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That’s the moment when the door opens, and Aurora casually walks inside the dining room. She gives Ludis a dispassionate glance and then turns her attention to me.
“Good morning,” she says.
“We’ll continue our discussion later,” I tell Ludis. He narrows his eyes on Aurora but says nothing as he leaves the dining room.
“Solnishko, you are late,” I tell her as she sits beside me at the table.
“I overslept,” she says with a shrug.
“Your visit to your aunt must have drained you,” I say and watch her tense.
“It did. We had a lot of catching up to do,” she rushes out. I arch my brows in amusement as the door opens and the staff brings in our breakfast. I wait for a few minutes for them to arrange the table.
“You may leave,” I tell them when they try to serve our food, then I turn to my wife. “You must have had plenty to discuss. I hope she isn’t upset that she was unable to attend our wedding,” I say mildly as I reach for a slice of toast. Aurora gives me a confused look as though she doesn’t understand.
“She wasn’t,” her voice comes out shaky. She hasn’t rehearsed these answers and it shows. I decide to keep pressing.
“How is she doing? Does your father know she’s in town?” I fire at her.
“She’s fine.” Aurora’s voice is tight. “She prefers not to spend time with my father during.” She spoons a serving of egg onto her plate, and it’s not lost on me that she is unable to meet my eyes. I have no doubt that she’s lying, and I’m determined to find out the truth about this strange woman.
I just wish it wasn’t turning out this way.
I force myself not to let my fucking emotions into the mix. Betrayal is par for the course in my world. I just wish it wasn’t coming from the woman I’m growing too fucking attached to.
***
“What do you mean this is everything?” I ask Ludis as he stares at me from across my desk. I can’t believe he couldn’t get anything else on the woman Aurora went to meet.
“That’s the best we could find,” Ludis reiterates. “She came in with a group of illegal immigrants a few weeks ago. Apart from that, there’s nothing. No history, no known associates.”
“Don’t you give me that bullshit. We both know this can’t be all there is,”I snarl. Why the fuck would Aurora be sneaking out to spend time with a complete stranger from Mexico? “I want you to dig deeper.” He says nothing, and I sense resentment swirling.
Goddammit, when the fuck is Petrov coming back?
“One more thing,” I say as Ludis turns to leave. “Aurora isn’t to leave the premises under any circumstances.”
“Got it,” he says, his shoulders set in a rigid line as he walks out the door. No doubt he’s as pissed at receiving these constant reprimands as I am at having to give them. But for fuck’s sake, when are things going to take a turn for the better?
I glare after him as he leaves then pick up the phone and dial Petrov’s number yet again. It rings through to voicemail. He hasn’t returned my calls for days and it’s making me edgy.
What the fuck is going on over there?
I need an outlet for my anger. The best way is to join my men on the training grounds. I snap my laptop shut and leave my office to head to the field. I’m about halfway there when I see Aurora walking toward me. She smiles as she comes closer, but I leave my expression blank.
“Lev,” she says with a questioning look.
“Aurora,” I respond, still impassive.
What’s going on in that pretty little head?
“I was just coming to see you,” Aurora says.
“Is there something you need?” I ask her. She frowns before she shakes her head.
“Alright,” I say as I walk past her.
I can feel her eyes burning my back, but I don’t have time for her right now. Not only has she become a major distraction in a time of turmoil, she’s beginning to seem like part of the problem. I need to focus on more important things right now. Like preparing my men for war. By the looks of it, my enemy is closer than I thought.
