Chapter 28- DISTRACTION

After sitting nearly two hours in the bathroom, Aurora unlocked the door and she smiled at the sight before her. Leonardo had kept to his word as she saw him lying right at the door, sleeping.

Whether he was truly sorry about what he said, Aurora had no way of knowing, she was only married to him for a little under a week and so far their marriage was far from what one would call perfect.

She leaned onto the door frame and observed the man that was now her husband after only meeting on their wedding day. Aurora crossed her hands over her chest and watched the rise and fall of his chest, his eyes shut tight giving way to his tired body.

She tried to reach for him, in an effort to wake him up but she stopped herself. Touching Leonardo was something that she hated doing, the electrical pulse that she had felt once she had touched him a while back was enough a lesson for her.

The feel of his hands on her had awoken something in her that Aurora had never felt, something that felt so good yet so bad at the same time. She needed to keep her distance from him, husband or not.

She forced a smile one last time and walked away, only for her leg to be held back and when she looked it was Leonardo. He held her leg and his eyes opened, smiling at her. Seeing Leonardo on the floor, holding onto her leg and smiling sent a chilling feeling running inside of Aurora.

'I knew that eventually you would step out of the bathroom" his voice calm as he looked at her.

'Please let go of my leg" Aurora told him in a less than kind tone of voice.

'What would you do if I do not adhere to what you are asking of me?" he dared her, the smile on his face, a constant reminder that he could get under her skin.

'I will scream" She threatened him.

'Please scream, I mean we are married after all. I mean everyone in the mansion would assume that we are having—"

'Enough! Do not say that" she yelled at him, her pupils widened at the thought of what he was about to say. Her face reddened with embarrassment whilst Leonardo seemed unfazed by what he was about to say.

'Okay" he told her, letting go of her leg and acting as though the entire incident had not occurred. She watched him stand up from his seat on the floor and carefully walked towards her whilst she stepped back every time until her back hit the wall.

'What are— are you doing?" her words shaky as she tried to get the last of it out of her mouth.

'I am a lot of things but I am not what you think I am, I apologize for what I said earlier and it was not my intention. You are not my mother's sitter and you are not responsible for her. Once again, I apologize"

Aurora stood with her back against the wall, speechless. She watched Leonardo grab a pillow, sheet and took his place on the couch. He shut his eyes as though the earlier events had not occurred.

She turned around, readying herself to go to bed. Even as she rolled back the sheets, removed the multiple pillows from her bed, she could not help but to think about all that Leonardo had said to her.

'The more you think about what I said, you won't have any sleep" she turned, just at the right time to see Leonardo's lips move but his eyes stayed shut, the entire time he spoke.

'I thought you had gone to sleep already?"

'How can I sleep when my wife is angry with me?" She froze as Leonardo referred to him as his wife even though their marriage was far from convenient.

'Goodnight" she told him and got into her bed to sleep.

**
'That over there is Lady Marquees, she owns a ranch and they have the biggest supply of cattle in Dallas" her mother in-law informed her even though Aurora was half listening, her conversation with Leonardo had bothered her the entire time that they were seated in yet another high end function reserved for the rich.

'Avena"

'Yes—mother" she answered, stunned by how loud her mother in-law had called out to her.

'I was talking to you and you seem to be elsewhere—oh no"

'What mother?"

'What did my son say to you, did he do something?" Signora Carina quizzed her daughter in-law and Aurora flashed a smile.

'No, he did nothing. I was just thinking of things I guess" she lied. Lies were becoming a part of her everyday life and the more she lied, the more she engulfed herself in more trouble.

'I will be right back, there's the Count, I need to speak to him about some of our wines" Aurora nodded her head and watched her mother in-law walk away from her, while she sat on the spot, admiring an art piece that she herself could not figure out.

'Honestly, I dread these types of events" Aurora turned her head only to find that it was Cory standing beside her, holding a glass of Champaign while smiling down at her.

'Cory, it's you!" Aurora stood up from her chair, smiling but not really knowing what to do next. As always, Cory had a smile on his face that reached his steel grey eyes that could pierce into the soul of the one looking into them.

