Reunited… against my will
656 Words
Aurora
Noel betrayed me.
That was the first thought that slammed into my head as I followed Rina back into the meeting room. My son—my sweet, calm, angelic little Noel—had taken one look at Leon and decided that was it. He found instant devotion, instant comfort, and instant connection.
He hadn’t even spent a full day in Averne, had barely been off the plane for an hour, and he already knew his father.
His father.
I still wasn’t ready to process that. I wasn’t ready to process anything at all, especially not when I was seeing him again.
Leon Valmont. The hottie I had a one-night stand with, the stranger who held me in the dark like I was something fragile he didn’t want to break. He had comforted me that night, and I had run away from him because I couldn’t bring myself to let another man into my heart after what happened with Sawyer.
And now he was a prince. A real royal prince who rules an entire city or kingdom.
And somehow, I had managed to sleep with him like a reckless i***t who didn’t bother asking for a last name—and then had his baby.
Just when I decided I would raise Noel alone, just when I had finally accepted that his father would always be a faceless memory from the worst Christmas of my life, I fell right into his arms again. Whatever sick joke the universe loved to play on me brought him right back into my path.
And not just into my path. It was in the same company, in the same room.
Leon carried my son like he had known him forever. He held him with a tenderness that cut the breath right out of my lungs. His blue eyes kept drifting to me, and every time they did, I felt something inside me twist and pull tight, like a wire slowly snapping.
I didn’t want Leon to look at me like that. It was like I didn’t want him to look at me at all.
But he didn’t stop.
He held Noel securely against his shoulder while Rina stepped forward and clapped her hands loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, let’s begin,” she said. “We have a very tight schedule for the coming weeks, and everyone needs to understand their roles.”
Everyone took their seats. Leon sat at the head of the table while I sat two seats away, pretending not to feel the heat of his gaze burning into the side of my face.
Rina clicked a remote, and the screen behind her lit up. “Our Christmas festival will run from December 2nd, which is tomorrow, all the way to Christmas Eve,” she began. “This year, the royal family has approved an expanded calendar, so we have more events than ever before.”
I pulled out my notebook, my hands trembling as I forced myself to focus.
“These include,” Rina continued, “the Winter Illumination Walk, where thousands of lanterns will be released into the night sky. Aurora, you’ll be responsible for capturing the opening ceremony and lantern releases with the other photographers from multiple angles, but the main focus will be on the prince, who will light the first lantern.”
My eyes flickered to Leon despite trying not to. Noel was still sleeping peacefully against his shoulder, his tiny fingers curled into the prince’s collar.
I looked away and focused on Rina as she moved on. “Next is the Snowflakes Parade. It’s one of Averne’s oldest traditions, with live performers, acrobats, wolves in ceremonial armor, and the royal procession,” she said, giving instructions based on everyone’s roles. Then she turned to me when it came to my part.
“Aurora, you’ll photograph the training sessions leading up to it, plus the parade itself—with the wolves.”
- Writer
