4. Aurora
CHAPTER 4
Aurora
Somehow, I had let my mother convince me that marrying Matteo Santoro was a good decision, so here I am. I was half drunk from a night out with friends the evening before my wedding. I had wanted to get completely wasted and forget about my impending nuptials, but my ego wouldn’t let me.
The thought of marrying Matteo Santoro already made me sick to my stomach; I didn’t need a raging hangover to make it worse. Quietly, I opened the door to my childhood home and tiptoed up the stairs to my room.
My parents’ room was on the other side of the mansion, and I’m an adult, but old habits die hard. The night air still clung to my skin, reminding me of the carefree laughter and companionship of a pleasant evening spent with friends.
The joy of my last evening as a ‘free’ woman evaporated when I entered my room. My heart jolted when I saw who was waiting for me.
Matteo sat in my dimly lit room. His muscular frame cast a shadow on the walls, but the darkness obscured his features. My light-hearted joy was replaced by irritation at the intrusion of his unwanted presence.
What is he doing here and why? More importantly, why does he think he has the right to enter my personal space?
Setting my purse down, I crossed my arms and looked at the man I was set to marry in less than twenty-four hours. “Matteo, what are you doing here?” My voice was sharp and annoyed as I walked to my dresser to remove my earrings.
Mateo’s gaze hardened as he stood and began walking toward me. My spine tingled as he looked at me with a predatory gleam. “It’s late. I’ve been waiting for you all night.”
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I turned and faced the dresser mirror. “I can see that, but why? Why wait for me in the dark?”
“I wanted to talk to you.” His voice wasn’t gruff, but it had an edge that made me uneasy. It sounded like steel.
“Well, you could have called or waited until morning like a normal person. What is so important that it couldn’t wait?”
His jaw tightened as he walked closer, closing the distance between us.
“I want to know where you were, and I want to know who you are sleeping with.”
Taken aback by his sudden demand to know about my personal life, I blinked and started laughing. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, Aurora,” his voice now dripping with anger. “I will not allow my future wife to carry on an affair right under my nose. I have a reputation to consider.”
Boiling anger rose from deep with me, and my cheeks flushed with righteous indignation. “How dare you barge into my room and accuse me of something you have no proof of! Who the hell are you to say how I can live my life? Just because we are engaged to be married doesn’t give you the right to say what I can or cannot do!”
“Who I was with is none of your damn business. And if I want, I will see whomever I choose. Who I sleep with is my concern, not yours. Besides, it’s the night before my wedding, and I can have a little fun.”
It wasn’t true, but he didn’t need to know that. Letting him think I’d been with another man instead of out with a group of girlfriends gave me a feeling of power and control. Power and control I desperately needed.
Matteo’s expression remained stoic, his stance unwavering. “I’m your fiancé, Aurora. It is my right to know.”
My frustration had reached its peak. Scoffing, I reminded him, “Fiancé in name only Matteo. Don’t forget that this marriage is nothing more than a business deal struck between you and my father. There’s never been any love between us, so there is no love lost.”
“I’m aware of our unique situation, Aurora. However, it does not make it okay for you to seek comfort in the arms of another man.”
His comment turned my irritation to anger in less than a second. “I can’t believe you dare to say that to me. Especially when you have made it abundantly clear that you have no intention of being faithful.”
Matteo’s lips turned into a sardonic smile, one that made me shiver. “Ah, yes, this is true. I have no intention of being a faithful husband, nor do I intend to be discreet about it. I have no illusions about our arrangement, but as you know, I am a very important man. It wouldn’t look right for my wife to be running into the arms of another man. I won’t tolerate it.”
Am I in a time warp? Does he think this is 1922, and I am just supposed to turn a blind eye while he sleeps with half the town? Yeah, I don’t think so. My patience, or what was left of it, was wearing thin. “Then perhaps we should finally agree to call off this sham of a wedding once and for all.”
Matteo’s steel gray eyes hardened to charcoal slits as he clenched his jaw in frustration. “That’s not an option. Aurora. This ‘arrangement’ is of great importance, not only to me but to your family as well. We cannot abandon it now.”
