Chapter 2

• A few days have gone by since I visited Aurora. My family and I are on our way to Mr. Costanzo’s annual charity ball. I am wearing a blue A-line frock with lace on one-shoulder, the dress is embroidered with black and white and has a slit up the thigh. I matched it with a pair of diamond heart earrings, black heels, and a clutch.
• The car comes to a halt, we all step out of the car and walk into the hotel where the ball is being held. If I remember well, this hotel is owned by Mr. Costanzo. I am walking hand in hand with Santiago as his date because one of his bimbos bailed on him. We walk into a ballroom filled with elite people all dressed in the finest of designer clothing. Santiago and I walk around saying “hi” to a few familiar faces, primarily to him, until Aurora pulls me away.
• “Are you having a nice time,” Aurora asks taking a sip of her wine.
• “If you refer to having a nice time as enjoying good wine in the company of people I don’t know, then I am having a great time,” I say with a fake chuckle and sarcasm dripping in my words
• “I know this isn’t your ideal way of having a good time, but you have to try at least.”
• “I know, enough about me, who is that guy over there who can’t seem to take his eyes off you.”
• “If you are referring to the guy in a blue suit with a scar on his brow, I would rather have a mad man admire me tonight than him.”
• “Wow, do you mind me asking why all the hostility towards him”
• “He is known for abusing women. No one has been able to put him in jail, but it doesn’t mean they are all lying.”
• “That’s awful, but one day he is going to pay for his crimes.”
• “I hope so, I have been meaning to ask you, how long will you be staying in Sicily?”
• “I don’t know for sure but a month tops and it all depends on when my dad will be done with his business affairs.”
• “Oh, alright, I might be a little too busy this week to show you around the city.”
• “That’s fine, it’s not like it is my first time here. I spent a year here the last time I was here, I still remember a few nice places.”
• “That’s good, but I would really like to show you around the city myself again.”
• “I wouldn’t mind, and I have been meaning to tell you, your combat skills have really improved over the years.”
• “You think so.”
• “Yes, I do.”
• “That’s good, because my trainer believes I still need to improve.”
• “He or she doesn’t know what they are saying, you are great.”
• “Thank you, and why don’t you join me for training tomorrow. You could improve your skills while you are in town. My trainer is the best in the world.”
• “I don’t think improving my combat skills speaks vacation.”
• “I know, but it might actually be fun training together.”
• “I don’t know…” I say, feeling too lazy to train.
• “Please?”
• “Alright, I will join you tomorrow but, not for the whole time I am around.”
• “Thank you, it would be nice to have another female training partner aside from my sister.”
• “You are welcome,” I say as I see Melissa, Aurora’s sister, walking towards us. She is the female version of her father, Lorenzo Costanzo. The same green eyes with pitch-black hair. She is almost as tall as Aurora, with a roaring height of five feet, five inches and a beautiful round face.
• “Hi, Andrea, it’s been ages since I last saw you. How are you doing” Melissa says.
• “I could say the same, I am doing fine, how about you?”
• “Never been better; I just got a new car,” Melissa says excitedly.
• “Courtesy of being daddy’s little girl,” Aurora adds in.
• Melissa is the last child of the Costanzo family, with that comes being spoiled a lot, but that’s not the case for me. I guess maybe it’s because there are only two of us, and she has three older siblings.
• “Whatever, Aurora, I came to tell you, Mom is looking for you.”
• “Oh, alright, let her know I will be with her in a minute.”
• “Alright, bye, Andrea. See you another time,” Melissa says walking away.
• “Andrea, give me a few minutes, I will be back soon,” Aurora says, standing up.
• “Alright, no problem. I will be at the bar when you get back. I want to get a refill of my drink,” I say, as I stand up.
• “Alright, I will meet you there when I get back,” Aurora says, walking behind her sister.
• “Okay,” I say, walking towards the bar.
• I get to the bar and order a drink while I wait for Aurora. A few minutes go by, and Aurora is still not back, so I decided to walk around. While I am walking, I use my phone to entertain myself by scrolling through Instagram. I wish I didn’t because of what comes next. I bump into someone, causing my whole drink to spill on the person. I quickly put my phone away and try to clean the mess I made.
• “I am so sorry; I should have been looking where I was going,” I say, using my hands to clean his shirt, which I am sure cost more than my dress even though it is very expensive.
• “You think! Would you stop touching me! He says, removing my hands from his body, realizing, I was only making it worse with my horrible attempt at cleaning the stain with my hand.
• I am looking through my clutch for tissue but stop once his voice sinks deep into my ears. I can’t believe it’s him; I don’t know if I should be excited or sad to see him knowing our history. I thought he was in Spain, according to what Aurora told me a few days ago.
• I might be wrong; I lift my eyes to look at the man whose shirt I just ruined. I wish I didn’t because the anger in those beautiful green eyes of his tells me he won’t be happy to know it’s me who ruined his suit.
• He still looks as handsome as the day I last saw him. His pitch-black hair is styled to make him look professional and hot at the same time. His body is toned and ripped with muscles that even his suit can’t hide. He still looks as handsome as ever. What did I expect? He is Stefano Costanzo, after all, one of the sexiest men to walk the earth.
• “Stefano, I am so sorry I ruined your suit, if you want, I can have it dry cleaned for you,” I say, still attempting to clean the stain.
• “I said stop touching me! How do you know my name?” he says, and it feels like a punch has been thrown at my heart.
• “You don’t know who I am?” I say, shocked and hurt, he doesn’t recognize or remember me.
• “Why should I know who you are? Excuse me, thank you for ruining my shirt,” he says storming away before I can even say another word. I can’t believe he doesn’t remember who I am. I spent a whole year living in his parents’ house.