Page 17

MATTEO

I storm back into the ballroom with my wife in tow. She hisses at me to let her go, but I hold on to her wrist even tighter. I can feel the eyes on us, but I don’t give a shit. They can think what they want.

This is not the debut I would have wanted but the night did not go according to plan. We need to leave before things get ugly and floors are stained with blood.

“Matteo, please stop.” She tries again to pull me to a halt. “People are looking at us.”

“Let them.” We are on our way out anyway. And besides, these low-level thugs need me more than I will ever need them. They all know this; it’s why they play nice in front of me. “We are leaving.”

“Matteo?” Valerio comes to my side, leaving a woman he was chatting up by the bar. He looks between me and my wife and then trains his gaze on me. “What happened?”

“Giacomo is what happened. He’s here, and so is my son—Daniele. Keep an eye on them both; do not engage, and report back to me what you see. I’m taking Maria home. Tell the governor I am sorry, and we will have to reschedule our meeting.”

We break out into the open air, my second still at my side and my wife now silently trailing next to me. We come to a grinding halt, waiting for the valet to bring my car around.

“I will, boss. But before you go…” He steps around me to stand in front of my wife. “I wish we had met under more pleasant circumstances, but I’m Valerio—the man tasked with keeping your husband’s head out of his ass.”

I shoot him a glare, but Maria manages a small smile, quelling some of the tension coursing through my body.

Maria takes his hand in hers. “It’s nice to meet you, Valerio. Hopefully we can sit down and have a nice chat some time?”

The little shit goes the extra mile and takes the back of her hand and kisses it. I clear my throat, uncomfortable with this little exchange. But from the smile on Valerio’s face, I know he is only doing it to get under my skin.

“It would be my pleasure. Maybe we can exchange numbers and?—”

“Oh, would you look at that? The car’s here.” Right on cue, it pulls up, and I nudge Maria forward. “You want her number? Sure. I’ll give it to you… never.”

My second lets out a low chuckle after succeeding at getting under my skin. He rolls his eyes and heads back inside.

The valet opens Maria’s door, and I help her inside. The smile has dropped from her lips and she looks pensive. Her eyes move over my face for a few seconds before she opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.

“Whatever you have to say, can you save it? I need to put as much space between me and this place as possible.” I manage the words, but thinking of what just happened makes my blood sizzle a little.

“Okay.”

I shut the door and round the car so I can take us home. Giacomo is like a rat; he only lives in the shadows and in the deep underground sewer. If he has resurfaced, it means he is up to something, and I need to find out what it is.

The drive back to the penthouse is silent. We ascend the elevator, not a single word uttered between the two of us. I am still fighting off the last shrivels of anger still lingering in my system.

I am holding it in for her, but had I been on my own, I would have made my way to my range and blown off some steam.

We walk through the door, and I loosen my bow tie and breathe a sigh of relief. Today has been nothing short of a clusterfuck of events.

The heels of our shoes hit against the marble floors, sending the sound to the walls and then back again.

“Who was that man?” She finally fills the silence of the house. “Why does he seem to hate you?”

I ignore her and walk over to the bar, where I find my favorite bottle of whiskey. I pour myself a glass and throw the harsh liquor back. I wince but I appreciate the burn as it sears my throat.

“I have many people who hate me, Maria. That is the name of the game.” I watch her, standing in the middle of the open area looking like a vision in white. So pure. So innocent. “Are you okay? After everything that happened tonight.”

She looks at me with furrowed brows.

“Daniele?” I prompt.

She sighs heavily. “Truthfully?”

“Yes, always.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “Only two months ago, I was thinking about where I wanted to exhibit my next pieces, and now… well, now I am the wife to one of the most dangerous men on the east coast, and the only person I could call friend hates me for some unknown reason.”

He doesn’t hate her. He hates me and for good reason, but I can’t tell her. This is a secret I have carried since the day he was born and one I do not intend to divulge.

The pain in her voice stirs something in me. I push the unknown feeling down, not ready to address such things.

