Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
AURORA
B eatrice told me to seduce Nico but not to let him have sex with me right away. I’m glad to wait to have sex because Nico is still a stranger to me, but I have no idea how to seduce him into trusting me.
Nico isn’t home when I get back, which is a relief. It gives me time to plan for later tonight.
I could kiss him and pull back. Be a tease. That’s what Beatrice wants me to do.
But what do I want to do?
I want justice for my father. I want to find out the truth of whether Nico killed him. I want to be safe because, right now, I’m far from safe.
Enzo follows me around the house. I make a sandwich, and he watches me eat it. I watch TV; he watches me watch it. I go to the bathroom, he stands outside. The bathroom and the bedroom are the only spaces I get a break from him.
If I’m going to find out the truth, it will be hard. I can’t just ask Nico if he killed my father. If he did and he finds out I’m Giovanni Costa’s daughter, I’m dead.
I need to get into Nico’s office and look around. He might have something in there linking him to my father.
But Enzo doesn’t give me any space.
Finally, I snap and spin around to face him. “Can I not get any privacy?”
“My instructions were to watch you and make sure you’re safe.”
“This entire mansion is guarded. I doubt anyone is getting in here to hurt me. I would like a chance to be alone for a little bit.”
“You can go to the bedroom.”
“But you’ll just be outside, and I’ll know that.”
“It’s my job, Mrs. Mancini.”
Mrs. Mancini. I completely forgot I’m no longer Aurora Costa. Granted, Beatrice forged my identity documents so am I even legally married to Nico? I can’t ask him that for obvious reasons.
“Just give me a few minutes alone. No one’s going to hurt me. I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
His eyes narrow. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you clearly don’t trust me. I’m just a woman, Enzo. I’m twenty. I’ve never even had a drink because I always follow the rules. Please, just give me some space.”
After a moment, he sighs and backs up a step. “All right. I’ll be over there.” He walks to a corner of the living room and just stands there. Does he even sleep? It doesn’t seem like it.
I use that opportunity to hurry down the hallway to the bedroom, but instead of going in there, I turn to Nico’s office. The door opens right up. Nico has no reason to distrust anyone in his inner circle, so there’s no reason to lock the door.
I tiptoe into the room and go straight for his desk. It’s clean, devoid of papers. I check the drawers but only find financial statements. None of this is tied to my father.
I check the dates on the statements, but they have no meaning to me. I don’t know when my father was working with Nico. I don’t know enough for any of this to make sense.
I slip the papers back into the desk and leave the room, disappointment clawing its way through my chest at the lack of evidence.
“What were you doing in there?”
I stop short. It’s Andrew, Nico’s second. “Uh …”
“Why were you in Nico’s office?”
“I’m his wife. I wanted to look around. Why are you here?”
“Because I work with Nico, and he asked me to come here and collect some papers.” Andrew eyes me suspiciously before heading into the office. I didn’t do anything wrong.
Andrew comes back out, looking a little less tense. He knows I didn’t take anything. “This”—he points at the office— “isn’t a place for you.”
“Then where is my place?”
“The kitchen?” Without a backward glance, he walks away.
I practically run into the bedroom and shut the door. Thankfully, there’s a lock on the door, and I push it down. This one space is for me. I can’t stand the judgmental gazes of Enzo and Andrew following me everywhere.
They’re rightfully suspicious of me, but these men are not good. They’ve partaken in murder and who knows what else. I would be doing the world a favor by killing a man like Nico, who’s probably done some terrible things.
But did he kill my father?
And am I capable of murder? That’s the question I ask myself for the rest of the day until Nico returns and we have dinner together.
Nico isn’t talkative over dinner—at least with me. He’s on his phone the whole time, just as he was during breakfast. I pick at my Brussel sprouts; the sight of them makes my stomach roll. I have to seduce Nico tonight. I’m still not ready. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.
Nico eventually finishes his dinner and asks me to follow him to our bedroom. I do as he says, playing the good little wife.
“So,” he says, taking his jacket off. “Are you ready tonight?”
“Oh. No.”
