Page 17 of Hired By the Consigliere

She arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later and I stood from my chair to kiss her cheeks. "Ciao."

"Ciao. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting." I pulled out a chair for her, waiting for her to sit before taking my place again.

"It's no problem. I wasn't waiting long, and this was a last-minute meeting. I've already ordered you a cappuccino."

"Perfect.Grazie." After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she continued. "So, you said that you had something to discuss?"

"Yes." I opened my mouth to start to explain when the waitress arrived with the cappuccinos and food. I was not looking forward to the conversation and knew that there was a chance that she could refuse me. Our agreement had only been for one week. She wasn't part of thefamilyso she was under no obligation to agree to a new arrangement, but I hoped that the money would be enticing enough.

"There's so much food here. You couldn't possibly have ordered all this for yourself.” Her eyes widened as she gazed at the assortment of food on the table.

“I wasn't sure what you would like so I ordered a variety. I'm sure there's something here that looks good to you.”

“I was just going to have a coffee.”

“Yes, but you can't live on coffee alone. You need to eat, besides, I don't want to sit here and eat all by myself. If you won't do it for yourself then do it for me, please?” I smiled at her, and she sighed reluctantly before smiling and picking up a flakeycornettofrom one of the plates.

Once the waitress left us alone again I set my mind to just being straightforward with Aurora.

"While we were at dinner the other night and you went to the ladies’ room, Ludovic inquired about your reaction to the mention of marriage. He was concerned that you and I were not on that path.”

“I'm so sorry that I didn't handle that well. He's not suspicious is he?”

“No, he's not, at least not anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“I told him that we were already engaged but that we hadn't told our families yet and that I hadn't even told my don. I explained to him that that was why you acted funny, because you didn't want to lie but you didn't know what to say.”

“Well, at least you were able to cover for now.”

“The thing is,” I paused, taking a deep breath and preparing to continue. “He's decided to stay in the city through the campaign.”

“Through the campaign? That'smonthsisn't it?”

“It is.”

“So, to continue with the ruse, we would have to pretend to be engaged for months?”

I nodded. “Of course, I would pay you generously for your time. Would you be open to at least hearing my offer to extend our arrangement? I promise, it will be worth your time.”

Aurora nodded. “I suppose there’s no harm in hearing you out since I’m already here.”

“Good. I took some time last night to write up a proposal. Obviously, I would have my lawyer look over it and fine-tune things once we go over the basics.” I pulled out the agreement outline I’d typed out the night before.

“Okay.” Aurora scooted her chair around so that we were on adjacent sides of the table instead of across from each other. I was pleasantly surprised by the light floral scent blended with warm vanilla and couldn’t help but breathe her in, feeling myself drawn closer.

I cleared my throat, trying to stay focused, scanning over the papers to find where to start. “I was thinking that I could pay a set amount to have you ‘on call’ so to speak, plus bonuses anytime we go on dates or need to be seen together.”

Aurora appeared to be in quiet contemplation for only a beat before answering. “Okay.”

“Okay? That's it? That easy?”

“We've already come this far. It's not like you can just go find someone else. But that does mean that I expect to be compensatedverygenerously.”

“Wow, I expected a bit more push-back.”

“I need the money.” She shrugged. “Frankly, this is a better opportunity than working for Delphine. I'd prefer to spend my time with you then a bunch of other men.”

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