Chapter Two

أرى كل إنسان يرى عيب غيره ويعمى عن العيب الذي هو فيه

Everyone is critical of the flaws of others, but blind to their own

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.

I open my eyes, realising that it has been a few days since Elia left. Blinking a few times as I try to adjust my vision from blurring. Turning around on the bed, I awkwardly pull the sheets closer towards my body. Yes, it has been like four days.

At first, I thought I was left to die here all alone before I can even make it here for a few days. I guess I was wrong. My life here was a bore—I did nothing really. Spent most of my day in this room and Alfred—the man in his sixties—only come in to tell me that either breakfast, lunch and dinner is ready.

I tried exploring. I mean, this place is huge—it's a damn mansion. Yes, I did went to a few rooms that I thought would turn out to be mysterious and that I would get caught for invading but honestly, they were just rooms. Yes, I did try to touch everything incase there's a secret door or something. Who knows? Elia might be Batman.

Elliot might be Robin.

Who knows.

Smiling to myself, I did find another hall in the house where a lot of pictures are hanged up on the wall—not just boring old pictures but pictures of Elia, Elliot and another man I can't comprehend who. The three of them looked close; maybe the third man is also Elia's brother. I can guess because they look quite the same.

Not necessarily the same but they have a few similarities.

Not just that, there were baby pictures of them and I honestly, have to say, that I enjoy looking at them. Especially at Elia's baby pictures. He was really cute and chubby; his cheeks, I wish I could just pinch them. Being in that hall, I thought I was going back through time because I get to see pictures of them from when they were babies and up till now.

The weird part is that, the older they are, the less pictures of them together. I know, things could change as we grow older—but I don't really understand. I've never had the chance to understand. I barely even remember my own childhood. I don't even remember my parents or if I have any siblings. All I could remember is that, Gonzales and his gang members took me in; they did take care of me for awhile.

I guess that's why I'm Gonzales's favourite girl.

There were also pictures of a woman—who has the lightest brown eyes I've ever seen. Her dark brown hair only enhances her eyes more. She must've been Elia's mother, who else could she be because she was there when Elia was a child. There were also pictures of Elia's father; which I find it as a surprise because when he was younger, he looked exactly like Elia.

Sitting up straight on the bed, I stretch out and push the comforter away from my body before standing up and change into a plain black shirt and black skinny jeans. Alfred has given me the clothes—he did say that Elia had made him bought them for me. Anything to make me feel comfortable.

Running my fingers through my hair as I try to make my dark blonde hair looking better. Then, I head downstairs—realising that I don't really have anything to do, honestly. Making my way towards the back of the mansion, I find a few doors which leads to the kitchen, the second hall but I pull the door which leads me outside.

I see something like a stable if I walk further. It's not like I have anything better to do though so I make my way there; looking around as I do. I'm impressed by to be honest, this place is huge. Not just the mansion but the whole freaking place. Who is Elia? Who is he? A mafia boss or something?

Once I've reached the stable, I push open the wooden door and I look around to see horses. Four horses. My lips curve up into a smile as I walk towards each one of them and I stop as I see one that caught my attention—a black beauty. I run my hand on her face and she nickers; pleasantly accepting my touch.

''You're really beautiful.'' I mutter towards her and look straight into her eyes; seeing how lively they are.

I look at the other horses and I see that they are all as beautiful as the black beauty. They look like they are well taken care of. I've never had the chance to be near anything like this—my previous was a trap. It was as if I was living in a box. An empty box.

''She really is.'' I hear a familiar voice says from behind and I turn around to see Elia leaning his side against the wooden door. My hand drops down to my side at the sight of him—isn't he supposed to be back in a week?

Clearing my throat, ''I thought you'd be back in a few more days.'' I say and he walks closer towards me, a smile appears on his face; I can't help but feel distracted by it.

''I thought so too.'' Elia replies, ''But here I am.'' Then, he looks straight into my eyes. Oh my god, is he always like this? Does he enjoy looking into someone's eyes with such meaning or is it just my own mind playing tricks? I can't help it. The way he's looking at me is making me feel nervous.

