Chapter 43: In Which Her Ex Wants Her Back

Will moved forward in his seat, “What I’m saying is, leave Aurora alone, she’s mine.”

Theo leaned forward as well and gave him a cold smile, “What I meant was, Mr. Fisher, what makes you think I should listen to you? Who the f*ck do you think you are?”

The reality of his words smacked hard on Will’s face. Theo saw the fear in his eyes and smirked. It was all just an act, he thought and downed the last gulp of his whiskey.

He stood and muttered harshly, “I suggest you stay in the past, Mr. Fisher. Let Aurora move on from the pain you’ve caused her.” With that, he strode past the slimeball.

Will tried to stop him and blurted, “You will cause her even greater pain if she stays with you, Mr. Barone." The voice sounded concerned.

Theo halted in his footsteps. Don’t listen to him, his mind warned, just go.

But, Theo couldn’t let it go. He wanted to give that f*ckface a piece of his mind.

As he turned back, Will added with a tiny smile, “No matter how hard you try, Mr. Barone, Aurora doesn’t belong in your world and the longer she stays in it, the more she’ll suffer.”

Theo gripped his fists tight. D*mn these slimeballs, they always know to strike where it hits the hardest.

Sensing that his words were taking effect in the young billionaire, the con man stepped closer to him, “Aurora and I, we’re from the same world. We understand each other. Do her a favor, Mr. Barone. Let her go. Give her back to me.”

Theo relaxed his hands and chuckled, “That was a really good speech, Mr. Fisher.” He lifted his gaze and sniggered at the worm, “How long did you practice it?”

Will watched on, half-confused and half-frustrated as Theo chuckled before wiping the tears of laughter from the corner of his eyes.

Theo straightened, shoved both hands into his pockets and flashed his impish grin, “You almost got me there.” His grin vanished as he took threatening steps towards the ex-boyfriend.

He glared at the pretty boy and growled in a low, solid voice, “You f*cking piece of sh*t. Keep that understanding for yourself. Aurora will decide which world she wants to be in. She’s a million times more capable than you think.”

Will frowned, “You think you’re so great, Theo Barone. Well, you only know half of the real Aurora." He paused and added, “I bet she didn’t tell you that she had embezzled funds from her family business.”

Theo shook his head in disbelief, “I can’t believe I’m saying this. She did tell me, Mr. Fisher. Goodbye.” He turned to leave again.

“But you didn’t know why she did it or who she did it for.”

Theo froze. That son of a b*tch is good, he dropped his gaze and scolded silently.

Again, Theo ignored the tiny voice in his head and turned back to the grinning sly fox.

Will took in a deep breath to savor his moment of victory. Then, a smug look appeared on his face as he stared at Theo, “She did it for me. It was all for me. She loved me so much, she was willing to sacrifice everything she had for me…”

Theo gripped his fists in his pockets as Audrey’s words echoed in his ears. She was right - he couldn’t take it once he learned about it.

It would be less painful if Aurora had told him before this a*shole did.

Why didn’t she?


******


When Theo returned to the room, Aurora was asleep.

But the lights were on.

Theo stepped towards the bed and, for a long while, studied the beautiful woman sleeping peacefully in front of him.

She could sleep with the lights on now, he thought with a weak smile.

As if in a trance, he sat near her and brushed his knuckles lightly across the satin skin of her cheeks. Slowly, he lowered his lips and kissed her forehead.

"Theo…" a dreamy whisper escaped her lips.

Theo frowned. He should be angry with her for lying to him again. But it would mean being away from her and that sounded worse.

God, what should he do with this woman?

He was thinking about the hundredth way to pleasure Aurora into revealing the truth when his phone buzzed him back to reality.

With a sigh, he held up his phone and saw a text from the hacker he hired a few days ago.

He wasn't having luck with the PI, so he quickly made the switch, especially after he had seen and deleted the last blackmail text.

Hacker: Found the address of the source and the list of people living in the building.

Theo: Thanks. Payment will be made ASAP.

Theo opened the attachment and scrolled through the names. A familiar name caught his eye and then everything came to light.


******


Theo was not in the room when Aurora woke up the next morning.

Last night, he went out for a few drinks and she fell asleep waiting for him to return.

She expected to wake up in his arms, but he wasn’t in bed. His side was cold and empty. She checked her phone and saw his text.

Theo: Gone for golf. Be back for lunch.

"Humph," she pouted, already missing him. What should she do until lunch?

She would think about it as she washed up. By the time she arrived at the dining hall for breakfast, she still hadn't decided.

As she slowly chewed on her bagel, the beach caught her eyes. That's it, she made up her mind, she would stroll along the beach again and take some photos for Trish.

"There you are! Thank God!"

Aurora looked up at Kate beaming down at her.

Kate grabbed her hand anxiously, "Aurora, we need your help!"

Aurora swallowed and responded, "What is it Kate?"

"We engaged a psychic to do tarot reading for tomorrow's ball, but he was down with a bad case of food poisoning," Kate explained frantically.

"Oh no," Aurora winced. Food poisoning is the worst to endure. "I hope he's alright."

"His condition has stabilized, but we need a replacement and no one is willing to take this up at the last minute," Kate paused to sit in front of Aurora and continued, "Audrey suggested that I ask you."

Audrey? Aurora widened her gaze at the princess. That doesn't sound good, she remarked silently, remembering the threat she received at Madame Zoya’s. What if this was part of her scheme?

But, it’s just a harmless tarot card reading. What can she do? Steal your tarot cards? Aurora almost laughed at her silliness.

Sensing Aurora's hesitation, Kate leaned in and spoke earnestly, “I understand the bad blood between you two, but she was only trying to help me when she mentioned your name.”

“I’d think so too,” Aurora smiled. That b*tch wouldn’t jeopardize her best friend’s efforts for her own revenge, right? With a light exhale, she took Kate’s hands and squeezed it assuringly, “Don’t worry, Kate. I’ll help.”

“Oh my God! Thank you, Aurora!” Kate stood and rushed forward to hug the redhead fortune-teller. “I’ll go apologize to Theo for taking you away tomorrow night. But I’ll definitely get Gill to pay you well.”

Aurora chuckled, “I'm not worried about that.”

Even if Audrey were to steal the tarot cards, she could still change to palm reading.