Chapter 10- THE WEDDING

If there was ever a time that Aurora was thankful to Avena for calling her, this was the time. In the time that Avena had yelled out her name, the handsome stranger had turned his attention towards the tailor. She had hoped that he would not come after her and surely, she had not seen him again.

She had wanted to apologize to him but seeing him in the store had only made her angrier as she figured out the kind of man he might have been. From the way he spoke, he sounded Italian, at least one that has lived out of the country for quite some time.

Aurora had come across such men before; they would come back and use the local girls, whilst flaunting their money or rather, money that belonged to their parents. They were the kind of rich kids such as Avena.

'You look disturbed" Aurora turned to face Avena and quickly plastered a smile on her face. Avena was not one to care whether someone looked upset or not therefore, her comment was strange.

'Nothing, I was just thinking"

'About?" Avena asked her once more, this time not removing her eyes from the tabloid in front of her.

'Nothing, just stuff" Aurora replied sheepishly.

'Poor people problems, glad I'm not you" Avena told her. Avena's words no longer hurt Aurora, she was used to Avena's constant sly remarks that cam e quite naturally.

'Yeah, you're right"

'Oh there's a dress coming in make sure you get it" Aurora looked at Avena confused, she was not aware of an order coming in for Avena.

'You ordered another wedding dress?"

'No, I got you a bridesmaid dress. Since my parents are not going to be there, I might as well take you for moral support" Seemingly uninterested in what she was saying whilst Aurora on the other hand was excited, she was finally going to part of a wedding with high class individuals.

'Thank you" Aurora answered, not hiding her excitement whilst Avena stared at her as though she had lost her mind.

'It's just a wedding, not need to get excited about anything," She told Aurora who sat there baffled but understanding the hard choice that Avena had to make all for the sake of her parents.

The car drove them to the Russo mansion and the entire time Avena had not said a word, she had not been her usual chatty self the entire ride. Aurora had tried making conversations a few times but Avena shut down each attempt.

At the mansion, the entire house was in full swing, the preparation for the wedding was in full swing and everything had to go according to the planning that Signora Mia had left for them. No cost was spared for this wedding as Signora Mia had ordered only the best of pink and white roses to grace the interior and exterior of the property.

The wedding had gone from a big event to a very intimate wedding with just the Romano family and a few of their closest friends, the sudden adjustment had left the employees bothered by this sudden change but Aurora figured out why it was done.

Aurora placed the last of the delicacies onto the tray, when Signora Meta appeared in the kitchen.

'Good afternoon Signora Meta" Aurora greeted the house help, who had become her second mother due to the sudden passing of her mother all those years ago.

'Good day my dear, is this food for Avena?"

'Si, she wanted to have her lunch therefore she requested these foods" Aurora replied happily. Signora Meta inspected the foods on the tray and looked unsatisfied with it, setting panic within Aurora.

'Is there anything the matter?"

'Nothing, it's just that knowing Avena, she might not touch any of these foods on the tray" Signora Meta commented. She knew that signora Meta was right, often Avena would request for a list of foods, only for her to taste a piece of it and discard it.

'Yes, she might but there is nothing that I can do about it is there?" Aurora responded but Signora Meta kept looking her up and down, leaving Aurora to feel self-conscious of herself.

'What? Is there something on my face?"

'No you just seem very excited that's all"

'Shouldn't I be?" Aurora teased.

'Of course you should be happy, if there was anyone who deserved happiness, it would definitely be you. I just do not like it when your happiness involved the Russo's" Signora Meta's confession worried Aurora so much that it showed on her face.

'How so?"

'Because every time this family gives you a bit of happiness, they then snatch it from you and give it to Avena" Aurora bowed her head, she knew that signor Meta was right but there was nothing she could do other than to continue working, because after the wedding, her job at the Russo household would be over.

'I am okay with it"

'But you should not be okay with this kind of treatment, my dear if only you knew how important you truly were" Signora Meta had always encouraged her but today none of her encouragement stood a chance, the only thing she could be excited about was that she would be part of the wedding. 'I heard you are going to be Avena's bridesmaid"

'How did you know?" Aurora asked, surprised that signora Meta had found out about her exciting news.