''Here you are.'' I mutter under my breath—looking back at the black beauty. Breathing out, it's a good thing that he couldn't see my nervousness because that would be pretty embarrassing. All of a sudden, he opens the small wooden door that separates me with the horse, making me step back a little.

''Let's go for a ride.'' He says, as he pulls her out slowly.

My heart somehow starts to beat faster and I nod my head, trying to not blush. He opens another wooden door and pulls out a dark brown horse—before walking out to the front. I follow behind, slowly, eyeing his every movement. I know, call me a creep or anything but if you were in my shoes, you'll probably freak and pass out.

As soon as we're standing in the middle of the field, he pats onto black beauty before looking at me, ''Go on.'' He points and I turn around to get on her but I fail as I don't really know how to. I mean, I'm awkwardly nervous right now and him being here—not really helping.

My cheeks heat up due to the fact that I don't know how to get up on a horse so how should I know how to ride one? I clear my throat, ''Well, it's harder than I thought.'' I say, laughing and his smile turns into a chuckle, revealing his perfectly straight teeth.

''Never ride a horse before?'' He asks from behind.

I shake my head, ''Not really.''

And he seems to understand as he shifts and walk closer towards me, ''Put your hand here.'' He points and I do as told. ''Foot here.'' He says again and I didn't bother to disagree even though we are very close to each other. As I turn to look at him, I am surprised that our face are inches apart.

He looks up and our eyes meet instantly. Due to the sunlight, his eyes seem lighter than they were before. It feels like the whole world is silencing as it's only Elia and I. My heart starts to beat faster at our closeness—but I can't seem to move or look away. I blink a few times, ''Huh?'' I ask, didn't completely hear him previously.

''You okay?'' He asks, again.

Nodding my head, I answer, ''Yeah.'' And he immediately grabs me by the waist which causes me to yelp as soon as he picks me up and place me on the horse. My eyes widen—not really expecting him to lift me up but hey, at least I'm up. I look at him once more and see him eyeing my entire posture. ''Something wrong?'' I ask.

''No.'' He replies, ''Okay, you're all set.''

Right. So, how do I move? I furrow my eyebrows in confusion as I try my best to move but the black beauty does nothing. I mean, does she not like me because I'm doing my best here. Awkwardly shifting on her, I pat on the side of her neck, trying to calm her down or something but it's definitely not working.

''Mm, well, it's not working.'' I mutter.

Elia laughs, ''Move forward a bit.'' And I raise an eyebrow at him but I move a bit to the front. To my surprise, he gets up on the horse and currently sitting behind me. I immediately look straight—not bracing myself to look behind. Right, not awkward at all. I groan mentally.

He suddenly grabs both of my hands from behind by placing his on mine. I stay still; waiting for his next move. ''You have to go gentle with her.'' He says, quite close to my ear and I just nod as an answer, ''She's not dealing well with new people.'' I chuckle and without me realising, we are actually moving.

Oh, black beauty, you did this on purpose, didn't you?

I smile widely as I turn to look at him behind me and see that he is looking down at me. ''I can ride a horse now.'' I say and I feel his chest vibrates; which does nothing to ease my nervousness but I'll live. We keep quiet as we just move slowly; not even knowing where we are going. I don't know but for once, I really feel calm. I know, being with a stranger on a horse is not really a calming situation but, I just feel like it.

''Hold tight.'' He says out of nowhere and all of a sudden, the horse starts to move in a fast motion—almost running and I laugh; not really knowing why but the excitement really makes me feel something. The wind blows at my face and I know that I should've tied my hair but he does nothing about it nor does he complain.

I guess he's alright at the back.

After being close enough to a shady tree, I feel Elia's hand on my waist as he jumps off the horse—making me look at him. He picks me up next before putting me down. Tucking strands of my hair behind my ear as I just eye his every movement trying to move the horse to the side.

