Chapter Two

Rose

My eyes widen in surprise before sitting up straight—looking around at my surroundings. For some reason, I feel like I don't realise the room I'm in. Frowning, I run my fingers through my hair as I look down at my clothes, seeing that I'm in a plain white shirt and a pair of shorts. No surprise there. He must've undressed me.

Did something happen last night?

Breathing out, I look up at the window; seeing the sunlight passing through. Memories of last night come rushing in my mind, making me feel all sorts of emotions. From making an eye contact with a total stranger—Elia—and being injected by something into my neck. Pretty sure they were drugs. They felt like drugs but from a whole different level.

See what I did there? I've had drugs.

''I'm sorry, mio amore.'' I close my eyes, remembering the way he said it. Not really shocking that he is Italian—could've paid more attention. Yet, he speaks English fluently; like he was born here. Suddenly, I start to see his face in my mind as he smiles at me. The way he looks at me, his gaze, his stare, his glance—they all give me feelings. I have never felt this way before.

How can a simple glance makes me go weak on my knees?

Let's not forget when he grabbed my hand—it felt like every volt of electricity passed through my veins. It was something, surely something but what attracts me most is the way he looks at me. It is as if I can see through his soul—making me want to solve the mystery puzzle. Wanting to solve him.

I immediately look at the door as I hear voices. Pushing myself up, I walk quickly towards the door before pulling it open and following the voices—which is downstairs. My eyes widen at the sight I see. Am I dreaming or is this reality? The living room is modernly organised, yet, it held an ancient touch. Everything seems to be in white which makes the mansion looks larger than it already is.

As I walk down the stairs in a hurry, I see a glimpse of someone from behind in a suit.

All of a sudden, I am somehow locked at my spot. I can only watch him enter the car and leave. He doesn't even turn around to look at what's behind. Furrowing my brows, I groan at my own stupidity. What the hell, Rose? You had your chance to talk to him. I sigh as I stare at the doors in front of me—not really knowing why I stopped.

''Sir Elia will be back in a week.'' Someone says from behind which causes me to turn around in surprise. I take a better look at him and see that he is probably in his sixties. He is wearing a tuxedo as he eyes me with a slight concern, ''How can I help you, miss?''

''Thorne.'' I answer, ''Rose Thorne.''

He nods his head and for a few seconds, we just stand there, awkwardly looking around. I try to break the sudden awkwardness but there isn't much to say to him—I'm not really good when it comes to starting a conversation. I fake a cough, ''I think I'll just go upstairs.'' I say, pointing at the stairs.

''Wait, Miss Thorne.'' He takes something from his pocket before handing it to me, ''He left you a message.'' And he starts to walk away—down the hall; leaving me staring at the envelope.

Is he trying to be a gentleman or is he too busy that he couldn't meet me and say it himself? I ignore the thought before opening the envelope and unfolding the paper. A smirk appears on my face as I see how he has a neat handwriting which is not very common for men. Most of them have sloppy handwritings. Guess, he's not a common man.

Mio Amore,

I'm sorry that I didn't have the chance to say this in person. What happened last night, I truly regret it. It wasn't thoughtful of me to inject drugs into your system but I had to calm you down and because of that, I would like to apologise.

I'll see you soon, Rose.

Sincerely,

Elia

I read and I fold it back again; swallowing the nonexistent lump in my throat. How does he even know my name? Sitting down on the ground, I try to close my eyes and calm myself down. This has all changed into something different—literally. My life has always been dark and awful but then, a knight in shining armour comes to save the day. He wasn't exactly a knight in shining armour.

Oh come on, Rose! Get back to your senses, god damn it. I mentally slap myself as I shake my head—needing the urge to get back to reality. This isn't happening. I can't be thinking about him all the time; this really isn't happening. What kind of drugs did he give me last night? Was it some sort of love spell? I laugh unknowingly, it must've have worked then.

''Stop it, Rose.'' I mutter under my breath as I close my eyes, trying to remove the images of his face but I fail miserably when I realise that the more I try, the more I see. ''Great, he must've casted a spell.'' I laugh, feeling like an idiot. I mean, what kind of woman sits on the ground, who talks to herself and laugh all of a sudden?

Right. Me.

Elia hasn't been doing anything. He has done nothing and it feels like he has done everything. What kind of connection is this? Wait, why am I even calling this a connection? I'm really going insane. Nope, I'm very insane. I have lost my sanity. My mind goes entirely blank as I look up and see someone looking at me with a smile on his face.

I stand up immediately, ''I didn't see you there.'' I say, as I look down on the ground—completely embarrassed that he might've saw the whole thing. Sighing, I can almost feel my cheeks heating up.

He walks closer towards me and I look up to see that he has a few resemblances with Elia. For instance, his eye colour and the depth of his eyes, his perfectly shaped jaw. Yet, he looks younger. Way younger. He has a softer look on his face though, ''Of course you didn't.'' He replies.

I start to feel awkward being here but I stand still, trying to avoid making any long eye contacts. He chuckles all of a sudden, grabbing my attention, ''It's not everyday that you see a woman sitting on the ground, talking and laughing by herself.'' He adds, breaking the silence between us.

Letting out a few laughters, ''Yeah, well, there has got to be something new to see sometimes.'' I say. My mind goes entirely blank but I don't feel uncomfortable. All I feel is the awkward tension. Yes, it was embarrassing, I thought nobody was in the house except for the man in his sixties.

He continues to smile and I see that he has a dimple on his left cheek, ''I'm Elliot. Elia's younger brother.''

''Rose.'' I state my name, ''I didn't know Elia has a brother.''

''I didn't know Elia has a girlfriend.'' He clears his throat and I shake my head in denial, earning another smile from him—is it just me or do they smile a lot?

''Oh no, I'm not his girlfriend. I—I'm just someone. I mean, just a person.'' I stutter, ''We barely even know each other.'' I add, making Elliot nodding his head and chuckle lightly. ''Don't think of it as a—''

He cuts me off, ''No, definitely. No.'' He laughs, ''Well, I was actually painting outside.'' Then, he points at the other room, ''But when I came in and I hear someone talking, I decided to check it out and I saw you on the ground—great first impression.''

Rolling my eyes, ''That was embarrassing. Let's just forget that ever happened.''

Elliot pretends to forget everything he just saw, ''Memory erased.'' And I smile, knowing that he's younger and seems cheerful to be around. Yet, you can never judge a book by its cover. ''Well, Rose, I better get going.'' He says.

''Right. It was nice seeing you.'' I smile back at him and all of a sudden, he grabs my hand before pecking at the back of it—then, he gives me a gentleman bow as he backs away slightly.

''It was nice seeing you too, beautiful.'' I hear him reply as he disappears down the hall—after taking a left turn. I did see his last smile before he truly was gone from my sight. Great. Just great. I didn't even get to talk to Elia but I sure as hell get to talk with his younger brother—Elliot.

Sighing, I walk up the stairs and head straight back to the room I woke up in. I immediately close my eyes as soon as I feel my back on the bed—somehow enjoying the comfort. Honestly, I can't seem to get Elia out of my mind and I surely can't wait for him to come back so that we can talk. Like, actually talk.

It's okay Rose, it'll pass. I thought before closing my eyes.