CHAPTER 40AureliaLeviAurelia
Aurelia
Though it was late summer, the night air had a surprising chill, coaxing them both into long sleeves.
Aurelia reveled in the cool breeze as they walked hand-in-hand toward the restaurant, stealing glances at Levi beside her. Every line of his strong jaw, every flicker of his eyes beneath those dark lashes, was committed to memory like a woman desperate to bottle a perfect moment.
Then it struck her…she was falling for him fast. Too fast.
She had no time to think beyond that realization before a host, dressed in flowing jewel-toned silks, led them to their table. Distracted, Aurelia couldn’t help but marvel at the Moroccan-inspired splendor around her.
Settling into a plush amethyst-colored chair, she ran her fingers over the intricately carved wooden table between them.
Overhead, delicate metal lanterns spilled out soft golden light, creating playful shadows across the rich tapestries and patterned tiles that adorned the walls and floors.
Jewel-toned drapes in green, sapphire, and deep crimson swayed gently from the ceiling.
It was spectacular—for a place where you have to cook your food.
“Not as spectacular as my view,” Levi said, his voice a low rumble that rolled across the table and curled around her like a caress.
It took Aurelia a stunned moment to realize she had spoken her last thought aloud. Heat rose to her cheeks in a flood of mortification.
Recovering quickly, she lifted her chin and shot back, “I guess one could say you’re…easy on the eyes.”
Levi threw his head back and laughed, the sound warm and full, scattering the last of her embarrassment.
Their server chose that moment to arrive and take their drink orders, explaining the fondue process with practiced enthusiasm. Before he could even finish, Levi leaned back in his chair with a dramatic groan.
“I’m so hungry I could eat the ass hole of a dead horse right now,” he declared with absolute seriousness.
The poor server stood frozen, eyes wide, as if he weren’t sure whether to laugh or bolt for the kitchen. He opted for a quick nod before scurrying away.
Aurelia gaped at Levi. “I can’t believe you said that! That poor man looked traumatized.”
Levi shrugged unapologetically. “What? I’m that hungry. If it were on the menu, I’d consider it.”
She shuddered. “That’s disgusting! Subject change, please.”
She seized the moment to launch into details about the upcoming Harvest Charity Ball, but as she spoke, her nerves tangled her words together into one breathless, rambling run-on sentence.
Frustrated with herself, she abandoned the speech entirely and asked directly, “Are you still planning to come with me?”
Before he could respond, she rushed to add, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But it’d be great if you did. And, of course, your friends are welcome too…”
She shifted in her seat uncomfortably.
Levi’s intense green gaze locked on her, his mouth curving into a slow, knowing smile. “On two conditions.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, two conditions?”
That mischievous glint she was learning to both love and fear sparked in his eyes. “First, I get to pick out your dress for the event.”
That didn’t sound so bad. “Fine. What’s the second?”
His expression sobered, the teasing fading into something more serious and far more dangerous. “I get to choose the next topic of conversation. And whatever it is, you have to answer me truthfully.”
Aurelia’s heart gave a painful thud. She knew— knew —this wasn’t going to go in her favor.
Everything in her screamed to redirect the conversation, to make an awkward joke, and escape whatever he was about to ask. But the open and vulnerable look on Levi’s face held her fast.
She let out a long, resigned sigh. “Deal.”
Levi leaned back in his chair, a satisfied but unreadable smile on his face.
God help her…what had she agreed to?
Levi
There was a reason Levi was a force in business.
He knew how to negotiate, how to recognize opportunity, and most importantly, when to strike. But no amount of boardroom finesse prepared him for the guilt that curled low in his stomach as he watched the color drain from Aurelia’s face.
Still, some conversations couldn’t wait. And this one…this was too important to leave unspoken.
He didn’t ease into it or offer false comfort. He ripped the bandage off in one clean, brutal pull.
“Tell me about your past relationships,” he asked quietly. “Your exes. Why didn’t they work out?”
She stilled, her body rigid, and for one terrifying moment, Levi wondered if she had stopped breathing altogether. Her eyes were wide, haunted, and there was something else there…something that made his pulse roar in his ears. Fear.
His hands clenched into fists under the table, knuckles turning white. He forced himself to stay silent, to give her the time she needed to wrestle her thoughts free from whatever dark place she had been dragged back to.
Finally, with a shuddering breath, she slumped in her chair, the fight visibly bleeding out of her.
“I’ve…dated a few guys,” she began in a voice barely above a whisper, her eyes locked on the small candle flickering between them. “But most of them didn’t last more than a few months before they grew bored and left.”
Her throat bobbed with the effort to keep speaking, her fingers trembling as she reached for her water glass. Levi could see the way she braced herself for his judgment, for rejection.
“I was too quiet…didn’t have enough friends, not enough education. Too poor. Too boring.” Her bitter smile cut him deeper than any sharp word could have. “Take your pick. The reasons were endless.”
Levi’s jaw flexed painfully. Rage burned under his skin, but he kept his expression carefully blank. The moment he opened his mouth and let that fury loose, she would retreat…and he wasn’t letting her close that door tonight.
“Many didn’t even have the decency to say it to my face,” she continued, her voice brittle. “Some…disappeared. Ghosted me like I didn’t exist. And then, like clockwork, there’d be a new picture posted online of them with someone else. Someone better.”
She finally lifted her eyes, and Levi’s heart broke at the acceptance he saw in them. Like she truly believed she wasn’t worth staying for.
