Chapter 67
Aurora finished the last scoop slowly, dragging the spoon along the side of the cup like she didn't want it to end.
The night had settled into something calm again.
The water moved quietly. The lights glowed softly. Nothing rushed.
She handed the empty cup to Leonard without looking at him.
He took it and tossed the cup into a nearby bin and walked back to her. "We're leaving."
She didn't argue this time. She slid off the hood of the car and followed him to the passenger side. He opened the door, and she got in, pulling the door shut softly behind her.
The drive started in silence.
Aurora leaned her head against the window, watching the blurred lights pass by. The cool glass against her temple felt good. Her headache had dulled into something manageable. Her body felt heavy. Calm.
Too calm.
Leonard drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely near the gear shift. His eyes flicked toward her occasionally.
She looked half asleep.
Hair falling across her face. Hoodie sleeve half covering her fingers. Breathing slow.
After a minute, his right hand moved.
It slid to her side, fingers pressing between her thighs, just he used to do.
Aurora flinches, surprised.
Her eyes opened halfway. She looked down at his hand, then gently took it and moved it away from her waist, placing it back toward the center console.
Just... moving it.
Leonard didn't react. He simply returned his hand to the steering wheel.
The silence resumed.
Aurora closed her eyes again, leaning back against the window. The rhythm of the car, the quiet, the leftover warmth from earlier, it all pulled at her. Her breathing slowed.
She almost fell asleep.
Leonard glanced at her again.
Then back at the road.
The mansion gates appeared ahead.
The car slowed, rolled in, and stopped in front of the house. The guards stepped back automatically.
Aurora blinked awake slowly, like she wasn't sure when they'd arrived.
She reached for the handle and pushed the door open.
Cool night air rushed in.
She stepped out, then paused.
"You didn't kidnap me today," she said, glancing back at him.
"Don't get used to it," he replied.
She nodded once, like she expected that answer, and turned to walk away.
"Noelle."
She stopped.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her phone.
She turned back.
He was already leaning toward her.
The kiss landed before she could think.
Her breath caught.
It wasn't rough. Wasn't demanding. Just... there. Warm. Certain.
He pulled back immediately.
Said nothing.
She stared at him for one second too long, mind blank, heart beating harder than it should.
Then she turned and walked toward the house without another word.
He didn't stop her.
He didn't call her back.
He just watched her disappear inside before driving off.
Aurora closed her bedroom door quietly behind her.
The house was silent.
She walked to her bed slowly, like she wasn't entirely present. Then she dropped onto it face first, burying her head into the pillow.
Her mind replayed it immediately.
The river, the ice cream, the kiss, the second one.
Her fingers lifted slowly and touched her lips.
She froze there.
Still.
Her heart started beating faster again.
She turned onto her back, staring at the ceiling, fingers still resting against her mouth.
"This is stupid," she muttered softly.
But she didn't move her hand.
She rolled onto her side, pulling the pillow closer, eyes drifting shut.
Her fingers pressed once more against her lips before finally dropping.
And for the first time in a long while, Aurora fell asleep thinking of Leonard.
★
[LEONARD'S DARK VILLA]
Leonard didn't go inside.
He just stopped at the entrance. Back against the doorframe, one leg bent, the other stretched out in front of him.
He pulled out a cigarette.
Lit it.
Exhaled slowly, watching the smoke disappear into the night air.
His phone was already in his other hand.
He opened the tracker first. Her dot sat still inside the mansion. Hadn't moved since he dropped her off. He stared at it for a moment, then closed it.
Then he opened the file.
Zane Saunders. Caspian Virell. Same person. Different face. Same syndicate.
Same obsession.
He scrolled through what his contact had sent so far. Movement records. Known associates. Old operations. Fragments of a picture that hadn't fully assembled itself yet.
The location was still blank.
Every trail his contact pulled ended the same way. Clean cutoff. No coordinates. No confirmed base. Like whoever built Imperio Del Pecado had specifically anticipated someone looking.