I was reaching my breaking point, and my voice shook with anger as I yelled, “I refuse to be confined to you for the rest of my life, Matteo. It isn’t fair! I can’t do it. I won’t do it…”
Before I could finish, I felt Matteo’s hand on my cheek. It was soft, unlike him, yet firm. I started to protest, but as soon as words began to form, his lips crashed into mine in a searing kiss.
Reeling from the unexpectedness of the intimate moment, I was too stunned to react. But as Matteo deepened the kiss, his hold on me tightening, something within me stirred and came to life. It was a unique mixture of anger, defiance, and something I couldn’t pinpoint. Maybe because I didn’t want to.
With a surge of adrenaline, I pushed Matteo away, breaking free from his grasp. “Do not ever touch me like that again!” My chest was heaving from anger, and even though I didn’t want to admit it, lust. The fact that I enjoyed kissing Matteo Santoro made me angry, angrier than I should have been.
Unfazed by my rejection, Matteo only smirked. Sparkles of triumph glittered in his eyes as he attempted to stroke my face gently.
“Consider that a preview of our wedding night and many nights after, my dear Aurora. You may not want me now, but I can damn well promise you that you will.”
Walking to the door after his confident declaration, he left me alone in the confines of my dark room, my heart pounding in my chest as I struggled to make sense of what had just happened. My brain was a rollercoaster of emotions, and I didn’t know how to stop.
Unable to sleep, I paced back and forth in my room, replaying Matteo’s words in my mind. Was he really that arrogant? Did he actually think he had some “claim” on me?
This marriage is nothing but a business arrangement that I am caught in the middle of. There is no love or affection between us. It didn’t make sense.
I could barely stand in the same room with Matteo Santoro, so his kiss threw me for a loop. No matter how I try to rationalize it, I am faced with the knowledge that it stirred something in me that has been dormant for far too long.
Beneath the layers of defiance and resentment, there was desire. Desire for a man I despised. The idea was maddening. How could my brain scream no while my body screamed yes?
Frustrated, I collapsed onto my bed and buried my face in the pillow. Tomorrow should be the happiest day of my life. I may not want to be Mrs. Matteo Santoro, but at least I would be free from the scrutinizing eye of my father and his sexist way of thinking. Instead, I realize I am marrying a man who makes my determination look like a kitten facing a lion. I felt trapped. I was trapped by a situation I couldn’t control and forever tied to a man I never wanted.
No matter how hard I tried to sleep, the hours ticked by like a time bomb luring me into the smoky haze of my unknown future. Sleep eluded me. When I closed my eyes, all I saw was Matteo’s penetrating gaze and his mocking and mischievous smile. He haunted my thoughts as time slowly crawled toward a union I couldn’t escape.
Damnit, Dad. What was so important that you had to make a deal with the Devil himself?
When the first light of dawn peaked through the curtains, I had resolved myself to the realization that my life would never be the same. After today, I would be Mrs. Matteo Santoro, bound to him for better or worse. Our lives would now be intertwined in ways I couldn’t fully understand.
Unwillingly and with a heavy heart, I got out of bed and headed to the shower to prepare for my ‘big day.’ Too bad it felt more like preparing for a funeral.
Shaking my head to rid myself of my morose thoughts, I made a vow to myself. I may not have chosen this direction for my life, but now that it was happening, I would do everything I could to make it okay. Husband or not, I would be damned if I let Matteo Santoro control my destiny.
No matter what, I will continue to fight. I will not sit silent and let my life be controlled. No matter what the cost may be, I will determine my future, my way, and on my terms. If my ‘husband’ doesn’t like it, that’s his problem.
My mind was made up; I chose to ignore the nagging feeling that Matteo’s kiss had awakened something inside me that would not easily go away. The lingering thought of “what if, despite my resolve, there is some iota of truth in his ‘claiming’ me last night?”
Not wanting to entertain the thought, I turned my stereo on to drown out the voices in my head. As I sang along to Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” (a fitting song for my wedding day), I knew that no matter what, I would be okay. This Italian grumpy billionaire kingpin of Manhattan, Matteo Santoro, has met his match. Even if he doesn’t know it yet.