Chapter 41- JEALOUS

'You are crazy!" Aurora told Leonardo as he carried the picnic basket in his hand but even she could not fault that Leonardo's smile weakened her to the knees. After the ugly encounter with her father in-law and husband, Aurora had spent several days in bed only for Leonardo to walk into their room requesting that she joined him for a picnic.

Smiling back at her, Leonardo was not about to let Aurora have her way. For days, he had watched his wife wither away in the comfort of their bed and thanks to his mother who had arranged for their picnic, the two of them could spend some well-deserved time together.

'I am not taking no for no for an answer" Leonardo responded to Aurora as she sat on their bed, stunned that he was not letting her have her way. Walking towards Aurora, Leonardo landed her kiss on her soft forehead.

'I will be waiting for you downstairs, okay" he told her and then left, leaving Aurora to wonder what had gotten into her husband. Just nearly a month ago, the two of them had been nothing but complete strangers and now that time went by, the more the days passed, the more closer they got to one another.

Climbing off from her bed and holding her blanket close to her chest, she smiled at herself whilst looking into her vanity mirror.

'Could it be that I am falling in love with Leonardo?" she asked herself, meanwhile deep down she knew what her response was. She jumped up in a fright as her landline rang, slowly she reached for the landline and answered the phone.

'Hello, who is this?" she asked but there was nothing but heavy breathing on the other end of the line, causing Aurora to worry. 'Hello, who is this?" she asked once more.

'It's me" the person answered and Aurora smiled. She would know that deep voice from anywhere and anytime.

'Cory, is this you" she asked, wanting to confirm that it was truly Cory. Hearing his laugh made her want to smile too, as it was infectious.

'I guess you know me too well, it's been a while since the two of us have spoken" he told her, stopping right there, wanting Aurora to fill in the blanks for him.

'Yes, yes it's been a while. How did you get my number?"

'Well I spoke to my grandmother and as always she always has everyone's number and now here I am, calling you" Cory told her, touching Aurora's heart that Cory would go out of his way to contact her.

'That is nice of your grandmother to do that, I hope she didn't—"

'Ask me any weird questions? No, my grandmother is not like that at all" he answered as though his grandmother was the sweetest and most caring person in the world.

'Yeah, that is exactly what I was about to ask"

'I was wondering if you would care to go out with me."

'Oh Cory, I am afraid that I cannot do that—I mean as you know I am a married woman and—"

'And so what? I just want to show you around town. Think of me as your personal tour guide" Cory told her and even as she could not see him, Aurora knew that he must have been smiling.

'Okay sure but it will have to be at another time and day because I am about to leave for somewhere" she explained, hoping that Cory would somehow understand her.

'Sure, maybe another time and I truly cannot wait for that time. Bye" Cory told her and just like that, the call ended. Smiling at her reflection in the mirror and waving it off.

**
Aurora's smile quickly faded as quickly as it came, Leonardo had taken her to the most beautiful green park that she has ever seen and yet she did not enjoy it. Leonardo had spent more time looking at the hill beyond them than he was paying attention to her and or their food.

'You seem distant" Aurora uttered but not once did Leonardo turn his attention to his wife as he was deep in thought. Slowly placing the piece of strawberry in her mouth, Aurora chewed silently.

'Is there anything that you would like to tell me?" Leonardo's voice broke through the uncomfortable silence that had caused her so much unrest.

'What?" she asked, confused as to what it was that Leonardo had asked of her.

'I ask again, is there anything that you would like to tell me?" he turned his head, looking right into Aurora's eyes. She froze as realization hit her.

Does he know that I am not Avena Russo? She asked herself mentally, panicking inwardly as she tried her best to keep calm.

'I am afraid that I do not understand what it is that you are speaking of" she lied, looking at her food instead of him, but she could still feel Leonardo's gaze on her, studying her every move.

Leonardo studied Aurora, he could see and red through her like a book and just like he had thought, she was nervous but was doing a great job at hiding it.

'I know that our relationship is not what—"

'Leonardo, please stop it! There is nothing that you have said that I have not heard before" Aurora scolded him; once more Leonardo had gone out of his way to ruin their moment.

