Chapter 38- MOON

'I saw your wife sir" Leonardo turned around, facing the tiny female waiter in front of him. He released a breath of relief as he was informed about his wife's whereabouts, even as he walked through the corridor and up the long stairs, Leonardo could not help but expect the worse of the situation.

**

Cory swung open the door to reveal what was before them; Aurora's hands covered her mouth in shock. Her pupils grew wider at what she was seeing. Right before her was a balcony with the most breathtakingly sight of the full moon that she had ever set her eyes on.

Without even seeing him, Aurora could feel Cory's presence behind her.

'I brought you here because I remember that even though you were not enthusiastic about the art gallery, you were impressed with the painting of the moon" she spun around, looking into Cory's eyes as the moon reflected onto them and she smiled.

'That is so thoughtful of you, I did not expect it" She told him, as she held her hand over her chest as her heart beat a thousand beats per second.

'Yeah… I know. I just thought that I could do something special for you, seeing that you are new and your husband is… never mind" Cory stopped himself but even before he could finish his sentence Aurora knew what he wanted to say.

Her face softened as she looked at Cory, who had his hands in his pockets and looking at the moon instead of her.

'He's not that bad, he's a good man. Leonardo and I just need to get to know one another better" she explained. Cory removed his gaze from the moon and rested his eyes on Aurora and once again, his breath was taken away by Aurora's stark beauty and he laughed lightly.

'You are speaking as though you don't know him, like you just got married to him without knowing him" Cory laughed, Aurora's face went pale.

Even as Cory joked about her predicament, unknowingly, it had still hurt Aurora because the truth of the matter was that, she really did not know Leonardo that well. Noticing the sudden discomfort, Cory rushed to her side, placed his hands beneath her chin and lifted her head so that she was looking up at him.

'I am sorry, I did not mean to upset you" Cory apologized, his face filled with remorse.

'No, it is not your fault. I was just thinking of something, that's all" Aurora put up a fake smile. There was no use telling Cory about her personal problems.

'If you are done comforting my wife in my absence, can I please have her back now?" Aurora stepped back from Cory as soon as she heard Leonardo's voice.

With Cory's height and broad shoulders, he obstructed Aurora's view of Leonardo until Cory turned to face him. Leonardo's eyes held a murderous stare as he stood at the entrance.

'Good evening old friend" Cory greeted Leonardo, hoping to break the tension that filled the balcony. Even as she stood next to Cory, Leonardo had not once acknowledged her presence, which only increased her worry.

'I do not remember us being friends, but if you feel that we are friends, I am not one to stop people from believing in their delusions" his words slit Aurora like a knife, Leonardo was clearly upset and not even Cory's comradely could ease the tension.

Clearly irritated by Cory's presence, Leonardo walked onto the balcony with them. He walked past Cory, nearly pushing him out of the way and stopped in front of Aurora. She lifted her head and looked at him in the eyes, waiting for him to say something cynical.

'We have to leave" Leonardo told her frankly.

'Sure" she answered, not wanting to argue with him over anything anymore.

'I was just showing her the full moon and how beautiful it looks, something you should be doing but—"

'Do not tell me how to treat my wife!"

'Then maybe you should care for her then she would not have been ridiculed the way she was downstairs! Everyone knows who your family is and for you to leave your wife like that, alone is embarrassing" Aurora stared in shock as both men went in on each other in a war of words.

'You are the last person who should speak about how to treat a woman… or are we going to forget about Rhea?" Leonardo asked Cory and his face changed. Never had she seen Cory angry but now as he was reddening in anger and Aurora was getting restless with every passing second.

'Don't you ever speak about Rhea" Cory warned him and pointed his index finger at Leonardo who raised his eyebrows, not shaken by Cory's warning.

'Can you two please stop!" she yelled loud enough so that both men turned their attention to her. She looked at both men and all of a sudden, she was speechless and breathing heavily.

'Aurora, let's go home" Leonardo told her, before dragging her away from the balcony. As she walked past Cory, Aurora mouthed an apology in which Cory smiled.

Walking down the steps and through the corridor, Leonardo had loosened his grip on her hand but he chose not to say a word to Aurora and she in return kept quiet too. They walked out of the party without informing anyone and as they got to their car, parked in the parking lot, Leonardo unlocked his door.

