put a stop to the nonsense. Whoever this person was, his/her appetite was getting bigger - and it wasn’t going to stop.

What if he/she wanted thirty thousand next, Aurora thought. She doesn’t own a f*cking bank and she won’t rob one! She swore on Trish’s life that she won’t make the same mistake again.

The sudden surge of drive instantly dipped to the lowest point.

What if she tried to find the person and he/she got pissed off? Her secrets would explode to all corners of the world. She would never be able to walk the face of the Earth again!

Aurora thought about Theo and his friends. What would they think of her? They had shown her so much respect, more than she could have ever hoped for, she hated to see the disappointment on their faces.

“Babe.”

Aurora lifted her gaze and Theo was right in front of her.

She inhaled a soft, sharp gasp of surprise and looked away, but he tipped her chin so that she faced him directly.

“Something’s wrong, am I right?” His voice was so tender that she felt more guilty. He'd be filled with shame if he ever found out what she had done.

“I- I’m good,” she stammered the first thing that came to her mind, not knowing if she had answered him correctly.

He took her hand and led her down the stairs towards the stool, and made her sit on it. Then, he took a seat in front of her and leveled his gaze at her.

“Let’s do a trade.”

It was an unexpected response and he had her full attention. “A trade?”

“I tell you a secret of mine - then you share one. How about that?”

Aurora looked away and thought briefly.

“Alright,” she whispered.

“The catch is--.”

Her eyes flew back. “There’s a catch?” She tried to hit him with a fist. How dare he trick her?

He caught her hand before it landed on him and clasped it tightly in his hand. “Now, you can’t run away. As I was saying, the catch is, we answer each other’s question and then we tell the truth.”

Aurora pondered a while more. After last night, there was really no turning back. She had to admit that things are different now.

“You start first,” she whispered.

Theo leaned back with a pleased grin. “Ask away.”

“How many women have you dated?”

He blinked at her then fell into chuckles. “You’re d*mn persistent.”

“As you are. And I’m your girlfriend, so I have the right to know,” she looked directly in his eyes.

“Of course, you do.”

She removed her hand from his grasp and folded her arms across her chest. “So?”

Theo cleared his throat, stared at the fridge and coughed, “Seventeen.”

Her eyes grew twice as large. “Oh my f*cking Lord.” Is that why he wouldn’t say it? That's a lot of women!

“It’s not a lot,” he defended himself.

Aurora frowned. “Yeah, right. Seventeen, Theo! That’s more than the number of fingers I have!”

“If you take the average from a sample size, I’m way below standard.”

“Really?” Her brows dived deeper above her nose.

“I’m serious,” he swore. “Keane’s dated thirty and Gill--.”

Her hand shot up instantly. “I don’t want to know. If I know, I'll tell Kate.”

Theo had his impish grin back. “I’m sure Kate knows.”

“Seventeen women…,” she breathed in amazement.

She’s not going to let go of this easily, he thought. Hell, why is this woman so attractive even when she’s fuming mad? He wanted to kiss her right now, but he had more important things to do.

“My turn,” Theo turned her shoulder around to face her and her expression quickly went grim. He stared at her and whispered, “I think you know what I’m about to ask.”

She nodded.

“Then why don’t you just tell me?”

Aurora inhaled deeply and exhaled lengthily. “It’s blackmail.”

“Blackmail?” Theo jolted in his seat. "Do you know who it is? How much are they asking for?”

She grabbed his elbow to calm him down. “Don’t be mad, okay? It wasn’t a stalker or the debtors. It was--.”

“A blackmail,” he kneaded his forehead. “Jeez, Aurora. Why couldn’t you tell me?”

“It was my problem, so I should solve it,” she argued. "I thought I've settled it, but they're--."

He interrupted, “I asked you so many times. Are you telling me that you were lying all this while?”

Aurora stared at Theo. She was confused. “Why are you pissed?”

Abruptly, he stood and stepped away from her.

“I’m not pissed,” he replied curtly.

She got off the stool and went up to him. “You looked pissed! I don’t understand. You said to tell the truth and I did.”

“But you just admitted that you lied to me. All this while I thought you trusted me, Aurora.”

“How could I when I barely know you!”

He rubbed his face angrily and raked his hair backwards. “You could’ve lied again this time, so why didn’t you?”

She was dumbfounded. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He paused and chuckled dryly at the ceiling. Then, he stared ahead and turned to her with a hurt expression as he said in a vexed tone, “I’ve asked you two times what was troubling you, Aurora. Two times you lied to me. It took a trade for you to tell me the truth. What does that make me?”

“It was a secret. I didn’t lie to you. I was protecting my secret,” Aurora held her chin high. She wanted to knock some sense into this man. He asked her to tell him the truth; and when she finally did, he got mad and threw a tantrum.

She glanced at the clock and realized it was already nine. Work at Madame Zoya’s will start in an hour’s time.

“I’m done talking to you,” she headed for the stairs.

“Great!” He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “This is what you do best. Change the topic and run away.”

She had taken her belongings and was coming down the stairs.

Theo rushed over to her and grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”

Aurora shot a glare at him. “Work. Unlike you, I have debts to pay. It’s up to you whether you want to believe that or not.” She pressed the button for the elevator.

“Give me a second, I’ll drive you there.”

He still sounded grouchy which irked Aurora more.

The door opened and she stepped in. “I’ll take a cab and drown myself in your stupidity. Goodbye!”

And the door closed.

“Argh!” Theo fisted the air. D*mn it, Theo! Why did you lose your temper with her?