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Aurora

Aurora stared wide eyed at the blonde haired man who mimicked the same look on her face. Her mouth was stuffed with cookies and her cheeks were puffed out, which made her look like a chipmunk. It was a comical expression on her face, wide eyes and puffed out cheeks.

The man in front of her was the same man who was with Matteo at the cafe. She remembered him from the little incident that happened with Chandler. He stood with his mouth agape and his eyebrow twitching, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. She feared that his eyes might pop out of his head from being so wide.

She wondered if he was okay.

Suddenly he let out a loud screeching noise that made her heart jump. "What the fuck?! Why is there a woman here in your house, Matteo?"

Matteo entered the living room with no expression on his face. He simply just rolled at his eyes at the other gentleman in the room.

"Shut the fuck up. Your voice is giving me a headache."

She didn't like how they kept using bad words. It wasn't very nice to use those bad words and she didn't like it.

The man kept looking between the two of them, his head shaking from side to side. He kept looking back and forth, looking at Aurora and then back at Matteo with his mouth still wide open. She inwardly giggled at how weird the man looked with his eyes and mouth wide open.

"Are you not going to explain yourself?" he yelled.

His voice was awfully loud and she winced at how it penetrated her poor eardrums.

Matteo sighed. "I found her passed out on the street." was all he said to the man.

Aurora was still munching on her cookies when it was suddenly swiped away from her. She whined at the sudden taking of her cookies and looked up to see Matteo standing in front of her with a stern look on his face.

She made grabby hands to let him know that she wanted the plate of cookies back but he pulled it further away from her.

"No more." he said.

Aurora pouted and let out a small whine. She was enjoying the cookies so much because she can't remember the last time she had tasted something like that. It didn't happen often when she had sweet treats and when she finally had it, the rude man snatched it away from her.

Meanie Matteo.

"Isn't this the girl who walked in on you almost murdering Chandler?" Reggie asked.

Matteo just gave him a nod and Aurora felt her heart sink at what he said. If she hadn't walked in on him, Chandler might have died. If Chandler was killed, she wouldn't have any friends left and the cafe would be down one chef. The cafe might have gone down in flames if they had lost Chandler, his yummy meals kept the customers coming.

Aurora nearly jumped out of her skin for the second time this evening when a weight was suddenly plopped down next to her. With a frightened gaze she stared at the blonde haired man who took a seat next to her on the couch. He was too close for her liking, his oddly smirking face was shoved in front of hers.

He smiled at her. "Hey, I'm Reggie. What's your name?"

She was still flustered and frightened from the close proximity between the two of them. "A-Aurora."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl." Reggie winked at her.

She blushed at that. "She's a cute one, bossman. Shame on you for wanting to keep her to yourself."

"You know how my family is." Matteo said as he took a seat.

Reggie laughed. He looked at Aurora who was twiddling her thumbs. "How old are you? Twelve?"

Aurora gasped. "T-twenty!"

She felt her cheeks turn red as she glared at Reggie. She always felt insulted when people thought she was still a young teenager, and they rubbed it in her face that she looked like a child. She also remembered the night when Matteo said she looked way younger than she really is.

She couldn't help by having the features of a child.

Reggie burst out laughing. "Y-you're so cute."

Aurora continued to glare at him as he laughed at her. This man was mean even though he was funny, but he was still mean.

"Why are you here, Reggie?" Matteo asked, his voice was no serious.

Reggie sobered up and wiped a tear from laughing too much. He cleared his throat before answering Matteo, "Everyone is at the shipment pickup including Vincent. I was bored out of my mind and decided to pay my favorite boss a visit."

"I'm your only boss."

"Exactly." Reggie winked. "Your father contacted me this morning. He said he couldn't reach you. Miskav is planning to have a meeting with you and your father in exactly two days."

"Miskav? For?"

Reggie shrugged. "There were no details given only that he wanted to speak to you very urgently, Mr bossman."

Aurora felt very out of place as she sat on the couch, listening to the two men discuss something that she wasn't familiar with. She had a slight understanding that they weren't just ordinary men who engaged in any type of business, like working in a company. She realized that the moment she saw Matteo press a gun against someone's head.

They were obviously talking about very sketchy business but she didn't feel comfortable listening to them talk like this. They were most likely gangsters who were talking about illegal things and doing illegal business.

"If that's all you came to tell me, then you can leave now."

Reggie gasped. "But Mr bossman, I wanted to talk more to the lady." Reggie whined.

"Out." he said sternly.

Aurora nearly giggled at the pout Reggie had on his face as he hung his head in defeat. He was behaving like a child who got his toys taken away from him. He let out a long, exasperated sigh as he glanced at Aurora.

He took her hand in his and gave it a light kiss. "Until next time, amore mio." he winked at her.