“I’m a placeholder,” she whispered. “Until someone better comes along.”
God. He couldn’t breathe past the iron band tightening around his ribs.
But Levi wasn’t finished. Not yet. He had to understand all of it—all of her—if he was ever going to show her how wrong she was.
“You said most of them didn’t last long…” His voice was low, gentle, even though everything in him wanted to roar. “What about the ones who did?”
Another jolt of tension snapped through her, locking every muscle in place. Her wide, pleading eyes silently begged him not to make her answer.
He held her gaze, his fingers reaching out slowly, giving her the choice to take his hand or pull away.
“You don’t have to say much,” he promised softly. “Just…help me understand.”
Before she could respond, their server reappeared with their first course, oblivious to the razor’s edge they both balanced on.
Plates were placed before them, and explanations about the process were offered.
Steam curled from the fondue pots as the scents of melted cheese and seasoned broth filled the air.
As soon as they were alone again, Levi forced himself to move, to do something other than hunt down every single one of these exes that contributed to her agony.
He speared a few vegetables and chunks of meat, dropping them into the simmering broth.
When he looked up again, she hadn’t touched a thing.
And then, in a voice so quiet he almost didn’t hear her, she spoke.
“The only one who stayed longer…” She swallowed hard, her gaze fixed somewhere far away. “…gave me more attention than anyone ever had before.”
She dragged her hands into her lap, her fingers knotting together as she forced the words out.
“But his attention was…different.” Her lips trembled.
“It depended on his mood, or if something set him off that day. Sometimes it came from his fists. Other days, his legs would kick me down. And if he was really feeling lazy…” she closed her eyes, the words barely a breath, “…he let the stairs handle it for him.”
Levi’s vision went red. His mind blanked out in a wash of blinding rage, and for one horrifying second, he saw exactly how easy it would be to kill a man with his bare hands.
But Aurelia wasn’t done.
“It took me a long time to get out. It took longer to feel safe enough to file for a restraining order. And I…” Her voice cracked. “I can’t talk about it more than that. Not yet.”
A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the table.
Levi couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe past the sheer violence pounding through his veins. But he forced his voice to steady and reached for her trembling hand.
“Thank you…for trusting me with that.” He swallowed down the fury burning his throat and offered her the faintest, most reassuring smile he could muster. “Now it’s my turn to show you some of my scars.”
Because if there was anything she deserved, it was knowing that he wasn’t going anywhere.
Aurelia
It took every ounce of willpower for Aurelia to slow her racing heart, to breathe past the tightness in her chest threatening to steal her composure.
But somehow—somehow, Levi’s hand, warm and steady over hers, anchored her.
His touch wasn’t demanding or expectant.
It was simply there…again offering quiet strength when she had none left.
And when he finally began to speak, his voice was low and unhurried; it felt like the tension in the air shifted.
He began to tell her about his relationships, which were more like a series of betrayals and disappointments that seemed so at odds with the confident, charming man sitting across from her.
So far, it had been a couple of stories about women who’d fallen for his lifestyle but never truly seen him, who had chased the fantasy of his wealth while offering nothing real in return.
As he talked, he reached over to the fondue pot, pulling out several pieces of pork.
Aurelia’s eyes immediately widened in horror. “Those haven’t been in there long enough to cook! You’re going to get sick!”
Levi shot her a roguish grin, entirely unconcerned. “They’re small,” he said with ridiculous certainty, popping one into his mouth like it was candy. “They don’t need that long to cook.”
“Oh my god!” she gasped, in half horror and half disgust.
He swallowed with a dramatic groan of satisfaction and reached for more. “I’m starving, Auri. At this point, I’m perfectly willing to take my chances.”
Aurelia shook her head incredulously, but the corner of her mouth tugged upward despite herself. Only this man could follow up the heaviest conversation of her life by attempting to win a Darwin Award at the dinner table.
“If you end up in the ER with food poisoning, I’m going to say ‘I told you so’ while you’re hooked up to an IV, Porky,” she warned, crossing her arms.
His fork froze midair as he gawked. “Did you just call me, Porky?”
“Yes, because you deserve a terrible nickname after making such a terrible decision!”
Levi grinned widely and winked. “If that happens, I’ll deserve it. But hey…every hero’s journey needs a little danger, right?”
Her laughter came before she could stop it, light and genuine, and for the first time that night, it didn’t feel blighted by the past.
And that, she thought, watching the ridiculously pleased look on his face, was the real danger here.
He was slowly, completely, and undeniably becoming her peace.
It wasn’t fine.
In fact, it was astonishingly and epically not fine.
The evening following dinner had been perfect…almost too perfect. A romantic stroll through the glowing streets of downtown, his hand warm against hers, their laughter mingling with the vibrant hum of the city.
They talked about everything and nothing, that sweet anticipation of what might happen once the front door closed behind them, simmering beneath the surface.
And then…disaster struck.
One moment, Levi was tugging her closer, his eyes dark with promise. The next, they filled with horror, a hand clamping over his stomach as he paled.
“Levi?” she asked, alarmed.
Without a word, he bolted.
Gone was the charming husband ready to ravish her senseless. In his place was a man sprinting for the bathroom like his very soul depended on it.
And that was exactly where he stayed.
For the rest of the night and the better part of the next morning.
Because, as it turned out, even billionaires couldn’t negotiate their way out of food poisoning…from undercooked pork.
And the worst part?
He still had the nerve to grumble dramatically from the bathroom floor and say, between bouts of misery, “Worth it.”