Chapter 8- THE DATE

'Oh, you're here" Signora Mia found Leonardo standing by himself in the garden, looking upset.

'Si signora Mia, I am just admiring your beautiful garden" Leonardo lied as he had not noticed the outline of the garden nor its beauty, his mind still stuck on the beautiful and arrogant woman he had just met.
'
Well you look awfully upset, come inside, some of your old friends are here to see you" Without waiting for Leonardo to reply, Signora Mia took hold of Leonardo's arm and walked him into the hall.

Seeing old friends had not done anything to put Leonard out of his misery, as the only thing on his mind was the beautiful dark skinned woman that he had met earlier. Something about her arrogant attitude made him want to put her in her place, he was used to such women growing up. Women who thought that their money could buy the people around them as well as the respect they thought they deserved.

'My son, you look very disturbed. Did something happen?" His mother questioned him. Leonardo quickly put on a smile, a constant occurrence in his life ever since he had found out about his marriage arrangement.

'Nothing mother, I was just thinking about something" Or someone. Leonardo told himself mentally as he looked around the crowd, everyone there seemed like the rich snobs he used to spend time with in his younger days.

'Well that's good. The Russo's have had a word with us and we have decided on the date" His mother informed him. The news of his impending doom sent a sick feeling in his stomach.

'So when is this wedding if I might ask?"

'Two days from now" Leonardo nearly choked on his juice as he stared at his mother, not once hiding the shock on his face.

'Mother—" He tried arguing but he was quickly cut off by his mother.

'Please Leonardo my son, not here, I beg of you" his mother lowered her voice as she looked at him. Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke to her son, seeing his mother's pain out in the open had a negative effect on him.

The more he wanted to make his parents happy, the more he was hurting himself but there was no other way to do it.

'Why this soon?"

'Avena's parent will not be part of the wedding" his mother's words left Leonardo stunned as he stared at her, seemingly confused.

'Why not?"

'Uhm, they are leaving tonight. They have an important trip to attend for some time so they will not be part of the wedding" his mother told plainly, quickly choosing to look away from Leonardo.

'Mother I am not stupid, I know exactly what kind of business the Russo's are involved in and I know they are in trouble with Interpol"

'Shut up! Look, you do not know anything" his mother told him, upset that Leonardo was saying such things in front of her.

'I know everything and you know that I am not marrying this Avena girl out of love but it is because you and father want this of me" Leonardo told his mother, the veins in his neck sticking out as he anger coursed through his body.

'Leonardo please, for once just listen to your father" Signora Carina begged her son. Leonardo looked away from his mother, trying to wear off the feelings that brought him nothing but unpleasantness.

'Okay mother, I will marry Avena like you and father want me to do. But I want you to remember that I am only doing this for your health and nothing else" Leonardo told his mother, walking away before his mother could upset him more.

**
Aurora put the dress back onto the hanger and into the closet; she could finally breathe a sigh of relief as she put it away. She placed her hand over her chest, to feel her heart slowly relaxing after the night that she had just experienced.

'Never again will I do this" She told herself while hiding in Avena's walk in closet. Her narrow escape with Signora Mia was one that she did not want to repeat, if she was caught then she would have definitely have lost her job because of wearing Avena's three thousand dollar dress would not have sat well with her.

Aurora slowly walked out of the closet and looked at the room around her, everything was luxurious and she wondered how it must all feel to own any of it. She had always lived in the Russo's household, first as their charity case and then as a maid to them but somewhere deep down she had always wondered what it must have felt like to live a luxurious lifestyle.

She caught herself smiling as she thought of the handsome man that she had met in the garden, but her smile quickly went away as she realized how rude she had been with him, so much that she had not even gotten his name.

Her heart had not been at peace as she was panicked about her mother's locket, the one that she thought she had lost. She pulled it out of her apron and looked at it; the clasp was broken once again from repeatedly taking it off and on. One of the many rules that Signora Mia had in place was that none of the workers were to wear jewelry and that included her mother's locket.

