Novels by White Heart

CHAPTER 42"Where are you going?"He stepped fully into the room as he asked, his eyes dropping to the bag in my hand again.I stared at him for a moment because the question was so straightforward and unbothered that it genuinely took me a second to process."Italy," I said. "I'm going back to Italy.""Why?"That was the one that did it."Why?" I repeated. "Aurelio, you left me alone in a bar in the middle of Paris and disappeared for the entire night, you didn't call, you didn't answer when I called you. Troy had to sit with me until I could calm down and I still don't even know where you went." I shifted the bag in my hand. "And you're asking me why."He looked at me steadily. "I'm sorry.""You're not sorry," I said. "You're saying it because you want me to think you are.""Camille….""If Troy wasn't there," I said, my voice almost cracking as everything from yesterday night seemed oddly clear to me."I would have been alone in a city I don't know, in the middle of the night, b

CAMILLEI grabbed my phone off the mattress the moment it rang, I know I said I wouldn't call Aurelio again but it didn't mean I wasn't still expecting he called back.My face fell when It wasn't Aurelio.I stared at my father's name on the screen for a moment, the disappointment settling in my stomach Andi sighed then picked up."Papa""Camille." His voice was warm the way it always was, unhurried. "How are you, sweetheart?""I'm fine," I said. "I'm good.""You haven't been home in a while." I paused and sighed.“I'm…I'm around” I said, my voice refusing to come out."Keisha’s been coming home a lot more than my own daughter, has your papa done something wrong?” He asked.“No papa, you've done nothing wrong”“So where have you been, honey?"I looked at Aurelio's jacket still hanging over the chair by the window."Paris," I said finally, and the silence that followed was nerve wrecking, I expected more than silence from him, papa never liked it when I travelled without telling him."

AURELIOCamille laughed again, I heard it from across the room and something in my chest pulled tight.I turned.She caught my eye at the same moment, and the laugh died on her face almost instantly, replaced with something quieter. She said something to the man across from her and he turned to look in my direction.I looked away.I picked up my glass and brought it to my mouth and kept my eyes on Simone, who was still talking, gesturing with one hand the way he always did when he got to the part of a story where he was the smartest person in the room.I nodded.My leg had started bouncing under the table without me deciding to do it, and Troy's hand came down on my knee, firm and flat, pressing it still. I didn't look at him. He didn't say anything. He just held it there until the bouncing stopped, and then he let go.Simone said something that was probably funny and I smiled at the right moment.My eyes went back to the corner.The man was still leaning forward, his elbows on the

AURELIOI crossed the room with a scowl already arranged on my face and pulled the door open, and Troy stood on the other side.His eyes moved over me once, unhurried, and then dropped, then a small side reached his face.I followed his gaze.The stain on the front of my trousers was not subtle, I realised a breath and looked back up.Troy pressed his lips together, and returned his eyes to my face, the effort he was putting into not laughing was genuinely visible."What," I said flatly."Dinner," he said."Not interested." I moved to close the door.His hand caught it. "I wouldn't have knocked if it was just dinner, Aurelio. Simone Enrique wants to meet tonight” he announced, gauging my facial reaction, when I didn't try to close the door he smiled and relaxed.“I knew you'd…”“Troy, I've got things to do, so what exactly does he want?” I asked already frustrated with him.“Apparently, he heard you were in Paris and reached out an hour ago." He held my gaze. "It's good timing, you'r

AURELIO “Stay out of my business, Troy,” I said when I finally snapped out of my silence, as I leaned back into the leather chair, he was acting like some fucking moral compass when we both knew he was no saint.“I didn’t fly all the way here for a lecture. I came to take over the company, have some fun, and go back home.”He rubbed his temples like I was giving him a migraine. “I’m only looking out for you and Camille, man.”I laughed bitterly. “Looking out for me? Please, you’re not a saint either, so stop sounding like one, Emilia was seventeen when you started fucking her all over those university halls and classrooms, you’re still together, and nobody’s hurt and we both know you're never going to be anything more than the player you are.”Troy’s jaw tightened. “Those are different scenarios, Aurelio, I wasn't eighteen years older than Emilia, and sure as hell not married.”“Fuck off,” I snapped, standing up.He sighed heavily. “I’m only trying to look out for you.” I paused at t

AURELIOThe door had barely closed before Troy turned around.I had seen that look on his face before, across boardroom tables and late night conversations and every crisis we had navigated together over fifteen years, but I had never seen all three of those expressions arrive at the same time. Disbelief, surprise and shock, sitting on his face simultaneously like he couldn't decide which one to lead with."Who is that girl outside again," he said."Her name is Camille," I said."Stop messing with me, Aurelio." He pointed at the door. "You know what I'm asking.""I'm not messing with you. Her name is Camille, that's what you asked.""Who is she to you."I looked at him steadily. "She's my woman."The room went quiet.Troy looked at me.I looked back.The silence stretched long enough that I pulled back the chair across from his desk and sat down, and still he said nothing, just stood there looking at me with that triple expression slowly solidifying into something I couldn't fully r