'Can I at least hug you or am I banned from touching the daughter in-law of the Romano family?" he teased her, earning him a smile from Aurora.

'I am sure that you can hug me" she told him, almost immediately, Cory leaned in to hug her. His hands wrapped around her tightly, yet so comfortably. The smell of his spicy cologne traveled through her nostrils, easing her. As soon as Cory pulled away from her, the feeling of comfort left along with him.

'You're so different" he told her. Cory's face was serious, leaving Aurora to feel worried that she might have said something wrong.

'Did I say something wrong?" she nervously asked him and was surprised to see Cory flash a smile at her.

'No you did not say anything wrong, you are too beautiful to do anything wrong. It's just that when I hugged you, you were so warm unlike some of these other people that I have hugged today. They are so dead" he joked and Aurora laughed.

'Why are you this funny?" she asked him whilst trying to maintain her composure and not to spill her drink.

'Well when you live in a boring ass town like this, you have to make the best of what you have" he told her, turning to face the very art piece that she had been looking at a while ago. 'Isn't art amazing?" he asked, Aurora not really knowing what to say, so she smiled.

'I guess" she answered nervously, after a moment filled with silence.

'Well I hate it and every other art piece here, if you know what I mean"

'Cory!" she playfully slapped his arm and he pretended as though it hurt him.

'Ouch!"

'Oh! I did not even hit you that hard"

'It's not the punch that hurts… it's the hideous art pieces that caught my eye" Cory continued joking whilst Aurora looked around if anyone had heard Cory insult the art gallery's pieces.

'You are so mean, where is your grandmother by the way?"

'Oh she's somewhere, with her rich friends" he told her, his tone of voice with a hint of salt.

'You sound like you don't like your grandmother being around—I don't know, all this" Aurora pointed to all the art pieces. She watched as Cory's face changed, discomfort washed over his face like a wave of sadness.

'You wouldn't understand" Cory swirled the wine in his glass and looked at it.

'Maybe I would understand, let's go outside and talk. I hope you won't mind?" Aurora offered, as though she had waved a magic wound, Cory lit up like a Christmas tree.

'Sure, it would be nice to get out of this atmosphere" Cory replied. Both Aurora and Cory walked out of the gallery and into the open parking lot, where exclusive cars parked, another sign of what rich men and women drive.

'Would you like coming with me to the pond?"

'There's a pond around here?" She asked him and Cory smiled.

'This is Dallas, there's bound to be a lake or a pond somewhere. Come on, let's go" He reached out his hand and Aurora took it. Both Cory and Aurora ran past the driveway and over the hill, away from prying eyes.

'Here we are!" Cory told her, spreading his hands out as though he were ready to hug the wind as he presented her to the pond.

Aurora stared at the pond in awe because it was beautiful indeed. The sunlight bounced of the water making it look as though the water itself glowed, the white ducks swam freely with no signs of predators in sight and the frog noises loud enough to reach the human ear, giving it the fairytale feeling that it deserved.

'It's beautiful and its hidden here behind all the cars and junk"

'Yes it is, while all of them are impressed with expensive paintings, here we have nature giving us the best view of everything for free" his words were plain but anyone with a careful ear could hear that there was more to what Cory was saying.

'I can tell that you are not fond of those people inside"

'Funny isn't it? Out of everyone, you noticed" he laughed, pain flashed before his eyes.

Do not open up, you do not know him. Aurora kept thinking to herself.

'I too hate this atmosphere, the splashing money on meaningless things when there are poor people in the world" Aurora blurted out and immediately shut her mouth. The real Avena Russo would never worry about the poor, she had always loved the good life and art galleries were a way to highlight her family's wealth.
Cory looked at her, studying her so much that Aurora kept thinking that her cover was blown, so she looked away.

'Please don't do that"

'Do what?" she asked him, as her back still faced him.

'Look away, especially when you have such pretty eyes" his compliment had surprised Aurora, other than her mother, no one had reminded her that she had pretty eyes to begin with.
Still refusing to face Cory, fearing that he might see that she was indeed shy because of what he had said to her.

'It's always the beautiful souls who hide who they truly are and the hideous monsters on the inside that do all the flashing"