The Reverence of a Man on Fire (BOOK II)

Chapter 17- A Jealous Gaze

--Giovanni POV--

She wore a satin pink dress today, a stark contrast to the black outfits she usually wore when working as my bodyguard, and I had to remind myself once more that this is the real Aurora, a wild woman that is unapologetically herself, not a quiet lady that kept me safe at work.

"Happy birthday," I whispered in her ear, watching as surprise sparked in her eyes, but she tried to hide it, lips crawling up into a small smile as she looked at me through hooded eyes.

"Why, thank you very much," She replied, voice light and airy for my ears to enjoy.

"You look nice today," She complimented me, eyes momentarily running up and down my said suit before landing back on my eyes.

"I always look nice," I stated.

"Of course you do," She scoffed, stepping back to twirl once more along with all the other people that were dancing on the floor before coming back to put her hand on my shoulder

"Can you not say anything else? Something like a simple thank you would suffice," She added with a grumble, glaring up at me which I chose to ignore as I usually did.

"Will you fall in love with me if I give you simple answers like that?" I asked with a raised brow. She blinked, not having expected the question, but a moment later, an amused laugh broke through her voice which she quickly hid.

"Are you taking the comedy route to make me fall in love with you?" She jokingly asked.

"Is it working?" I shot back.

"Not at all, but I am mildly amused by it," I scoffed at that, she always had something to say in such an eloquent way, it was infuriating, but I was getting used to it.

"I'm not taking any routes. I'm being unapologetic yet scheming in showing you different sides of myself to make you fall in love with me. I've only just begun, but unfortunate for you, comedy is not something that I excel in," I explained.

"Forget excel, you've probably failed without even starting," She sassily mumbled.

And a moment later, I propelled her forward, shocking her as she bumped into my chest, a quiet gasping ripping through her throat as she looked up at me in surprise, trying to figure out why I was suddenly treating her so roughly.

I never spoke about my feelings to anyone, and was, for that very reason, taken as an emotionless man by everyone, and I didn't mind that. But somehow, she's able to see through all that; Words aren't needed for my thoughts to be conveyed to her, one look into my eyes, and she was able to uncover it all.

So, when she's being cheeky, and I needed to have some sort of revenge, acting slightly roughly to her like this may have been seen as violent to others, but she knew I didn't mean it like that. She grew flustered, and I liked seeing her flustered.

Just as she could be uncaringly herself to me, I could be uncaringly myself to her. And I didn't even know it until I had already done it.

"Your mischief knows no bounds, does it?" I spoke as she huffed.

"I really don't like you," She grumbled, just as the music ended, signalling that the dance was finished, and as if I were on fire, she jumped away from me, dipping her head down into a neat curtsy as I bowed my head down in reply.

Stepping forward, I quietly spoke under my breath so only she could hear my words.

"And yet, out of all the billions of people on this planet, it's me that you imagine in your bed over any of the other nicer men, how ironic, wouldn't you say?" I looked down at her through hooded eyes as I spoke, flustering her further as she stumbled over her words.