Chapter 31- THE VIEW

The car ride was smooth, her window slightly opened, allowing the cool wind to blow through. Even though his eyes was on the road, from his peripheral vision Leonardo could see that Aurora was smiling.

Her curly hair even though tied back, blew as the wind caressed her. His emotional outburst had been unexpected and sitting having breakfast with his family and acting as though nothing was wrong had been eating him up.

The drive was definitely what he needed and who better to go with him than his new wife. He turned into the corner, off the asphalt road and onto the gravel road.

'The road's a bit bumpy, don't you think?" she asked him but Leonardo smiled, his attention still on the road ahead of him.

'I promise you, it will all be worth the wait" he answered her and for the next ten minutes the pair drove in silence until they reached a rusted gate with the sign ‘keep out' written on it. Leonardo walked out of his car, leaving
Aurora in the car. Lost and confused, she watched him unlock the gate, run back into the car and drove into the piece of land, down the gravel road.

'The sign said to keep out" she remind him, her voice shaky as she was unsure of where they were headed.

'Yeah that sign has been there forever"

'But won't we get arrested?"

'Nope, old man Bernie wouldn't mind us being here. In fact, he would probably be glad that I am back here" he reassured her but Aurora still felt uneasy until her eyes lit up.

Leonardo stopped the car and right in front of them was a paddock, the wooden enclosures surrounding its wood were already decaying and even the people's stands looked unkempt.

'What is this place?" Aurora asked in awe of its unkempt beauty.

'This is the oldest and best place in town, I used to come here when I was younger to watch them train horses and hold shows" he explained but stopped, his eyes looking into the distant memory that held almost all his best memories.

'Leonardo!"

'Yes" he slowly turned to face Aurora who had been calling him for quite some time.

'I was— never mind, you were somewhere else"

'Come, let me show you around" he exited the car and before Aurora could open the door for herself, Leonardo was already there being the gentleman that he was and unlocking the door for her.

She looked up at him and flashed a smile, not understanding why he was in such as cheerful mood that morning. She walked out of the car, her pumps digging into the sand.

'Come with me" he took hold of her hand and walked her towards the back of the property and they stopped,
Aurora's eyes widened as she saw that not too far away was a horse tied to a tree. Still amazed at the beauty of the horse, she turned her attention towards Leonardo who in turn was looking back at her.

'He is so beautiful"

'I don't think Thunder would appreciate you calling her a he" Aurora placed her hand over her mouth from the embarrassment as Leonardo walked towards the horse. The horse knew that Leonardo was there, she began squealing and groaning as she paced the same spot sounding awfully excited about seeing Leonardo.

'She seems to like you"

'Of course she does, I purchased her right about the time she was about to be sent to the slaughter house" His response had come as a surprise to Aurora as she had never pictured Leonardo as a horse kind of man.

Aurora watched in silence as Leonardo walked towards the eagerly excited horse as soon as he touched her, she groaned more and rubbed her head on his back. Not understanding her actions but as she stood not too far from them, her hands hugging herself, she wished that Leonardo had embraced her as he was embracing the horse before.

Stop being ridiculous Aurora, you are not here to fall in love. You are a liar remember? Her mind taunted her once more, reminding her that this was all a façade and when the time came; she would have to hand over this life back to the one that it belonged to, the real Avena Russo.

'Avena, won't you come and stroke her. I promise, Thunder doesn't bite" he reassured her but even as she looked into the black horse's marbles eyes, she was scared.

'I don't think so, she doesn't look like she likes me very much" she teased.

'Nah… she's just not used to strangers that's all. Thunder you're not a bad girl right?" Leonardo spoke to his horse a little more, the more he spoke the more exited the horse got.

'So what kind of horse is she?"

'She's a black stallion, Texan bred-Arabian. Her previous owner lost all his money due to some gambling debt. When Thunder's mother was sold, there was no place for her to go"

'So you brought her" she finished his sentence for him, an action which earned her another smile from Leonardo.

'Yes I did and for a great bargain too"

'How much? If you don't mind me asking"

'I think it was roughly one point five million" he answered, his response coming out smooth as though the amount was not such a big deal. 'Is there anything wrong with what I said?" he asked her, concern laced in both his face and voice.

'That is a lot of money, where did you get all that money?" Aurora told him, flabbergasted that he was speaking about such a large amount of money as though it were nothing to him.

