Page 64 of Watch Her Bleed
“Josh or Celina will call you if he is released. Okay? Don’t overthink it,” he says.
“I won’t. I’ll just sleep until you can get home and distract me,” I shrug.
“I’ll take it,” he laughs. “Bye, my love.”
“Bye.”
When Matt leaves I roll to my belly and let myself drift to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mattia
I get to the office and text Aurora. Of all days, today is not a day I want to leave her alone. Hopefully, I can cut out of here early, but I don’t think Luca and Milo will mind helping me get through everything so I can get back to her.
Me: Just got to the office. I hope you are resting. I love you!
“Hey,” Dad says as he walks into my office. “Where is Aurora? I need to borrow her.”
“No, you want to stare at her tits until she gets uncomfortable and ditches you,” I say. “She’s at home.”
“Is she okay?” he asks.
“Her blood sugar was pretty low this morning so I had her stay home,” I explain. “I’m cutting out early.”
“Okay, well, I hope she feels better,” he says, seeming to be genuine. He only seems to put away his pervy tendencies when it comes to her health or her trauma. When we explained an overview of what was going on, he got angry at first but then told her that he was sorry about what she went through.
At first, we thought he had the motivation to use her somehow to gain a footing with Paul and Rita’s company. We were right until he found out what happened. The dude that is running things right now kept bugging Dad to complete the deal he had started with Paul, but Dad wanted no part of it. He is many things, but he doesn’t condone rape. He may make women uncomfortable, but he would never in a million years touch someone without their permission. Honestly, I think the way he acts is a result of terrible social skills. He doesn’t pick up on cues the way others would. If you are blunt with him though, he gets the message.
I spend the morning with Luca and Milo going over accounts payable and receivable for Vita Divina. Maria has noticed a lot of issues since she took over. Apparently, Robert had been stealing from us for God knows how long. Now we are trying to get everything straight. We have no way to prove that it was him, but I’m not an idiot. I know he and his sticky fingers are all over this.
I check my phone and I still don’t have a text from Aurora. It’s almost noon now, so she should be awake. She’s never slept this late before. “You okay?” Luca asks.
“Yeah, just worried about Aurora,” I say as I call her. It rings and rings, but goes to voicemail. I call again and she picks up, but the line is silent.
“Hello? Aurora?” I say.
“H-Hello,” she says with a shaky voice.
“Hey. You okay? You never texted me back.”
“I just woke up,” she says, still sounding shaken.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing. I just don’t feel well. I don’t think those pancakes sat right this morning is all,” she lies. “Uhm… When will you be home?”
“Not for a while,” I lie. “Remember I said I had that meeting?” If she goes along with this, I know something is wrong. She is the one who makes my schedule.
“Right,” she says. “Sorry, I couldn’t come. I’m sure your brother will be able to help.”
“That’s okay,” I say as I stand up. “I’ll be home by dinner.”
“Okay,” she says. “I love you, Mattia.”
“I love you too, Aurora. I’ll talk to you later.”
I end the call and go to the door. “What’s wrong?” Luca says as he and Milo run after me.
