Chapter 3

• The following day I was up early, and am on my way to the Costanzo estate. I am a little excited to be training with Aurora, it’s been ages since we did. The car comes to a halt, which means I have arrived. I pay the driver and walk into the estate. I walk inside towards the backyard, and I stop once I reach the training area.
• “Andrea, I am so happy you could make it,” Aurora says, walking up to me.
• “Me too; I can’t wait to get started,” I say.
• “We should start any second now,”
• “Alright,” I say, placing my gym bag on the floor as Stefano arrives. He walks towards where Aurora, me and a few others are standing. He looks more ravishing than last night, even in gym clothes. I can even see his face a lot better today, thanks to the sunlight, and he looks more handsome. His toned arms are showing off the tattoos all over his upper body.
• “Aurora, you said you have a new partner today?” Stefano says.
• “Yes, I do. Andrea is going to be my partner today.”
• “Alright, Aurora, you and your partner are up first.”
• “Ok, what would you like for us to do first,” Aurora says, walking me with her to the center of the field. We take our stand opposite each other, and wait for Stefano to tell us what to do.
• “Aurora attack, while your partner should defend herself,” Stefano says.
• “Alright, Andrea, I am sorry,” Aurora says, throwing a punch my way. I block it sending one back at her, which she also blocks.
• “Aurora’s partner, I don’t need you to attack back, just defend yourself,” Stefano says in an annoyed tone.
• “Ok,” I am a little hurt he didn’t say my name, which means he forgot who I am.
• Aurora throws punch after punch with a few kicks and I try my best to defend myself, but I get a few hits.
• “Stop!” Stefano says while we are fighting. “Aurora’s partner, what in God’s name are you doing? I asked you to defend yourself, not get yourself beaten up,” Stefano says, annoyed.
• “I am trying my best, sorry it is not good enough,” I say, a little annoyed with his tone towards me because I know I was doing my best.
• “I don’t need sorry from you, just do what I ask. Defend yourself, not get beaten up. Begin again!”
• “Ok,” I say determined to prove him wrong.
• We don’t even get to continue for more than two minutes before he stops us again. I wonder what his problem is this time.
• “Oh My God! What is wrong with you? I simply asked you to do something, and you are doing the opposite. Aurora step aside, Aurora’s partner attack me so I can show you what I mean.”
• “Alright, and my name is Andrea,” I say, getting annoyed with him not using my name.
• “I don’t care, whatever your name is, just do what I asked”
• I attack him a little harder than I am supposed to, I am pissed off with the way he is speaking to me. I send a punch to his left jaw but he blocks it. I use my other arm to hit his ribs, but he grabs my hand and spins me around, I fall to the ground, swinging my leg across his face which he blocks with his arm. I use my knee to hit his rib and he blocks it with his palms. I must say Stefano is an excellent fighter, but that does not mean I am a bad one. While he is blocking my knee to his ribs, I use my other leg to tackle him to the ground, luckily for me, it works, or so I thought. I miss my step causing me to fall with him. I land on top of him and for a moment, I forget everyone around us and only stare into those beautiful green eyes of his. They are so beautiful I could stare into them all day, but that comes to a stop once he flips us over.
• “Aurora, change your partner, fight with James,” Stefano says while I lift myself off the ground. I am a little proud of myself for the way I fought him.
• We continue training till early in the afternoon before we call it a day. Aurora and I are walking towards the house when I decide to ask her a question that was on my mind before we started training today.
• “Aurora, why was your brother the one training us today.”
• “He is actually my trainer.”
• “Oh, Alright”
• “Yeah, and I am so sorry for the way he behaved. I can’t believe he refused to call you by your name.”
• “It’s fine, it is not your fault, your brother claims to not remember who I am.”
• “What do you mean?”
• “Last night, we bumped into each other, and he said he doesn’t recall who I am.”
• “Are you sure?” Aurora says, with the same confused look I had yesterday when, I found out he didn’t remember who I was.
• “Yes, I am.”
• “Wow, Stefano is truly something else, I know you might have changed a little, but you still look like your old self.”
• “I know, so I wonder why he does not seem to remember who I am.”
• “Maybe you just need to remind him that you were one of his fangirls, that will do the trick,” Aurora says, teasing me about the fact that I use to have a crush on Stefano.
• “I will do no such a thing!”
• “I am just kidding, don’t worry about him.”
• “Yeah, I won’t.”
• It’s been a few weeks since I last saw Aurora. This is my last week in Sicily before my family, and I fly back to Miami. She has been very busy with work. I am on my way to her office to pick her up for lunch. I arrive at her office building complex after a few minutes of driving. I step out of the car and walk inside. I speak to the receptionist on the ground floor, who directs me to Aurora’s office on the 66th floor.
• Taking the elevator to her floor, finding the office with ease. I knock on the door and step inside once I hear her say “Come in.”
• “Hi Aurora, how are you doing today,” I say, walking into her office.
• “I am doing good today, Andrea and you?” she says going through some documents in front of her.
• “I am fine, you seem so busy.”
• “I am so sorry Andrea, I know I said we could go for lunch today, but something unexpected happened, and I am trying to fix it.”
• “It’s fine, is the problem anything I can help you with?”
• “Actually, you can, but it would be too much of me to ask.”
• “I am willing to help, whatever it is.”
• “You are the best! Please help me proofread these documents and type these emails. Stefano’s secretary went into labor today and it is two weeks before her due date, so I have a lot on my plate before the replacement comes tomorrow,” Aurora says, handing me two separate documents.
• “Oh, I am so sorry, I hope the baby is fine?”
• “The baby is fine; I should be the one apologizing. I am making you work during your vacation.”
• “It’s fine, I do not mind helping at all.”
• “Thank you so much, I will have my secretary bring you a laptop.”
• “Alright”
• It’s been a few hours since I started helping Aurora, the pile of work she has on her plate is so much, that I feel bad for her. I am done proofreading the documents she gave me and I am on my way to Stefano’s office to give them to him. I didn’t know the papers I was working on were for him until I gave them back to Aurora and she asked me to take them to him.
• The elevator arrives on his floor, I step out and walk to his office. I knock on his door, when a husky voice says, “Come in,” I turn the doorknob and step inside. I walk inside to find him busy with a call.
• I place the documents on his table and turn around to walk out, only stopping when he asks me to wait for him to finish his call. I take a seat in front of him, and admire him while he works. He looks a bit stressed, which I understand, but it does not make him look less attractive in my eyes. Once he ends the call, he picks up the document and starts reading them.
• “Who proofreads these documents?” He asks, going through the papers.
• “I did.”
• “Take the papers in front of you, type them and have them ready for me in an hour.”
• “Excuse me,” I say, a little confused as to why he is talking to me like I am his employee.
• “Also, I like my coffee black”
• “Who do you think I am?”
• “If you are not my new secretary, what are you doing proofreading my documents,” Stefano says in an annoyed tone.
• “I am not your new secretary. I am Andrea, your sister’s friend,” I say, starting to get pissed at him for not remembering who I am
• “I know who you are, I assumed you were my new secretary given the fact that you were the one who proofread the papers.”
• “Oh,” I say, a little surprised he acknowledged knowing who I am.
• “Yes, now get out,” he says, stunning me with his harsh tone then goes back to work.
• “The least you could have said is” Thank you,” I say before walking out.