Leonard took a long drag.
Exhaled.
He wasn't frustrated. Frustration was loud and he didn't do loud. What he felt was quieter than that. More specific.
Caspian had been inside their college for weeks. Walking the same corridors.
Breathing the same air. Watching Aurora from distances close enough to matter.
And she had no idea.
She was probably asleep right now.
Fingers pressed against her lips. Thinking about ice cream.
Leonard looked at the cigarette between his fingers.
He thought about the way she'd melted into that kiss like she hadn't meant to.
He thought about her face when the fireworks went off.
The pain that crossed it.
Leonard took one last drag and pressed the cigarette out against the step beside him.
He looked at the blank location field on his screen one more time.
Then he typed to his contact.
"Find it. I don't care how long it takes. Find it."
He sent it and pocketed his phone.
Stood up slowly.
Rolled his neck once.
Then he walked inside and let the door close behind him.
★
[NEXT MORNING]
She slept like the dead.
Deep, heavy sleep that swallowed her whole and didn't let go until well past ten.
When she finally opened her eyes, she stared at the ceiling for a long moment, blinking slowly. Her head felt clearer than it had in days. Heavy still, but clearer.
She reached for her phone.
Four messages from Oma. One missed call.
She called back.
Oma picked up on the second ring.
"FINALLY. I've been calling you since-"
"I was sleeping."
"It's ten thirty."
"And?"
Oma exhaled dramatically. "How was yesterday? You disappeared after college and nobody heard from you."
"I slept early," Aurora said, shifting onto her back. "Head was bad. Needed rest."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
A pause.
"Nothing else happened."
"No."
"Aurora."
"Oma."
Another pause. Longer this time.
"Fine," Oma said, clearly not fine.
"Anyway. Me, Ivy and Roseanne are going out today. Restaurant first then shopping. Free day, we need to unwind. You're coming."
Aurora closed her eyes. "I'm not coming."
"You are."
"I really don't..."
"Aurora I will come to that mansion and drag you out by your hoodie and you know I will."
"Oma-"
"I'm not asking. I'm informing. Be ready by twelve." The line went dead.
Aurora stared at her phone.
Then she dropped it on the bed and lay there for another minute.
Then she got up and went downstairs.
...
Aurora padded into the kitchen and went straight for the fruit bowl.
She was reaching for the grapes when she heard footsteps.
Melvin appeared in the doorway, jacket already on, keys in hand. He paused when he saw her.
"You're up," he said.
"Apparently."
He walked in and set his keys on the counter, studying her the way he always did. Quietly. Like he was checking something internal that she couldn't see.
"How's your head?" he asked.
Aurora looked at him. "Fine. Why?"
"Nanny Mira mentioned you weren't well."
"It was a headache. It passed."
Melvin nodded slowly. He pulled out a chair and sat at the kitchen island, loosening slightly. "Your evening was okay?"
"Yes."
He held her gaze for a moment. "Leonard brought you home safely."
It wasn't a question.
Aurora picked a grape. "You knew where I was."
"I always know where you are," he said simply. No apology in it. Just fact.
She should have been annoyed. She found she wasn't.
"I'm going out with Oma today," she said instead. "Restaurant and shopping."
Melvin's expression eased slightly. "Good."
"You're not going to tell me to take a guard?"
"You already have one," he said. "You just don't see them."
Aurora looked at him for a long moment.
"That's disrespectful." She mumbled, Melvin chuckled.
Then she popped another grape into her mouth and said nothing.
Melvin stood, picked up his keys. "Eat something proper before you go." He pressed a brief kiss to the top of her head as he passed. "Not just grapes."
Aurora watched him leave.
The front door closed softly behind him.
She stood alone in the kitchen, fruit bowl in front of her, the house settling back into its quiet.
She reached for a strawberry.
Then she stood there eating fruit in the morning silence, thinking about absolutely nothing.
Or trying to.
★