He nods once. “Shame, but I understand. Just let me know when you’re ready.” He takes his shirt off next, exposing his nice body to me.
I stand there in complete shock before pulling myself out of it. “Nico … are we ever going to just … talk?”
“Talk? About what?”
“Well, you wanted a wife because sometimes you get lonely. Don’t you want to talk?”
He pauses, the bedsheet in his hand, his body halfway into the bed. “Huh. I guess I hadn’t thought about it. I’ve been so busy with work and this police thing. But … you’re right. We can talk.” He gets under the covers.
Slowly, I join him there. “How was your day?”
“As I said, busy.” He doesn’t offer me anything more. It’s obvious he doesn’t trust me with all the details yet. “How was your day?”
“Long,” I admit. “I saw my aunt. She’s doing well.”
“Good.”
We both fall silent.
Then I laugh. “You’re not a very good conversationalist.”
After a moment, he laughs with me. “Neither are you.”
“I’m still a little nervous around you.”
“And there’s so much of my life I can’t share,” he says. “Not until I know I can trust you fully.”
“So, we’re at an impasse.”
“Tell me something about you no one else knows.”
“Only if you do the same,” I say.
“Deal.”
I inhale shakily. “I have an irrational fear of cats.”
He’s silent, then slowly smiles. “We won’t own any cats then. Why the fear?”
“They have claws and sharp teeth. They kind of freak me out.” I gently touch his hand without even thinking about it. “Your turn.”
Nico notices the touch but doesn’t comment on it. I pull my hand away before I get in my head. “I’ve always had a love of country music.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I was born and raised in New York. Country music doesn’t fit here. But I’ve always loved it. The storytelling. I could get lost in it.”
“When do you listen to it?”
“When I have time, which is barely anymore.”
“You can talk to me over dinner, you know? Over breakfast, too.”
He’s sitting so close to me, looking at me with those intense eyes and handsome face. For a moment, I forgot who Nico is. He’s not a scary Mafia man. He’s just a man who secretly loves country music.
“All right,” he says. “I’ll make more of an effort.”
“Thank you.”
After sharing a smile, we go to bed. I lie there, looking at the ceiling, feeling proud of myself. I don’t need to seduce Nico to get him to like me.
I can just talk to him, and maybe then he’ll fall for me.
And maybe then I’ll be able to kill him.
Over breakfast, Nico asks me more about my family.
My fork is halfway to my mouth. When I thought about talking more with Nico, I didn’t realize he would ask me that, but I should have.
“Both your parents are dead, correct?” he asks, taking a bite of his omelet.
I flinch slightly. Enzo stands by the table, and I feel his gaze digging into me. “Yes. For a while now, but I still miss them. What about you?” I ask, trying to change the subject. “What about your parents?”
Nico is older than me, but he’s not an old man. He has to only be in his thirties. “My pop and mom have been dead since I was eighteen. That’s when I became this.” He motions to himself. “I took over the business and have been running it ever since.”
“That must have been hard. At only eighteen.”
“You’re … what? Twenty?”
“Yes.” It’s strange. Nico married me without even knowing exactly how old I am. I still don’t know how old he is. This truth stuns me.
“You were a child when you lost your parents. That couldn’t have been easy either.”
“You’re right. It wasn’t.” I feel the oncoming tears hit my eyes, and I quickly blink them away.
Nico’s stare intensifies before he nods and picks up his phone. “I have work to attend to.” He gets up. “Finish your breakfast. You can go shopping today if you want. Enzo will take you.” He pauses by me, hesitating like he wants to say something or touch me. I’m not sure which.
I meet his gaze, but then he turns away before I can understand what he was trying to do.
And just like that, Nico is gone.
Beatrice’s words enter my head. I need to seduce him. I thought the key would be talking, and I know that takes time. But Nico barely conversed with me.
I need to do something to really capture his attention and make him fall in love with me.
I need to do what Beatrice said.
I tell Enzo I don’t want to go shopping, and instead, I spend the day reading. Nico has a large library to choose books from. At least Enzo leaves me alone in the library, so I get some peace.
