The Reverence of a Man on Fire (BOOK II)

Chapter 32- The Woman I Love

--Giovanni POV--

She's the woman I love. And after telling her the story of my past, it has only made it that much more certain; She is the only one for me.

"Hey, big brother, I'm back!" My bedroom door slammed open, and I quickly put a finger to my lips as a sign of telling her to quieten down, which she did, but upon creeping further into my room, and looking at the sleeping figure which lay on my bed, her eyes popped out of their sockets before jumping back into place.

"Is that- Oh my god!" Once more, I hushed her, and she scoffed, waving me off, but turned away to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter.

After telling her about the kidnapping case, Aurora eventually fell asleep in my arms, and I put her to bed where she's silently been sleeping for the past hour as I comfortably sat beside her, reading a book.

And now that Lilliana's returned home, I doubt she'll stay asleep for much longer.

"What's Aurora doing here?" She asked, taking one last peek of her friend as if to make sure that it's Aurora and not someone that just resembled her.

"Sleeping, as you can see," I explained, but clearly, she wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"Are you guys dating? The air in this room is oddly confusing, I can't quite put my finger on it," She thought aloud, looking around the room as if expecting something to jump out at her, and I could only roll my eyes at her in response.

"I love her, she knows that. But what she feels for me isn't on the same level yet, and I won't rush her." I started as my sister raised a curious brow. "But I told her a story today,"

"What story?" She asked.

"The one from when I was a child," And there's only one story that I spoke with such hatred from my childhood, and out of everyone that knew the story, it wasn't hard to guess what it was.

"You mean... The amusement park..." I nodded my head. Other than my parents, Lilliana and Alex were the only people who knew about it, and now, Aurora was added to the list.

"Wow." She sighed, plopping down on the bed in sheer amazement.

"I know I'm always talking about getting you a lover, but I can't believe it now that it's actually happened. How odd, my brother is finally ready to settle down," She chuckled to herself as she spoke, eyes darting from me to Aurora before eventually turning away.

"She's not my lover. Yet." I replied.

"Of course, my bad." Rolling her eyes, she stood up, dusting her clothes down before turning to leave, pausing by the door to turn and look at me one last time.

"Make sure you treat her right, dear brother of mine. I know how stubborn you can be, but I hope you understand that being too stubborn is never right; Relationships are more fragile than people believe them to be..." Her words drifted off as she spoke, as though she were speaking from experience, which I knew she was. But I didn't say anything, Lilliana's history is one she will have to overcome in her own due time, there's nothing I can do but support her on that journey as she's done mine.

"Not this one." And I spoke with certainty. Aurora and my relationship is not one that can easily be broken, I'll solidify it for it to become unbreakable, and no one will dear call it fragile.

"Alright. I'll be downstairs with Alex. Come down when she wakes up, let's have lunch together before I have to leave tomorrow," Right, I almost forgot that she had to leave for South Korea tomorrow for a competition, but putting that aside for now, I nodded my head.

And as if on cue, once she left, I felt the rustling of Aurora waking up beside me, turning to look at her to see her shifting in the bed to cover her face in the pillows.