A small pained wince escaped her parted lips and she quickly withdrew her fingers from the spot. There was red blooming on her neck already, the jerk had almost crushed her windpipe.

Aurora sighed, picking up the wipe and sliding it across her face, it was still nighttime and Mason has been the one to drive her back home. Although, he kept questioning her as to why she wanted to leave early, luckily for her it was almost time to her curfew so she used that as an excuse.


Now that she was inside her room, her eyes glued on the tender area on her skin, Aurora felt like crying again. Evan was maniacal and he had to be stopped, whatever he was planning.

The slight rapping sound on her door caused her to flinch and she turned towards it, her heart pounding erratically.

Aurora wasn't always used to locking her doors but ever since her stepbrother's display, she wasn't going to take the chance again.


"Miss Aurora?" A familiar voice called from behind although it sounded muffled, "It's me, Rosa."

She breathed out and slowly rose to her feet, she unlocked the door with two clicks before pulling it open and returning back to her dresser. The sound of Rosa's soft footsteps approaching echoed and her eyes fell on the glass the woman had placed on top the dresser.


Aurora's head snapped upwards and her brows scrunched together. Rosa smiled warmly, placing a hand on her cheek,

"I heard you were back so I made warm milk for you, it'll help curb the hangover you're bound to feel tomorrow."

Aurora wanted to explain that she was already sober enough but decided it wasn't worth it, so she just nodded

"Thank you."

Rosa's eyes roamed over her face and she shifted uncomfortably. The nanny had been in the household for as long as Aurora could remember, if there was anyone she could hide her true feelings from then it wasn't this woman standing here.

"Are you okay, mi pequeña?" Rosa asked gently, her thumb rubbing back and forth in a soothing manner.

Aurora tired to speak but her tongue suddenly felt too heavy to lift so she settled for shaking her head. Rosa's dark eyes clouded with worry and her features crumpled, before she could expect it the older woman wrapped her bulky arms around Aurora, surrounding her with a comforting scent.

Tears that Aurora didn't know was brewing rose up to her eyes and her throat bobbed painfully, she returned the hug by loosely hanging her arms around Rosa's waist. Neither of them said a word, Rosa kept running her hand down Aurora's back and she in turn let the tears run freely down her face, her mouth parted in a scream but no sound came out.

That night, she refused to go to bed alone so Rosa chose to sleep by her side, singing a soothing melody in a language Aurora didn't understand but it worked it's magic. Because she soon fell into a dreamless sleep with only one agenda in mind and that was,

Thwarting Evan's plans.



Aurora paced back and forth, nervously weaving her fingers together. She peeked through the narrow entrance when she thought she heard a noise but it a stray cat that had dunked into the large trashcan. She expelled another anxious breath, her eyes falling on the tiny pins of her watch. It'd been fifteen minutes now,

Where the heck was he?

"Hey."

She nearly jumped out of her skin, spinning so fast that she lost her balance and toppled to the ground. Luckily, his reflexes was fast enough so he caught her by her waist and pulled her to his front.

Aurora glared unamused by his antics but his smile widened, "That was not funny," She swatted his chest and pulled away from him.

"It was meant to scare and not humour you."

"Ha-ha, very genius of you," She muttered in a sarcastic tone, moving to pull out the file from her handbag, "Here, it contains everything you need to know about him."

Ryan gingerly accepted the brown folder and flipped it open, his eyes roaming over its contents. Aurora sunk her teeth into the corner of her bottom lip as she watched him.

In all honesty, she'd thought about this a billion times and each time, she was convinced that he was the only person she could trust to do this job. He was the only person she had.

"So what do you need me to do?" He questioned, lifting his gaze to hers, "Kill him?"

She gawked at him, almost choking on her spit, "What? No! He's my brother."

He gave her a slow, dubious look, "Then why did you give me this?"

She sighed wearily, her eyes cautiously going to the entrance. Nobody would be able to find them here, it was an inconspicuous location and that was why she chose it for their afternoon rendezvous but she still couldn't help the anxiety that toiled in her gut.

"I want you to monitor him, or place someone who can. Just watch whatever he does and report back to me."

Ryan arched a brow and took a step forward, she took two back, "Why do you want me to do that?" He waved the folder in her face, "Don't you rich people normally have goons for this kind of work?"

Aggravated, Aurora stretched on her tiptoes so they were at eye-level, "I don't know anyone who I can trust and besides, my parents monitor my expenditures. What do you think will happen if they find out I hired someone to trail my younger brother?"

Ryan cocked his head to the side, seemingly unimpressed by her arguement, "So you're not going to pay me for this?"

Aurora bit back a retort and fell back on her heels. It wasn't like she was not planning on paying him, she would but it was going to take some time. After her splurging yesterday, her parents would definitely raise a brow if they found out she spent more money again.

"I'm not going to do this myself but the person I'll be hiring will want to get paid," She still didn't respond so he sighed, folding his arms across his wide chest, "Why do you even want to do this? Trailing your brother, I mean."

Aurora's shoulders slumped and he let out a distressed grunt. She squealed when he grabbed her arms, forcing her head up to face him,

"I need to know what I'm getting into before I put one of my guys out there."

He was right. He did deserve to know, even if it wasn't going to be the entire story.

"He's planning on something," She finally relented after much contemplation, "I don't know what it is but it's targeted at my mother and I have to find out what it is or at least, try to stop him."

Her throat itched and she scratched at the scarf concealing the area. When she woke up this morning, she was shocked to see that the area was still an angry red, even using concealer didn't do anything so she opted for tying a scarf around it.

The idea was less than pleasant since it itched every now and then.

Ryan's eyes fell to the area and a small crease appeared between his brows, "Why the fuck are you wearing a scarf? It's summer, you know."

"It's what's en vogue and besides, doesn't it match my beret?" She tipped her head a little to show the grey hat she'd placed on her head.

Ryan muttered something under his breath that sounded a little bit like fashion and it's stupidity but she smiled instead.

"So?" She pressed, eyeing him hopefully, "Will you do it?"

He blew out a breath and tucked the folder underneath his arm, "Have I ever been able to say no to you."

Although, it was a statement, she found herself shaking her head and grinning excitedly. He was going to do it and that meant she would finally have the upper hand.