A part of me anticipates Nico coming home and us having dinner together. I’m not sure why, though. I hate him.
At least, I think I do.
But once we he returns home, he doesn’t join me at dinner. Instead, he heads straight for his office. More work. It’s always about work.
No wonder he just wanted a wife based on looks. He’s too busy to care about a relationship.
So, I need to get him to care.
I slip on one of the slinky nightgowns Beatrice made sure I brought with me. It’s white and innocent but still sexy. I feel like a girl playing dress up in it.
With a deep breath. I enter Nico’s office. My body is practically shaking, but I have to do what I have to do to get him to like me. To get him to trust me.
Nico glances up at me and goes still. “I haven’t seen you wear that before.”
“We’ve only been married for two days,” I whisper.
“True.” He sets the paper in his hand down and leans back in his chair. “So, what are you doing in here, Aurora?”
“I thought …” I gulp. I thought I could seduce you, but I’m shaking too much for it to be convincing. My hands pull at the end of the dress, but it doesn’t move down. It remains at my upper thighs, exposing my entire legs to him.
“Do you want me in your bed?” he ask.
“Yes.”
He leans forward, his eyes darkening. It does something strange to my body, and a flutter forms in between my legs. “You look absolutely terrified. You should go and only come back when you’re ready for me to fuck you.”
I flinch, any heat from my body evaporating. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. But don’t pretend with me, Aurora. If you want me to fuck you, I will, but only if you really want me to. I can smell your fear a mile away. So, what are you playing at?”
My vengeful aunt told me to seduce you .
“I thought this was what you wanted.” I motion towards my nightgown. “You didn’t seem to want to talk to me today.”
“I do like talking with you. But I’m a busy man. You can leave.” He picks up his paper again and goes back to reading it.
I’m dismissed.
Hurrying back to our bedroom, I quickly change into something less sexy. A simple top and pajama bottoms. Then I get under the covers, my face on fire.
I can’t believe I tried to seduce Nico. It obviously did not go as planned.
He said he likes talking with me, but he barely makes the time for it. I can’t have sex with him when I’m still a little scared of him.
So, what am I supposed to do?
How do I get a man like Nico to fall in love with me?
Nico invites Andrew over for dinner, which means I have to listen to them talk about stocks and bonds and other boring monetary things. I never had to worry about money growing up. And now that I’m married to Nico, who’s incredibly wealthy, I still don’t.
The only question is—what became of my father’s money? Is it still in his accounts? Or did Beatrice move it?
No one knows my father is dead, but it’s been over a week now, and surely, someone will notice him missing. He had employees. Friends. The truth will come out sooner or later.
I just hope I can deal with Nico before then.
Nico is busy talking with Andrew and doesn’t even look at me as I leave the table. Enzo once again follows me as I clean up my plate in the kitchen.
“Shouldn’t you be guarding my husband and his guest?”
He huffs and walks back out into the dining room. My hands seize up, and my plate clatters into the sink. I have eyes on me everywhere. Even if I weren’t trying to plan Nico’s murder, I’d still go crazy.
Then I realize—I’m alone.
All the men are in the dining room, so I use the opportunity to listen to their conversation.
At first, it’s still the same. More financial stuff.
But then I hear Andrew ask, “How’s married life treating you?”
“Aurora is good. She knows how to keep to herself. She’s not needy or demanding. Exactly what I wanted in a wife.”
Andrew doesn’t reply.
“Did you have something to say?” Nico asks him.
“It’s just … I’ve looked into her.”
My heart squeezes as my hands grip the doorframe. No. He can’t know.
“You looked into my wife? I already did that. She’s clean.”
“Is she? She’s too clean, Nico. I think there’s something … there with her.”
Nico is deadly silent. The only sound I can hear is a fork scraping on a plate. Then he speaks. “If you need to do what you need to do to prove Aurora is innocent, then do it. But be smart about this, Andrew. I like Aurora. I don’t want you pissing me off.”
“Understood.”
Nico just gave Andrew permission to dig deeper into me. Beatrice scrubbed my past clean, but … the internet is the internet. Nothing is fully lost forever. If Andrew digs hard enough, he just might find out the truth about me.
