Chapter 36(2)

Chapter 36(2)
AURORA

The double-tap on the door resonated as I reached for the door before taking a peek through the peephole. He arrived on time, as expected, and dropped the bag on the carpet, diving straight into the messy bed.
"This is all I could grab in fifteen minutes before the cranky housekeeper arrived and threw me a nasty look as if I were stealing your clothes," Dominic frowned as I set out to uncover the bag.
"I am surprised Delia let you out of the house and didn't raise the alarm." The damn woman was loyal to Marco, and she was his eyes and ears in the house. I have been fooled by her aloof and demure look far too many times and landed in trouble during my initial days.
Dominic sat up. "I will never know how some men have a thing for older women, but they give me the weirdest creeps."
I looked up. "You have a one-track mind, don't you?" He winked in response as I shook my head. "But, thanks, Dominic. I appreciate you doing this."
"Oh, no, it was my pleasure. I had a gala time going through your lingerie collection. And those La Perla sets? Oof, man!"
I gasped. "You did not!"
The idiot grinned. "What, did you want me to blindfold myself and pick and choose your lingerie? I mean, I could do that. But then, I'd have to sniff your panties."
"Ugh. Shut up, perv."
He let out an unbridled laugh and helped me with my clothes.
It almost hurt my pride to ask him, but I had to. "I am going to need another favour, Dominic. I need some cash to get by until I can get a bank account."
His eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you telling me you don't have one?"
I chewed on my lips, shaking my head.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"It was never a requirement." I sighed. "Whatever I wanted, it was paid for—until now. I have already got a new identity, so the document processing won't take much time."
He waved a hand, dismissing the idea. "Don't fuss over these silly things. We have enough men on our payroll to do these jobs. Send me the details, and I will set up things for you. Bank account, credit card, passport—whatever you need." Dominic reached for his wallet, plucked a card, and slid it towards me. "And until then, use my credit card."
Shit. I felt like a horrible person for having to resort to this. It was another one of those stark realisations of how badly my life revolved around Marco. Ironically, I felt more bound to him now than I was before.
"I appreciate this. I really do," I murmured.
Dominic's expression sobered. He sat down beside me, taking my hand in his. Platonic intimacy did not come easily to him, but at least he was not as difficult as his older brother.
"Aurora, you don't need to stay in a hotel, for God's sake. You are more than welcome to stay with us."
I smiled at his generous words and nodded. "I know. And I will take you up on the offer once I am in the right frame of mind. But at the moment, I am not sure what I want."
If I stay in the Romano mansion, Sammy would be dozing off over me. I'd seen enough pity in everyone's eyes for one lifetime. Moreover, I would still have to see Marco, and I did not know how I would even react.
"I understand."