Her emotions flared up and she was fuming both inwardly and outwards whereas Leonardo seemed unbothered about how upset he made her feel. He was emotionless as he was most times, robbing Aurora of the emotional support that she needed from him.

'Why were you speaking to Cory?" Aurora's eyes widened in shock as Leonardo questioned her.

'What?"

'I heard you talking on the phone with him—why was he calling a married woman's phone?" he asked her. Aurora stared at her, surprised that Leonardo had asked about her phone call with Cory.

'You were listening in on my conversations?" she asked him shockingly but Leonardo still stared at her, unmoved by anything that she said.

'That is not the point, Avena"

'Yes it is!" Aurora stood up from the grass and stomped off, not getting too far, from him; Leonardo held her arm and pulled her towards him. Aurora slammed into his hard chest, shutting her eyes and not looking at him.

'I did not mean to ease drop during your conversation, I came back for something and I overheard your conversation. I did not mean to do that but when I heard you speaking to him, I got—I got jealous"
Leonardo's confession surprised Aurora, so much that her eyes shot wide open as she looked at him and she was lost for words.

The anger that she had seen in his eyes earlier was gone, sadness clouded his eyes as she looked into them. In utter disbelief, Aurora was lost for words. Slowly reaching for her face, he caressed her face, making sure to smile at her as he did that.

His action warming Aurora's heart as his soft hands touched her face, slowly and with so much care, as if he would break her if he applied any pressure.

'I—I" Stuttering until she stopped, a Leonardo lips landed on her soft lips like a cushion and her eyes shut, allowing herself to feel the moment. Without warning, Leonardo's tongue burst into her mouth sending a wide range of emotions running through her body.

The shiver that she felt was none like she had ever felt before because his soft hands caresses her and it left her feeling safe in his arms. As they kisses deepened, standing on her tippy toes, Aurora wrapped her hands around his neck and Leonardo wrapped his hands around her waist.

Feeling the swelling of his groans press against her front, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist kissing him passionately. Out of breath but still needing her closer than she was to him, he deepened the kiss and pressing her towards his already swollen manhood.

Without any warning, Leonardo broke the kiss, both of them panting but looking into one another's eyes and knowing that they have not had a fill of each other. Both their lips pink from all their kissing. A sign of their hunger for each other and Leonardo searched her eyes and he too saw that Aurora needed him just as much as he needed her.

'I'm hungry," Leonardo, told her.

'Yeah, we have strawberry's and—"

'I'm not hungry for food—I am hungry for you" Leonardo confessed. Searching his wife's eyes for answers and her lips broke into a smile, a sign that she had wanted him just as much as she wanted him.

'Right here?" she asked. Leonardo nodded his head in agreement and Aurora's pupils widened, in utter disbelief that Leonardo wanted to take her in the middle of an open field.

'And why not?" he placed another soft kiss on her lips and smiled as he looked into her eyes. 'We have been married for a little over a month and I am simply hungry" he teased her causing Aurora's face to heat up with embarrassment.

'But someone could see us" she exclaimed, burying her head into his chest.

'Avena, I don't care because all I know is that I want my wife" he confessed, kissing her head.

'But we can still use the car" Aurora told him, lifting up her head and looking into his eyes.

'No"

'No?"

'No, you are my wife and I refuse to make love to you in the park, in the car. I would rather take you to my secret place" he told her. He almost slapped himself for revealing his hidden secrets to Aurora. He had kept his hidden place a secret, one of the few places in the world where he could find some peace.

'A secrets place, I can see that you have a lot of secrets my dear husband" she teased him, stealing yet another kiss from him.

Leonardo searched her eyes and all he could see was innocence and trust, she trusted him even without knowing his history. Some apart of him wanted to keep it that way, to keep Aurora trusting him no matter what.
His secret place was the first step to trusting him and hopefully, she would stay.

'Hopefully one day you will learn all my secrets, you might accept me or you might not" he told her, looking into her eyes and just as quick as it was filled with joy that joy disappeared.

'Your secrets cannot be that bad" she told him, looking at him as her own guilt consumed her.
Leonardo, your secrets cannot be as big as the one that I am keeping. She thought to herself, smiling and concealing her guilt as she lied to the man who showed her compassion more than any other man had done.