Chapter 189: A Cozy Little Family Breakfast.
Aurora’s POV
A sliver of sunlight stabbed straight through the gap in the curtains, landing directly on my face.
I groaned and rolled over, burying my head under the pillow.
Maybe if I stayed here long enough, breakfast would just… happen without me.
Unfortunately, Annie’s voice ruined that fantasy.
“You’re awake,” she mumbled from the other bed, her hair a wild halo around her head.
“Or at least your body is. Your soul is clearly still dead.”
I peeled the pillow away just enough to glare at her.
“Ugh… I wish I didn’t have to see his face this morning during breakfast. But of course there’s always that tradition where we all have to eat together every morning.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Really?”
I nodded, my voice flat. “Yes, Annie. The whole family will be downstairs for breakfast.”
She tilted her head, her mouth twitching like she already knew the answer but wanted to hear me say it again.
“You mean… the whole family like… the whole family?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Annie. Everyone will be there. Including Gabriel.”
Her reaction was instant. She shot upright, flung the covers back, and bolted for the bathroom.
Seconds later, she reappeared, toothbrush sticking out of her mouth, toothpaste foam threatening to drip.
“Thenweeneedtohurrry,” she mumbled around it.
I groaned again, dragging the pillow from my lap and tossing it back on the bed.
But her urgency was contagious, and eventually, I swung my legs over the side.
My feet hit the floor with a thud, and I shuffled toward the bathroom, still half-asleep and already dreading the moment Alessandro and I would have to lock eyes across the breakfast table.
Annie was already leaning over the sink when I stepped in, vigorously scrubbing like her life depended on it.
She caught my reflection in the mirror, toothpaste foam on her lip, and raised a brow.
“You look like someone who’s going to walk into that dining room and explode,” she said, her words muffled by the brush in her mouth.
I grabbed my toothbrush from the cup and started squeezing toothpaste onto it.
“Exploding is tempting.”
She pointed her brush at me mid-scrub.
“Don’t. Act cool. Like… arctic glacier cool.”
I started brushing.
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to sit across from the man who—” I cut myself off, my mouth too full of foam to finish.
Annie grinned around her brush. “The man who asked that question last night?”
I glared at her in the mirror but didn’t answer. She spat into the sink and rinsed her mouth.
“Yeah, I thought so.”
I leaned over to rinse too, spitting hard. “I don’t get it, Annie. He knows how I feel about him.
Why would he even—”
“Because,” she interrupted, flicking her fingers like it was obvious, “men panic.
They get insecure, jealous, territorial… even the good ones. Sometimes especially the good ones.”
I made a face at my reflection.
“Great. So I just sit there, smile, and pretend I’m not thinking about how much I want to throw a plate at him?”
She dabbed her mouth with a towel, smirking.
“Exactly. But make it the sexy kind of pretending.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for my hairbrush. “You’re impossible.”
“No,” she said with a little laugh, “I’m brilliant.
Because while you’re busy being an iceberg at breakfast, he’s going to be sitting there wondering what’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours. And trust me, that’ll drive him insane.”
I met her gaze in the mirror, my lips twitching despite myself.
“You’re evil.”
“Evil works,” she shrugged. “Now hurry. The sooner we get down there, the sooner we get this over with.”
****
We left the room together, Annie walking like she was on a runway, me trailing behind with my stomach in knots.
Each step toward the dining room felt like heading into a courtroom where I was both the defendant and the guilty verdict.
The low hum of voices reached us before we even stepped in.
I paused at the doorway.
Alessandro was already there seated at the far end of the table, sunlight streaming in behind him, hair a little too perfect for this early hour. His gaze flicked up the moment I appeared.
We locked eyes.
For a heartbeat, no one else existed. Not the clinking of cutlery, not Gabriel’s deep laugh rumbling from across the table, not Annie nudging me in the ribs.
Just that sharp, silent connection that sent a shiver down my spine.
I looked away first.
Annie slid into a seat without hesitation, immediately striking up conversation with Gabriel like she hadn’t just threatened me with “arctic glacier cool.”
I sat across from Alessandro, carefully placing my napkin on my lap. My fingers gripped the fabric harder than they needed to.
He spoke first, low, almost hesitant.
“Morning.”
I forced a polite smile. “Morning.”
And just like that, the air between us thickened, the unspoken question from last night hanging there like smoke, impossible to ignore.
I reached for the glass of water in front of me, just to have something to do with my hands.
“Sleep well?”
Alessandro’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “Eventually.”
That was not the answer I wanted.
“Good for you.” I took a sip, willing myself to keep my tone neutral.
Across the table, Gabriel smirked like he was in on some private joke.
“You two sound like an old married couple.”
Annie nearly choked on her toast. “More like a divorced couple forced to share a holiday timeshare,” she said, grinning at me.
I kicked her under the table. “Eat your breakfast.”
She winced but kept smiling. “Touchy.”
Alessandro’s fork scraped against his plate as he cut into his eggs, but his gaze kept drifting back to me.
“You didn’t answer my question from last night.”
The room seemed to go quieter, or maybe it was just my pulse drowning everything else out.
“That’s because I didn’t feel like answering it.”
Rafael's brows rose.
“Ooh. What question was this?”
“None of your business,” I said quickly.
“Exactly,” Alessandro added, his tone sharp enough to slice through the conversation.
Gabriel cleared his throat like he was trying to change the subject.
“Aurora, pass the jam?”
I slid it toward him without looking away from Alessandro.
“You seem… tense this morning,” I murmured, keeping my voice low so only he could hear.
He leaned forward slightly. “And you seem determined to pretend nothing happened.”
My lips curved in the faintest smile. “Maybe I am.”
His jaw tightened. “That’s dangerous.”
I tilted my head, feigning innocence. “For who?”
He didn’t answer. Just kept looking at me like he was trying to read every thought I had.
Alessandro’s gaze bore into me, that unnerving way he had of seeing right through every carefully built wall even the ones I swore were impenetrable.
My heart pounded, every nerve screaming, but I forced my lips into a tight, controlled line.
Just then, a voice sliced through the thick silence, smooth and dripping with false sweetness.
“Awww… what a cozy little family breakfast.”
Heads turned sharply toward the doorway.
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