XXX

It took me three days and three nights to gather my strength to face the world. And my first order of business was to meet Viktor.
While Sammy flooded my phone with texts, calls, and voicemails, Dominic contacted me only when it was urgent. And all his urgencies were outlined around his brother.
Apparently, Viktor was pissed with both me and Marco. Like me, even Marco has recused himself. With small gangs creating trouble in the streets and Viktor having his hands full with Stef, Dominic alone was up to no good.
Besides, I needed Viktor right now more than he needed me. It was time to make good on the deal I had made with him years ago. There was so much pent-up frustration stacked within me that if I didn't expel it, I would have probably gone mad.
So I arrived at the Romano mansion at around ten in the morning and straight went to Viktor's office. He was over the phone with someone, yelling out his orders, and as soon as his eyes landed on me, his frown deepened. So, I waited for him until he was done giving an earful to whoever was on the other end of the phone and watched him tap the screen.
"Next time, before you disappear, drop me a fucking text with an address or don't bother to come back at all," he growled as soon as he snapped the call.
"I needed some time alone."
It was difficult for Viktor Romano to understand the matters of the heart because he didn't have one. All his love and affection, and loyalty was for his family. So it was useless to bore him with the details of my heartbreak.
"If you are done introspecting, get your ass over here and find out who the hell stopped my consignments." He fished out a card and slid it for my perusal. "I want a name, and then I want an answer. Get it done." His orders were sharp and crisp.
I took a look and pocketed it. "Okay."
With the same frown and indifference, he returned to the laptop screen. I waited there like a fool, not knowing how to ask for it.
For a few long seconds, he bothered to look at me with an arched brow. "Anything else?"
I hesitated before nodding. "I need you to sign off on something."
"What now?"
"Remember the deal we made? That Will you let me have a match at the fight club? I want you to sign my name for this weekend's match."
Viktor stared at me stoically and then shook his head. A new scowl adorned his Italian good looks as he dismissed my idea with a callous wave of his hand. "Just because you have made one bad decision doesn't mean you have to follow it up with a few more to ultimately prove yourself to be a certified idiot. Take some time off if you need to calm down, but wipe off these stupid ideas from your head. You are not a street fighter. And your job is not to win cage fights."
I didn't understand why people termed me as ill-tempered when I was surrounded by assholes of every grade and age band. And my behaviour was just a reaction to their assholery.
With my temper frayed, I smacked my hands on the table and leaned forward. "You made a fucking deal!" I gritted through my clenched jaw, reminding me that he was no less of a dick.
"Aurora, I am not Marco." Viktor's tone was calm, but he injected just enough steel to intimidate me. "If you ever raise your voice with me, I will throw you in a fucking cell and lock you up for days until you learn how to talk to me."
"Look, if you want me in a sane condition, then give me something to exhaust my temper."
He kept shaking his head as if denying a child. "I have very little control over the audience in a cage fight and the information they pass on to other gangs or street thugs. How long would it take for them to discover your identity or that you work for me?"
"I don't care."
"Well, I do," he shot back. "There's a reason only a handful of people are aware of your existence. You are not meant to be public knowledge."
He had made it amply clear a long time ago. I was a woman and an enforcer. And the mafia world wouldn't see me coming even from a mile away. It was Viktor's plan all along.
"What about the cage fight three years ago?" I argued. "There was an audience, Viktor. A fucking roomful of people who saw me inside the cage."
He relaxed against the chair, rapping his fingers on the armrests. "Back then, you were just a scrawny girl who didn't know a thing about cage fights. And given the way you were beaten up, they believed the story."
I crossed my arms and stood. "The story?"
Viktor nodded. "I had told them that your father was a debtor, and you tried to be a smartass. To teach your family a lesson, I threw you to the wolves. And because everyone in Chicago knows that I am a cold-hearted bastard, they bought the story."
There was a narcissistic bastard residing within Viktor that thrived on his brutal reputation. He wanted people to fear him, bow to him, and for that, he would go to any fucking extent.
"Why am I not even surprised!" I sighed, throwing up my hands. "If you had no intention to let me participate in a cage fight, why did you agree with me in the first place?"
"Simple: I lied." My fingers were itching to slap the smugness. "I thought that once you'd grow up, you would outgrow your stupidity. Surely that isn't the case."
"Fuck it." I straightened my spine, ready to leave, but not before hissing a piece of my mind. "I am not going to stand here and let you patronise me. I have already had enough for a lifetime. You will have your consignments by tomorrow."
Turning around, I was already halfway across the room when his voice pulled me back. "Aurora."
I looked over my shoulder.
"How badly do you want to have your ass kicked?"
I whirled around with a scowl and fixed him a look.
Viktor shrugged a noncommittal shoulder. "Not exactly a cage fight, but I know someone who can give you a tough time. He is an ex-Navy SEAL and fights like nothing you have ever seen before. Interested?"
As long as I could beat the shit out of him.
"And how the hell do you find people like this? I mean, deadly, patriotic, and in bed with a mafia?"
The corner of his lips perked up in a haughty smirk. "I am well-connected. Besides, he is an old friend. Are you up for it or not?"
"I don't exactly have a choice now, do I?"
His grin got broader and brighter, reaching up to his ears. "I always knew that you were a smart girl. I will text you the details by tomorrow."