I need to know if Nico killed my father. That’s the only way I can get through this. Because if he did kill my father, then this whole thing can be over, and I won’t be left wondering and doubting myself.
Maybe Andrew knows something. He must.
When he came over for dinner, I saw him put down a briefcase in the foyer. I need to get into that briefcase.
I take the back entrance out of the kitchen that leads into a hallway. From there, I’m able to sneak into the foyer without being seen. Enzo will come looking for me, though, if he doesn’t see me in the kitchen so I need to be fast.
My heart sinks when I realize the briefcase has a combination lock. It could be a number of codes. I can’t crack it, and I don’t have time.
I have no choice but to sneak back into the kitchen.
But I stop short when I see Andrew there. “I was just looking for you. Nico was wondering when dessert would be ready.”
I glance at the cheesecake on the counter, which the chef made it earlier before he left. “It’s ready now.” My hands shake as I grab out plates and begin to slice the cheesecake.
Andrew doesn’t leave the kitchen. “I don’t trust you,” he states point blank.
The knife in my hands clatters to the counter top.
“Nico is taken with you because you’re pretty. But I can see a mind behind those pretty eyes. You’re planning something, aren’t you?”
“No,” I whisper, keeping my eyes glued to the cheesecake.
“I looked into your father. For a successful business man, I couldn’t find much on John Keller. Why is that?”
My breath comes out faster. My chest squeezes tight. And my legs go numb.
Before I know it, I fall to the ground, my head hitting the tile floor, and everything around me goes black.
NICO
I hear a loud sound from the kitchen and hurry inside, only to find Aurora lying on the ground. Andrew just stands there, not doing a damn thing.
“What the fuck,” I snarl, rushing to Aurora’s side. I check the back of her head—blood. “We need to get her to the hospital.”
“No,” Andrew says. Enzo joins us, his eyes widening at the sight of Aurora on the ground.
“What do you mean no?” I ask, checking her pulse. She’s alive.
“We can’t get the police involved. If you take your unconscious wife to the hospital, the police will question you, which is the last thing you need right now.”
Fuck it. He’s right.
“Fine. Call my personal doctor. Maybe he can help.”
Andrew nods once. “Enzo, make the call.”
After a beat, Enzo pulls out his phone and calls the doctor.
I gently tap Aurora’s cheek, and her eyes flutter open. “Good. You’re alive.”
She frowns, her eyes looking around the kitchen frantically.
“You’re ok,” I tell her. “What happened?”
“She was just cutting the cheesecake,” Andrew says, “and then she fell over. No idea what that was about.”
Aurora’s eyes flash with some unspoken emotion, but she doesn’t correct Andrew. She only sighs. “Yes. I fell over. I felt my legs go numb.”
“You probably have a concussion. Maybe even something worse. My doctor will take a look at you, and if it’s worse, you’ll need to go to the hospital.”
“No hospitals,” Andrew says.
“Yes, a hospital,” I snarl. “If she has some internal bleeding in her brain, Andrew, then my doctor can only do so much. I won’t have you jeopardize my wife’s life because of your suspicions.”
“What suspicions?” Aurora asks.
She looks so innocent lying on the ground. There’s no way she can be anyone other than who she says. There’s too much sincerity in her eyes.
“Don’t worry about that,” I tell her. “Come on. Can you sit up?”
She winces as I help her up. A red blood puddle is left behind on the ground. She really did hit her head. Even though I’m not responsible, I still feel strangely guilty.
I run my knuckles down her cheek. “How do you feel?”
For just a moment, she leans into my hand. It’s a simple gesture, but it makes me feel a certain way.
Warmth. For the first time since meeting Aurora, I feel warmth for her.
“My head hurts.”
“We’ll get that looked at. I’m just glad you didn’t die. We just got married.”
She smiles sightly.
“The doctor will be here in a few minutes,” Enzo shares.
I give him a nod, and as I do, my gaze slides to Andrew. It could be the trick of the light, but I swear I catch him glaring at Aurora.
But it only lasts a moment, and I’m not sure if I imagined it or not.