Thank you so much for those of you who read this story. It means so much! You guys are amazing.
Do listen to the music if it helps you relax, no one's stopping you!
this version of the book only has 5 CHAPTERS to it. i'm saying this version because i'm going to be REVAMPING it (entirely, from chapters 1-26) and it'll be renamed as 'TEMPTATION OF HER FLAME'. the entire and completed story will be published on wattpad, and you'll be able to see it under my profile by 24TH NOVEMBER 2021. it'll have roughly the same plot without most unnecessary parts, better character, writing, and storytelling. there's NO SMUT in this book, but if it's requested on the other book, i might add a scene or two.
follow? Insta: jayzel_f
(Into you)
VINCENZO'S POV
It was absolute silence - just silence despite the clinging of glass and the crunch of food.
Accidentally dozing off beside someone I brought home was beyond embarrassing, I was taking in her features and admiring her peaceful smile while staying beside her, in my bed when I fell asleep due to my exhausting day.
What did she think of me now? Does she know me?
I looked away uncomfortably, realizing I had a gun pointed at her, thinking she was a thief - sometimes, being someone well known was difficult. Once your location is leaked, there might be people who would crowd outside your front door.
I made sure to hire two guards I could trust outside my house, but there still might be a possibility for someone to break inside my place.
She might think I'm a mafia leader, if she does not know me. I don't kill people very often anymore, but I have the same attitude from when I was a few years ago.
So I have no idea why I was being so generous.
I decide to break the thick silence, knowing for a fact that we do not have forever in this same room."Whats your name?" I tried to start a conversation.
She looked up and gave me the most breathtaking smile, "Aria Garcia" She replied. Her voice intrigued me like no other and I had an immediate urge to have her speak again.
Aria Garcia - the name was instantly registered in my head.
"I'm Vincenzo de-" I tried to introduce but I got interrupted.
"Luca" She finished my sentence. "I know you"
She sounded so natural in every sentence which escapes her lips - as if she had already memorized the words in front of the mirror multiple times. My mind was currently in a absolute mess.
"Do you live here alone?" she asked curiously, breaking my train of thoughts.
"Yes, but my parents live in the mansion next to ours," I realized my mistake almost right away when I saw her widen her eyes. "next to mine" I corrected myself.
It was a slip of my tongue, I had no intention of getting closer to her. Though I dreaded the thought of her leaving my mansion.
She nodded her head, holding the plate in her hands, then seeming clueless where to go next. That was reasonable, she does not know where the kitchen was. I mentally groaned, I really can't think straight with her in my view.
I finished my last bite and made my way over to her, taking her plate gently from her hands to the kitchen. She follows me, seeming rather reluctant for me to be the one washing the dishes.
After I was done, Aria approached me and I knew instantly what she was going to say.
"Thank you for helping me when I'm unconscious and..." She paused for just a second, "Letting me stay, but I have to go"
I hesitated for an answer, although I knew that the question was bound to come, "Where do you stay? I'll give you a ride" I said. A part of me wished she did not have to leave so soon.
I could tell she was not giving me an answer, maybe because she didn't want me to know her address. I would not blame her, we have met for just a day and she might have read all the ridiculous things about me online.
"Is it far away?" I changed my question rather abruptly. She looked up with eyes filled with tears. I felt my heart fell to my stomach as I beheld the sight.
"I don't have a home" She said quietly. So quiet I could barely catch it.
I sighed. "Look, I could give you some cash that you don't have to return-"
Her sorrow-filled eyes suddenly turned wild and furious. "I don't need your money!" She spat.
I swear, something about her is so shocking, but amazing in the same time. I smiled at her outburst, she sounds so controlling and I somehow liked it a lot.
"Big tantrum, Fuoco"
The words escapes my lips before I could help it.
"Why can't I be like you?" she suddenly say, making me extremely confused. "You have parents that live beside you, lovely and caring parent!" she emphasized lovely and caring slowly, like she would die for it.
I tried to think of something to say.
"He hurts me while you live in such beautiful lifestyle"
Then I see it, bruises and marks - all from under her sleeves.
She stomps away right after, going upstairs. Leaving me with emotions I can't decipher.
**
"Do a research on a girl named Aria Garcia, she has dark brown eyes, blossom lips..." I described Aria the best I could to my newly recruited secretary, whose name I did not even bother to remember.
"I-I'll send the files in a few minutes" he replied after getting the information.
I was at my private office at home. Waiting impatiently for Aria's background, I was planning to visit Aria in my room. Mary, the head worker of my home which enters the house just to make sure it is clean and tidy, saw Aria in my bedroom with one of my books.
I felt relieved knowing she was still staying at my place and had yet to leave.
"S-sir?" The same man returned into my office at home, after awhile. He dragged his feet into the room, with a frightened look plastered on his face.
I gestured him to give me the file, which he does, shaking. I read the file thoroughly, but an information made me stop.
Related members of family: Mitch Garcia.
Has made dangerous and illegal deals with a few men from around the country...
I read it a second time to make sure I did not get the sentence wrong. I was sure the bruises was from him, that sick and brainless man.
I narrowed my eyes, dismissing him before I do something I will regret. A futile rage swept over me as I remembered the fact that she she had marks under her sleeves. Every thought of him laying a finger on her fueled the fire burning inside me.
It all makes sense, like a puzzle placed together. The man, her only related member in her family, must have caused all the bruises.
My groaned in annoyance and I sat down to do more of my paper works, trying to block the thoughts of her.
**
ARIA'S POV
I messed up awfully.
How could I speak rudely to the man who offers me a room at his place and saved me when I was in a helpless.
The weight in my heart held me down as I put the book back on the shelf.
I am going to apologize, I'm going to find him and tell him I was sorry that I screamed at him just because I could not contain my anger.
Why aren't I going?
My mind wandered to that moment at breakfast. I yelled at him because I can't control myself when I think of my father.
Why couldn't I stop that feeling from getting to me? There are so many things I do not know about him, and so many things I do know about him.
He is a billionaire whose stated all around the internet. He is a killer and others cannot do anything about it because he could fight back with his popularity and money...
He was heartless, cold, rude.
But why does he sound so innocent when he's speaking to me, like he has not took a single soul. He looked so innocent.
He did not scream, he smiled. He did not leave my fainted self at the roadside, instead he saved me.
I took out my phone and scrolled deep into the internet, it seems to calm me down, momentarily.
I clicked in the refreshed links and read the news, interested with what was going on in this small world.
I read through the viral links in the internet when I stopped abruptly on a familiar name.
Vincenzo de Luca bringing a girl home?!
I clicked in the link and read it without missing
a word, after the reported speech, there was a picture.
Of him carrying me.
With widened eyes, I read the last sentence written on the page.
Is she going to be the one?