He must have a problem with his eye because he has been winking a bit too much today.

"Reggie."

He shot up from his seat with his hands in the air, in mock surrender. "Fine fine, I'm leaving."

Reggie blew Aurora a kiss before exiting the lounge. She let out a giggle at his childish tactics and found that Reggie was now her favorite out of the two men. Realizing that there were two men sitting in the lounge, the better one leaving, she suddenly felt nervous being with him alone.

She began to fiddle with her fingers, finding them more interesting than the stillness between the two of them. He had a habit of being silent and she couldn't understand how he was so good at not talking.

It was quiet now that Reggie was gone and the atmosphere was indeed awkward. Maybe not so much for Matteo as he was, in not a discreet way, staring at her. Something that he always did whenever she was near.

"W-when can I g-go home?" she asked him nervously, looking anywhere but him.

"When do you want to?"

"I-I don't know." she muttered shyly.

She thought about it for a moment. She had to admit she wasn't excited at the least to go back to her crappy apartment, a place that didn't feel homy for her. She wasn't thrilled at the idea that she had to go back to that cold place, instead of staying at this warm one.

Matteo's place felt better than her apartment. There was a bed that was in a good shape, a bathroom that had a shower which produced warm water instead of cold water. His house even smelt good and she felt safe when she stayed here, meanwhile back at her apartment she did not feel safe at all.

There were always men who were watching Aurora as if she was a piece of meat thrown into the lion's den. They gave her weird looks that made her stomach churn and she had to walk past them to get to her apartment. She hated those moments when she had to do that, but it couldn't be helped.

It felt good to stay here but she knew that all good things must come to an end.

She thought about Kitty and immediately she felt the need to leave. Kitty must be starving while Aurora was in some man's home, eating until her tummy can't take it.

"Kitty." she whispered as she began to cry.

She didn't know why she was crying all of a sudden but she knew that it was maybe because she left her cat alone. She was never so long without Kitty. The only time she left her cat at home was when she had to go to work. She felt like she had abandoned her and was being selfish by eating all the food while her cat starved.

Matteo heard her sniffles. "Kitty?"

Aurora looked at him with glossy eyes. "Kitty's alone." she said before she started crying even harder.

"Who?" he asked, seeming very confused.

She didn't answer him as she was crying at the thought of her cat alone in her apartment.

She felt the spot next to her dip and felt his body heat radiating off him. "What's wrong, agnellino?"

She sniffled as she looked up at him. Up close, he was even more pretty. Her lips were trembling and she wiped her tears furiously with the back of her hand. He must have thought she was behaving like a child by crying like one.

"I'm a t-terrible mommy." she sobbed.

He furrowed his brows, confused by that. "What do you mean?"

"I l-left Kitty all alone, Matteo. M-my cat is all a-alone." she started full on crying.

"Your cat?" he asked himself slowly.

She grabbed his shirt with her tiny hands and buried her face in his chest. She sobbed against his hard body at the thought of Kitty standing by her bowl, meowing as she waited for her food. She thought about how much of a terrible mother she must have been, and cried against his chest.

She felt his big hand against her back. His touch was gentle, almost as if it wasn't there but she could feel him. He began to awkwardly pat her slightly on the back before the pats turned into him rubbing her back. His touch was soothing and it made her body feel hot from where he was touching her, and it made her feel calm.

Matteo was so warm.

"Shhh, agnellino. I'm sure she's fine." he whispered in her ear.

She shook her head. "S-she must be h-hungry, Matteo. She n-needs to get food o-or she will d-die."

Kitty can't die. She can't picture herself living without her cat. Kitty is everything to her.

"She won't die."

"Y-you don't k-know that!"

Matteo lifted her head, placing his fingers underneath her chin. The coldness of the rings on his finger made her slightly shiver from the sensation, and she looked in his eyes.

"Do you want to go back to Kitty then?" he asked her.

She nodded her head without hesitation.

"Words." he snapped.

She gulped. "Y-yes please." Matteo hummed in satisfaction.

She couldn't be too long without seeing her cat but at the back of her mind she wanted to stay here. She wanted to stay here with him.

She hadn't known him that long and the times that she has seen him he always had a mean look on his face. Their time together always ended off on a not so very good way but right now all Aurora wanted was someone. She wanted to comfort she had never received and if it was Matteo, in this moment she didn't really mind.

With his thumb, he wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "I'll take you home tomorrow morning. Okay, little lamb?"

"Okay." she smiled.

She noticed the corner of Matteo's lip twitch before if disappeared. She could be seeing things but she thought he almost smiled.

"Let's get you to bed." he said.

Hey hey hey!

This chapter was so adorable omg. Reggie is becoming my favorite character in this book, I just love everything about him.

I want to protect Aurora at all costs, that little bundle of cuteness.

Anyway until next time!

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