To my surprise, black beauty comes running towards me and I immediately fall to the side as she runs away. I look up to see Elia standing near me, ''Are you okay?'' He asks, giving me his hand and as soon as I grab his hand, I try to stand up but he slips for no reason which causes him to fall on top of me. ''Shit, I'm sorry.'' He says.

I look straight into his eyes and I laugh. I know. I laugh. He looks at me confusingly but when I can't stop myself from laughing, he joins me. I have both of my hands on face—covering them because I know I'll go red whenever I laugh too much; it's just how I am. I have to admit that his fall has made me hurt my stomach but that pain subsided.

Slowly, both of us stops laughing and I peek through my hands to see him looking straight at me. He seems to be out of breath and so am I. We both continue to stare at each other's eyes—which we've been doing quite a lot. I must say, that.

Elia pushes a few strands of hair on my face slowly and his thumb stops on my cheek; as he leans in. I expect what is going to happen next but I don't feel like stopping him. It might be a sudden act, a sudden kiss but it feels like I wanted to be kissed by him, especially now. For some reason, I don't mind falling on the ground just so that we could share a kiss.

What the hell has gotten into me.

The tip of his nose touches mine as he tilt his head to the side but before his lips could even brush mine, I feel drops of water on my forehead which causes him to back away slightly. I look up and see that the sky is getting dark and it's raining. Elia smiles before pulling me up and we run towards the stable—lucky for us, we're not that far.

The rain starts to get heavy as we laugh and continue to run faster; we're soaking wet at the moment due to the rain. As soon as we reach the stable, he closes the wooden door and he looks around to see that black beauty had went here by herself. Damn, that horse. I thought to myself. Rolling my eyes, I lean against the door; trying to catch my breath.

Elia pushes his hair to the back as he chuckles, ''How did she get here?''

I join him, ''Weird, huh?'' And he just smiles, walking towards the other side—taking two towels. He gives me one and I take it with a small smile as a thank you. He nods, drying his hair.

First of all, black beauty decided to just run towards me and she definitely know that I would fall because that's the only option I have for trying to move away. Second, Elia falls on top of me because he slipped for no absolute reason. Third, he was leaning in and he was trying to kiss me and I wasn't even trying to deny it! Too many ands. Fourth, rain. Do I even need to tell? Last but not least, we're stuck in this stable. Alone. Until the rain stops.

I frown as I don't hear any sound of rain anymore. Turning around, I open the door and see that the rain has stopped. Is it just me or is this day just getting weirder and weirder? ''Um, I think the rain stopped.'' I say and I can feel Elia nearing me.

''That quick?'' He mutters from behind.

What the hell, Rose. What makes you think that you're any better? You slept with countless men.

That was different, though. This is different.

I turn to look at Elia and realise that he has been calling out for me. ''Did you say something?'' I raise an eyebrow at him.

He crosses his arms, ''Like, asking you to get inside because we're here?''

My cheeks heat up in embarrassment for zoning out before stepping in and I hear him closes the door behind us. Within seconds, Alfred starts to show up of out nowhere, ''Oh sir, you're soaking wet! Where were you?'' He asks, in his accent. Then, he eyes me, ''You alright, miss?''

''I'm okay.'' I answer and I glance one last time at Elia before walking pass Alfred, heading upstairs. I don't need to stay and make things awkward so I'll just head upstairs and back to my room. Really needing a moment to myself.

As I'm walking up the stairs, I hear Elia calling out my name, ''Rose.'' And I turn around, to see him catching up to me. Right now, he's standing right next to me, close enough but not as close as before. ''I'm sorry, I didn't know it was going to rain.'' He adds.

Shaking my head, ''That's not your fault. I had fun. Thanks.'' I raise my hand and pat on his arm before realising what I just did. He looks down at me with a surprised smirk on his face as I keep on staring at his chest—yup Rose, you have lost your sanity.

He leans in and to my surprise, kisses me on the cheek. I stay still while our face are inches from one another. Then, I hurry myself towards my room, not even glancing back at him. Closing the door behind me, I slide my back against the door and ends up sitting on the ground. I have a question. A real damn question.

Who is Elia?