Page 16 of Hired By the Consigliere

'I hope I didn't strike a nerve with that question,'Ludovic had asked but he’d done exactly what he intended to do. He tried to test us to see how serious we were. He wanted to see whether or not I was just the playboy that he thought that I was. In all fairness I was but my whole point of the charade was to prove to him otherwise.

'Oh, no. Not at all.'I had forced a smile to cover my anxious nerves and scrambled for an explanation.

‘It's just that your young lady seemed a bit flustered when I brought up marriage. Is she not interested in getting married?'

'No. We're both interested in getting married. We're actually already engaged. It's just that we haven't had a chance to tell our families yet. I haven't even told Matteo. So, she wasn't exactly sure what to say once you brought it up. I'm sure she didn't want to lie to you but at the same time she probably didn't want the truth to come out before our families knew.’

‘I apologize. I never should have brought it up. And I will keep your secrets, of course. This is very exciting, though. You will send me an invitation to the wedding won't you?’

‘Of course.’Panic shot through me at the thought of a wedding inviting him. I didn't know how I would get out of it but at least he wasn't doubting our relationship anymore.‘You won’t mention this to her, will you? I don't want Aurora to know that I confided in you before our families.’

‘It'll be our little secret. I won't say a word.’

‘Grazie.’

The only good thing had been that the conversation with Ludovic wasn’t in front of Aurora. I was sure she would have panicked and left me right there. She didn't sign up for an engagement or wedding. I figured we would just fake the date until Ludovic went home in a week. If it ever came up again, I could come up with some reason why we had broken up that didn't make me look like a playboy.

I stalked over to my drink cart and poured a scotch, draining the whole glass in one go.How am I going to get myself out of this? How am I going to explain it to Aurora?

I poured myself another drink and began pacing before finally heading off to my home office, where I did my best thinking.

I stayed up most of the night brainstorming ideas on how I might be able to get out of the mess I’d made, but I came up empty. Other than actually going through with the engagement and wedding, my only other option would be to continue the charade of an engagement and have something come up where we break up before the wedding. That would mean a longer arrangement with Aurora and more risk of being discovered.

We’d have to be careful, and I wanted to make sure that I presented another arrangement to her in a way that she knew that it was still nothing more than a business arrangement. It would have to last a couple of months to make it believable.

I also wanted to make sure that I offered her enough to make it worth her while so that she would agree to my offer. There was no going back on what I’d told Ludovic and no choosing another woman since he’d already met her.

The next morning, I got up, got ready for work, and debated whether to call Delphine to ask about extending my arrangement or calling Aurora directly. Calling Delphine meant bypassing the dreaded conversation with Aurora where I admit my mistake in telling Ludovic that we were engaged and try my best to convince her to keep up the ruse. But it was only a temporary fix and I owed Aurora the respect of talking to her first.

As much as I wanted and needed for her to agree, I didn't want to trap her into the arrangement and knowing Delphine, she would have pressured her into it for the money. I let out a heavy sigh before pulling my phone from my pocket, setting my mind to what I had to do. I dialed Aurora's number and waited for her to answer but the phone rang until it went to voicemail.

“Ciao,Aurora, it's Enzo. I need to speak with you at your earliest convenience. If you would please give me a call back I would greatly appreciate it.”

I ended the call and left my apartment, heading to my favorite cafe close to my office. It was the same place that I ate breakfast every morning and they had the best coffee in the city. I'd once offered to buy the cafe with the promise of keeping all the same workers and management, but they wouldn't sell.

I was about halfway to the cafe when my phone rang, and I answered it on speaker as I drove."Ciao?"

"Ciao.Enzo?" It was Aurora.

"Sì. Aurora, thank you for calling me back.”

“Of course. Is everything all right?”

“Yes.” I remembered that she was on call for me for the next week per our arrangement. She probably expected there to be some event with Ludovic. “There were some developments in the situation with Ludovic that I was hoping we could discuss. I'm heading to Ricci's cafe, close to my office. Would you be able to meet me there so that we could talk?”

"Sì. Of course. Considering I work for you now, you just have to tell me when and where." Her voice sounded lighter than I’d ever heard it before.

"Good." I liked the sound of her being at my beck and call.

"I can be there in about fifteen minutes."

"I'll be there in about five, so I'll order for us. Is there anything in particular that you would like?"

"Just a coffee would be fine. I'll see you soon."

We ended the call. Just a coffee would not do. She needed more than that to sustain her and I needed to buy myself more time than a cup of coffee would allow.

I got to the cafe and ordered a wide variety of breakfast dishes and two cappuccinos. There would have to be something that Aurora would like.

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