'Well Avena had to blow her own horn by telling everyone how kind and generous she was by allowing you to attend her wedding as a bridesmaid"

'Well that is our dear Avena, alright"

'Yes it is and all of us cannot wait for her to get married and to leave this house"


**

Leonardo paced his father's home office whilst his parents looked at him. He was clearly upset and not once did he try to hide the matter from his parents, he wanted them aware of the toil this entire wedding was having on him.

'My son, it's not bad. You literally have millions of dollars that you had not touched yet" Signor Metteo tried explaining to Leonardo in defense of Avena Russo. He could not tell his parents about the pretty young and arrogant woman that had been stuck on his mind for the past two days, especially when he was set to marry someone else.

'It's not about me having money father, it is the principal that I am worried about. This is ridiculous, I am marrying a woman that I know absolutely nothing about other than what I have been hearing!" Leonardo raised his voice, the wedding was less than a day away but it seemed as though with every passing hour, there were new demands from the Russo family.

'You should stop listening to rumors" his father stood up from his office chair.

'I doubt that those are rumors when the entire Sicily hates her because she is a snob, I have not heard one person say anything nice about her" Leonardo tried to get it through his parents head but they were adamant that Avena was the perfect bride for him.

'Just meet her and get to know her first" his mother stood next to him, holding Leonardo by his arm and looking into his eyes as her own eyes watered. Leonardo rolled his eyes as he realized that once more his mother was about to start crying. He was well aware of her tactics to getting his sympathy.

'By the time I get to know her, we will be married and it will be too late mother" he removed himself from his mother's hold and walked towards the window. Out there, he could see the farmers gathering the grapes needed for the crushing for the wines.

'Son, I think that you are overreacting, she is not that bad. You cannot blame the girl, she was raised with a lot of money around her" his father tried to explain and the more they talked, the more frustrated Leonardo got.

'So her sending me a list of things she would need once we got married is not a red flag in a marriage?" he asked both his parents sarcastically.

'What's wrong with a girl wanting the good life, we can afford to give her more than her parent are giving her. Besides, you need a girl like that to keep you away from those kids"

'Father, leave my students out of this, we are speaking about Avena and not them"

'I just do not want people all over Sicily to come and see me marrying that brat"

'No need to worry about that, the guest list has been shortened in the wake of Avena's parents not being at the wedding. We will still have a big celebration once they are back"

'From jail?"

'Do not say that Leonardo" his mother snapped at him but like always, he did not care.

'Mother can we stop pretending that the reason the Russo's had to leave was because they were in trouble with the law, once again"

'You do not know that" his father chimed in.

'Please father, save it. I am well aware of what the Russo's are capable of thank you very much" Leonardo argued, remembering all the confirmed cases of the Russo family's criminal activities.

'My son, you are being too much, all they want is quiet wedding" Signora Carina Romano told her son as she tried to calm him down once more.

'Mother this family is demanding too much from us and now this!"

'Carina, control your son!" Signor Metteo told his wife, who looked scared as the seconds went by. She tried calming both her son and husband but it seemed as though neither of them were willing to listen to anything she had to say.

'Enough!" signora Carina raised her voice, both father and son stood still, surprised that she had shouted at them both. Signora Carina reached for the chair as she was about to collapse but thanks to Leonardo's quick thinking, he caught her before she fell to the ground.

'Mother, mother, please wake up!" Leonardo called out to his mother, her eyes half opened and she murmured something.

'Say something" he repeated as his mother came too, while his father stood behind him as though this situation did not warrant rapid action. Leonardo walked his mother to the nearby chair in which she sat. Her sad eyes met that of Leonardo's worrisome eyes and the two of them simply stared at one another.

'Please my son, just do this one thing for me. All I want is for you to marry Avena Russo, that would make me the happiest woman in the world" his mother words although soft spoken had left a loud impression on him.

He gulped down the last of his resistance and nodded at his mother in agreement, seeing her deteriorating state was enough to set Leonardo straight.

'Come tomorrow morning, I will marry the Russo's daughter at any cost" he promised his mother. Even though she was weak, senora Carina smiled at her son.