Bride Of Hades

"Let him in this car," she instructed, but when none of her guards moved, she added, "We are at an advantage if he comes in here rather than me going out there. At least he won't be able to drag me away from inside the car. Let's hear what he has to say."

"Aurora, thank you for granting my request," Nicholas said the moment they opened the door and let him in. There was a different tone to his voice this time, and it unnerved her a little. 

"Is he trying to charm me, so he could take me again?" she frowned at Nicholas' soft voice.

"Mr. Russo, I do not have time for these shenanigans. Did you not learn your lesson last time? You can't defeat my husband, so you're here to target me again?" she snapped.

"I'm not here for Dimitri, I came to talk to you," Nicholas said.

"I haven't got all day, blurt it out or get out of my car," she replied.

"Aren't you curious about your parents, Aurora?" he asked.

She was dumbfounded. There were a lot of things she was expecting him to ask about or say, but she did not expect him to say anything about her parents, the same ones that abandoned her, and never cared for her, "No," she answered abruptly.

When she was a kid, she always imagined that her family would come for her and take her away from that horrible orphanage, but when several years had passed and they never came, she lost all hope. Now she considers Dimitri, and Enzo as her family, she was content and did not care about her real family anymore. The Santoris family had welcomed her with open arms, and she was happy.

"I want you to come with me," he said, "I have something important to show you."

Aurora laughed, "Are you delusional? You want me to willingly come with you? Did you forget what happened last time?" she smirked at him, "Don't waste my time anymore, you can leave."

He stared at her intently, "I know who your parents are."

"It's not nice to put salt on someone's wound," she replied, and before he could answer back, the door was opened with such force that the car shook. Dimitri had dragged Nicholas out of the car and planted a punch on his face.

Dimitri's men held Nicholas back.

"You have the nerve to detain my wife again?" Dimitri growled.

Dimitri was so agitated the whole drive before he got to Aurora. When she dialed his phone again, while he was in the car, he was thinking of the worst-case scenario. That by the time he got to where her GPS showed her location, they would have taken her, again. He was ready to kill everyone, even his men if they lost her again.

Aurora got out of the car and called out to Dimitri to get his attention. He came to her and started checking her for any cuts or bruises, "I'm okay, I'm okay. We just talked inside the car."

Dimitri hugged her, "What did he say to you? I swear I told you everything you needed to know, anything else he says about me is a lie," he said defensively. 

"No, it's not that. He said he knew… he knows who they are…," she stammered.

"I know who her parents are," Nicholas interjected, "And I need her to come with me to get a sample of her blood to make sure."

"This is a very rotten trick for you to play on her," Dimitri replied.

"I might be wrong, but I don't think I am. We just need this DNA test, and then we can know for sure," Nicholas pleaded, "I could have gone and taken her blood sample secretly, but I didn't. Please come with me Aurora."

"Sweetheart, do you want to go with him?" Dimitri asked.

There was a longing in her eyes every time she interacted with his mom, and he would not begrudge her the opportunity to find her parents if it would make her happy.

Aurora looked up at Nicholas, unsure about what to do. She rejected the thought of finding her parents ever again, but this chance might give her the closure she needed. She looked at Dimitri and found the strength and courage she needed. She knew that he would be there for her no matter what the result was. 

She nodded, "You're not taking my wife without me," said Dimitri, "And we'll follow you in our car."

They got to the Russo family mansion, but they did not enter the front entrance, they came to the side, entering a passage that led them to a hospital-looking facility. They took Aurora's blood sample and told her that it would take a few days before they got the result.

Nicholas did not tell them where the matching DNA would be taken from, telling them that he had speculation and would let them know as soon as the results came out.

To make sure they covered all bases, Nicholas secretly gave his blood the same time they drew his mom's, so they could check all their DNA together. He didn't take his dad's blood to avoid raising their hopes up. Everything will be revealed in due time.

The report came two days later, and Nicholas summoned Aurora to meet him at one of his hotels. They were going to meet at one of the VIP rooms on the topmost floor. 

Dimitri reminded Aurora not to get her hopes up too high because they did not know what Nicholas was up to and if he was even telling her the truth. He just didn't want her to get disappointed. 

It was a rough two days since they met with Nicholas. Dimitri had to reassure Aurora that they were already a family, and this test should not affect their relationship. He tried to get Enzo to entertain Aurora to keep her busy and stop her from worrying about the results.

She was daydreaming about who these people were a lot, wondering how she was going to approach them, and what she would say to them after they abandoned her all those years.

Tears would stream down her face at all hours of the day especially when she was alone and had time to think. "Why did you abandon me? Did you ever love me? Did you look for me?" Were some of the questions that passed through her mind to ask them. Should she be fierce when she meets them? Should she be nice? What if Nicholas says it did not match?