She smiled down at the old piece of jewelry and nearly cried, it was old and not as shiny as when it was given to her by her mother but it was still the only piece of valuable she owned. It worth so much that she would not even sell it to pay for her tuition. Feeling lucky, she tried opening the locket but like always, it did not open to reveal the picture inside the locket.

For years, she had tried opening the locket to reveal its secret but it had never come open and not opening it this time had dampened her mood.

'Aurora!" Signora Mia called, bursting into Avena's room; Aurora quickly put her locket in her apron and quickly looked up at her employer.

'Si signora Mia" She answered and watched Signora Mia observe her from head to toe.

'What is that you put inside your pocket?" She asked Aurora, who quickly dug into her pocket to reveal her locket. Signora Mia rolled her eyes and waved her hand in the air in a dismissive manner.

'That old thing, just put it away would you?"

'Si Signora" Aurora responded and did as she was told.

'My husband and I are leaving for a— a trip and we do not know how long we would be back"

'But the wedding, Signora" Aurora pointed out, worried that her boss would not attend her daughter's wedding.

'Si, I know but I would need a favor from you. What I am going to tell you shall not leave this room and if it does— let's just say you have heard rumors about what this family does to traitors" Signora Mia told her and Aurora quickly looked down at her feet.

She had heard the countless rumors of the Russo family being involved with multiple crimes around Italy, forcibly taking land that did not belong to their families, paying off cops and even murder.

'Si Signora" she sheepishly answered as her hands shook in fear.

'Okay, I am sure you are wondering why Avena is not here? Well she asked me to say goodbye to that animal that she is going out with for the last time. While I am gone I need you to make sure that my daughter is married to Leonardo Romano under any cost" Signora Mia looked into Aurora's eyes, tears filled her employers eyes and for the first time, Aurora had seen genuine emotions in Signora Mia's eyes.

Signora Mia had always been a cold woman, once or twice; she would smile but her crying before Aurora was something new entirely. She walked closer to Aurora, took her hand in hers and looked into Aurora's eyes.

'While my husband and I are gone, please make sure that my daughter gets married to this young man, my family depends on this" her tone of voice soft and trembling. Aurora felt bad for her Signora Mia, knowing quite well that she wanted nothing but the best for her daughter.

'Si Signora, I will"

'Good, do this this and I will make sure that you get that tuition fee that you have always longed for and that is a promise I make to you" Hearing those words from Signora Mia's mouth had pleased her, knowing that she was closer to becoming the doctor that she had always wanted to be.

'I promise you signora that Leonardo will get married to your daughter" She promised her employer, not knowing how she would do it but she was certain that she would change Avena's mind.

'Good, I have to leave this night, no need to worry because the Romano family has already left the party and so have the other guests. If my daughter asked about my whereabouts, just tell her that her father and I are going on a trip"

Without waiting for Aurora to ask any more questions, Signora Mia left the room. Aurora breathe out a sigh of relief as she pressed her back onto the door of the walking closet and smiled. She was truly excited that once again Signora Mia promised to give her the money that she so craved for. Within no time, she would be a medical doctor.

Her happiness was soon smashed as she realized what would happen if she could not convince Avena to marry the heir of the Romano empire. Finally alone in the room, Aurora danced with excitement.

'I would not trust her if I were you" she stopped, turned around and just at the right time to see Signora Meta looking at her. She was not smiling, her face held no emotion.

'Signora Meta, Signora Mia—"

'Promised you that she would cover all costs of your tuition" she interrupted Aurora.

'Si"

'And you believed that witch?" She asked Aurora who stopped smiling as she realized that Signora Meta was being serious. The older woman shut the door behind her, walked towards Aurora and stopped right in front of her.

'But she promised"

'But she lied, you have worked her for so many years, she rarely keeps her promise and what makes you think that she would keep it now?" Signora Meta's words got Aurora thinking but it also got her worried that Signora Meta was probably right.

'I have faith in her" she answered, her tone soft, sad and holding onto the little hope she had left. Signora Meta rolled her eyes and pulled out an envelope from her apron and handed it to Aurora.

'Here, this if what you get for being good to her" without hesitating Aurora took the envelope from Signora Meta, opened it and studied its contents.

'What is this?"

'It is a wakeup call and I think you need it most"