"Are you on about Sophia King?" she asks, her words laced with excitement.
"Yeah, she was—"
"Oh my God! You lucky bitch!" she screeches, cutting me off. "I'm so jealous of you right now!"
"Am I missing something?" I ask, confused as to why she's fangirling over the woman.
"She's Sophia King! She's an absolute icon!"
I shake my head as I tap in the pin on the keypad beside the gates and they click open, letting me in.
"Are you going to explain why she's supposedly an icon?"
"Honestly, Aurora, you need to get out more and learn about the world. How do you not know about Sophia being married to Jericho Rossi and then ending up with his much hotter, much younger brother, Kaleb? Plus, everyone assumes that she's part of the reason that Alessandro Rossi is no longer here with us, and that's reason enough to love her."
"Still not really seeing where she's an icon," I mutter, walking up the flights of stairs that lead up to the floormy apartment is on.
"She's the reason that I sent you to London in all honesty because if she's truly part of the reason Alessandro is dead, along with everyone he was associated with, then she made London a better and safer place. Add in the fact that she has a psychotic man wrapped around her finger, that makes her pretty iconic to me."
"Fair point, I guess."
I twist my key in the door, unlocking it and push into the little hallway at the entrance of my apartment.
"He literally has a tattoo covering his whole arm dedicated to Sophia. Rumour has it that Kaleb's also going to take her name when they get married. Like, how romantic is that?"
"So romantic," I sarcastically drawl, chuckling at how in awe she sounds when talking about the woman I met earlier. "Anyway, I'm home now, safe and sound, and as much as I love talking to you, I don't want to spend another hour talking about the people I've already spent most of my day with, so I'm going to go and read some more before conking out and doing this all over again tomorrow."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'll let you go and relax, but seriously, consider doing some research on the family that you're going to be spending a lot of time with, okay?"
"Okay, Chrissie."
"Bye, sweetie! Love you!"
"Love you too."
I end the call and place my phone down on the little wooden table beside my door and then I chuck my bag beside it and take off my coat, hanging it up.
As I kick my shoes off, I pluck the paperback out of my bag and walk into the cosy living room, placing the book on the sleek coffeetable in front of the sofa. I rub my hand along the back of my neck, trying to ease the stiffness in my muscles as I walk through the small open doorway that leads into the connected kitchen.
Flicking the kettle on, I grab my favourite large mug out of the cupboard and go about making myself a coffee before cosying up on the sofa beneath a fluffy throw blanket and picking up my book, continuing from where I left off when I finished work.
Chapter Ten
Rory
My body jolts up as I wake with a start, accidentally knocking my book onto the floor. Usually I'd quickly scoop it up and check that I hadn't damaged it, but the banging on my front door has my body frozen in place and my mind spiralling.
Nobody knows that I live here apart from Chrissie and her husband Nathan.
I even purposely left the address off of any paperwork I had to file at the hospital and Chrissie assured me that she'd talk to Markus and get it cleared, so I can't help but be frightened by the sudden, loud knocking.
Add in the fact that this is a gated community that you need a pin code to unlock the gate, my fear is warranted.
The knocking stops for a few moments and I slide off the sofa, grabbing my phone from the coffee table, and hastily creep out of the living room and down the short hallway that leads to my bedroom.
I check the time on my phone and see its almost eight a.m.
Seriously, who the fuck would be banging on someone's door so early?