'My grandparents left me a fortune, most of that fortune I have not even touched. Why are you so surprised, didn't you grandparents leave you an inheritance?" Leonardo asked her but then he shut his mouth as he remembered that Aurora was adopted.

'My apologies Avena, I forgot that you were—"

'No need to apologize, anyone can make that mistake. I would like to see the rest of the property" She quickly changed the subject to avoid the awkwardness between them.
Leonardo placed one last kiss onto Thunder's nose, made his way towards her and smiled.

'After you" he let her walk towards the inner parts of the property. The entire time they walked viewing the property, Leonardo's words lingered in her mind.
Of course, her grandparents had not left her any family fortune, as her mother had never spoken about her own parents, all her life it had only been her mother and her.

'That's the barn… it needs a bit of fixing and then it would be as good as new"

'Whose property is this, if I may ask?"

'It belongs to old man Bernie, he use to breed horses in his glory days but then suddenly it all ended. Come over here, look there" Leonardo pointed his index finger at the small ranch house.

Aurora was not shocked to find that the exterior of the house matched the properties look; the house was small with a front porch, grey paint falling off and the wood decaying.

'I know it doesn't look like much and not what you are used to but it is one of the few places where I feel most at home" Leonardo's admission had come as shock to her.

From what she knew, Leonardo was the heir to a billion dollar fortune and a house like this did not suit what a man like him would like. Even as Aurora looked at the house, she was not one bit disgusted, as it was better than anything that she and her mother had ever lived in.

Both of them walked over to the house, climbed onto the porch and just then, the door swung open. This action, causing Aurora to fall back and landing in Leonardo's arm, their eyes once more were locking into each other's.

'Dang! don't you two love birds look lovely together!" both Leonardo and Aurora turned to face the old bearded man standing at the door. Aurora quickly wiggled out of Leonardo's arms, looking up at the older man not believing how tall he was.

'Avena, this here is Old man Bernie" She turned her head to face Leonardo as he introduced the older man to her.

'I promise, I don't bite" Old man Bernie leaned in and whispered to Aurora, who surprisingly reached out her hand, to shake old man Bernie's hand.

'Hello, my name is A—Avena Romano and it is my pleasure to meet you" Old man Bernie looked at her hand, studying it. To her surprise, old man Bernie reached out to hug her.

His hug so tight, almost squeezing the life out of her but the smell coming from his body smelt nice and manly. Like oak wood and musk fragrance. He let her go and from her side eyes, Aurora could see that Leonardo had been trying to contain his laugh but was failing at it miserably.

'You were right, she is beautiful" old man Bernie turned to face Leonardo as he spoke about Aurora. The smile on Leonardo's face faded as his face turned red with embarrassment. Leonardo turned to face Aurora and he winked at her.

'He's just kidding" he whispered at her.

'So you are saying that I am not beautiful?" she asked him, hiding her smile as to fool Leonardo. The color on his face faded and he looked as though he was truly sorry.

'I did not mean it, I—I" he tried explaining but Aurora lightly slapped against his arm and smiled.

'I'm just kidding with you" she told him, just in time to see his face relax.

'I love seeing two people in love" Old man Bernie told them, both Aurora and Leonardo turned their heads to look at him as their pupils widened. 'Come on inside you two, I have prepared some food!" he told them. Bernie was just as loud as his personality in the way that he welcomed both Leonardo and Aurora.

Upon entering into the house Aurora smiled as joy filled her heart, the run down exterior of the home was nothing like the interior as it boasted of old school décor.

The fine food floors solid beneath her feet, shining as it displayed its shiny well-varnished floors. The couches in the living room boasted of a chocolate, high-grade leather and the carpet below fine black fur and to tie the entire living room together, the brick fire place.

'Like it?" Bernie turned to face Aurora with a smile on his face as he asked her. With glimmer and shine in her eye, Aurora looked at Bernie with a smile on her face.

'Your house looks beautiful, can I look around?" she asked and with a nod of agreement from Bernie. Aurora took the liberty of looking around the house, the walls and the pictures of an older woman smiling.

'That's why wife, she died many years ago but just looking at her pictures makes my day" Bernie spoke from behind Aurora, she felt the strings of her heart pull and sadness replaced the warm feeling she once felt.

'My condolences for your loss, I am sure you loved her" Aurora asked, running her fingers over the photo.

'Thank you but she is a better place right now, I am sure that the angels are singing and welcoming her home right now" Bernie told her with cheer in his tone of voice.