'Get in" he ordered her, his reaction prompted Aurora to look at him with shock written over her face so much that she slammed the door shut.

'Don't you ever order me like that!" she yelled at him and not once did Leonardo flinch, rather he slowly unlocked the passenger door once more.

'If you do not get in, I will drive off without you and it's a long walk back home" Leonardo told her and looking into Aurora's eyes as though he was daring her.

Fed up with his behavior and her blood boiling in her veins, she slammed the door once more. Without thinking of her actions, Aurora turned on her heel and began walking away from him.

Leonardo could not believe that Aurora was walking away from him and into the darkness, he was well aware that his wife was stubborn but seeing her walk away into the dark, unbothered, her actions had Leonardo realizing just how fierce she truly was.

He watched her walk away from his car, hoping that she would change her mind and turn back to him, but the more he waited, the further she walked and the more worried he got.

'This woman is so stubborn" he gritted through his teeth.
**

If Aurora could count all the times that's she had made terrible choices, this moment would be one of them. She had looked back a couple of times and still, Leonardo stood leaning his back on his car watching her walk away.

'Stupid man" she spoke to herself, hugging herself as the cold Dallas wind rammed against her skin. With every step she took, her feet hurt.

'Why am I even wearing high heels in the first place?" She asked herself, quickly kneeling down, removing her shoes and choosing to walk bare feet instead. On so many occasions she had wanted to turn back but her pride would not allow her lose to Leonardo.

His arrogance towards her had pushed Aurora to her limit; no longer would she allow Leonardo and his family to walk over her like they have been for nearly three weeks. Hugging herself, she continued walking, her cold feet hugging the cold pavement and sending chills through her body.

Her hair blew uncontrollably in the wind, slapping her face multiple times, as she walked. Her head began hurting as the throbbing pain shot through her head, weakening her at every step she took.

Honk, honk!

She jumped up in fear, turning around only to have the bright lights of the headlamps blind her; she quickly rushed to cover her eyes.

Realizing his mistake, Leonardo turned off the headlights and exited his car. He had spent his time, waiting for Aurora to come back, certain that she would indeed come back seeing as the weather had worsened.

He had stared at his watch, it had been nearly twenty minutes since Aurora had walked out on him; he got worried seeing that she had on a dress and no jacket to protect her from the terrible weather. Grabbing his car keys, Leonardo drove out looking for his stubborn wife.

He looked nearly everywhere until he spotted her walking on the sidewalk in the cover of darkness, holding onto herself as though her life depended on it. He honked his horn and almost smiled when she jumped up in fear.

The streets were silent and no one was in sight, more proof that his wife was a brave woman who did not allow the empty streets of Dallas to scare her one bit.

Now he stood before her, whilst she still covered her face as though his headlights were still turned on.

'Are you some kind of vampire?" he asked her and tried his best at keeping a straight face the entire time that he asked her. Aurora removed her hand from her face and she saw Leonardo standing in front of her and looking down at her. The blood in her body began boiling as she thought of how he had treated her at the function.

'What do you want?" She yelled at him but not getting a reaction out of him, made her even madder.

'Get inside the car" he ordered her, his tone of voice filled with authority and Aurora hated that. Without responding to him, Aurora turned on her heel and walked away from him.

'Hey!" he called out to her but Aurora kept walking. Seeing, as Aurora was not stopping, Leonardo ran after her, not believing that such a small woman like Aurora could cover that much ground in a short space of time.

'Can you behave yourself?" Leonardo grabbed Aurora by her arm and spun her around that she slammed into his chest. The closeness between them had slowed the speed of time. As though it were a magical moment, the street light flickered on, shining on the both of them.

The warm heat from Leonardo's clothing warmed her so much that she had not realized just how cold she truly was.

'Let go of me" she tried fighting him but Leonardo held her tighter. As strong as she was trying to appear, Leonardo's heart broke as he felt her shiver and as he looked at her face, he could see how pale she was getting.

'I am taking you home" he told her with very much all the authority that he could impose on her.

'No!" she yelled but then stopped. He head began hurting at an alarming rate and before she knew it, Leonardo's face blurred and then there was darkness