“In the span of a month, I lost my twin brother and married a man who seems all but soulless toward me. Do you know that you haven’t even asked how I am doing through all of this?

I had to let go of the only life I knew and could find comfort in.

I’m in a strange new world and I… I’m barely treading water.

I feel like I’m either seconds away from crying and melting down or breaking something.

There is no in-between, and it’s driving me to insanity. ”

Her words hang in the air. The weight of them press down onto my chest.

Antonio Faravelli.

There has been blood on my hands for decades, but his blood mars my hands, and I don’t think I will ever be able to come to terms with what happened. This is why she should have married Daniele. My debt would be paid and I wouldn’t have to see her every day in my home.

“I sometimes forget that you are still grieving the loss of your brother. You handle the grief so well that I… I forget.” My words are sincere that they even throw me for a loop. “I know I have said it once before, but I am sorry for your loss.”

Her eyes linger on me. A flicker of something unreadable flashes through them—so fleeting, I almost miss it. She takes a few tentative steps toward me, and I pause. She looks like she is on a mission but there is a hesitance in her actions.

That’s when I see it. The shift in her eyes—raw, unfiltered desire. A silent plea wrapped in fire, a challenge and surrender all at once.

“Maria…”

She swallows hard, her breath uneven, but still, she moves toward me.

“We may never love each other,” she murmurs, her voice thick with something darker than want.

“But I can’t stop needing you.” Her lashes lower, her breath uneven.

“It’s maddening—the way I burn when you think of her.

When I see the ghost of her in your eyes, in your silence, in the way you hold yourself back from me. ”

She exhales shakily, fingers curling at her sides.

“And it’s unbearable—the way I ache when you touch me.

” Her voice drops lower, almost a whisper.

“I don’t know what this is, but I don’t want to fight it anymore.

I don’t want to be in a battle I’ve already lost to someone who isn’t even here. I want you to want me the same way.”

Her words seal my fate.

Something snaps inside me. A dam breaking, a beast unchained.

She’s standing before me—bare, vulnerable, but not fragile. No, Maria has never been fragile. She is fire and steel, reckless and beautiful, daring me to take what she’s offering. Daring me to make her mine.

She steps closer—so close I can smell the lingering traces of her perfume, the soft mix of vanilla and danger. Her eyes, wide and doe-like, lock onto mine, searching, waiting.

She reaches behind her, fingers trembling slightly, and then—one by one—she lets the straps of her dress slip from her shoulders. The silk glides over her skin, pooling at her feet in a whisper of fabric.

My breath catches.

No lace. No undergarments. Nothing.

She stands before me, bare, utterly unashamed, the flickering light casting golden shadows over every curve of her body. A vision of temptation—pure sin wrapped in delicate, unmarked flesh. I clench my fists at my sides, every ounce of my self-control hanging by a fragile thread.

Her chest rises and falls in uneven breaths, but she doesn’t waver. She doesn’t shy away from my gaze. She wants me to look. She wants me to burn for her.

And God help me, I do.

“Make me yours, Matteo.”

Her voice is quiet, but the steel in it is undeniable. She takes a step forward, her bare skin brushing against my suit, her warmth searing through the fabric. My jaw clenches. My pulse roars.

She has no idea what she’s just unleashed.

“Don’t make me beg for something that is mine by law,” she continues, her nails grazing slightly over the fabric. Her lips part, her breath mingling with mine. “I can see you want to.”

Christ. Can she?

I lift a hand, trailing my fingers over her collarbone, feeling the way her pulse thrums beneath my touch—fast, unsteady. For me. She gasps softly, her breath hitching, and fuck, it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.

“You want me to want you the same way?” My voice is low, rough. Possessive.

I tilt her chin up, forcing her to look at me. Her pupils are blown wide, her lips parted, waiting, wanting.

“You have no idea how much I already do.”

Then I crash my mouth to hers, swallowing her gasp, tasting the fire she’s kept buried for far too long. And in this moment, in the way she melts against me, in the way her nails sink into my skin, I know?—

She’s mine.

Tonight, tomorrow, forever.

I rip my lips from hers and lean my forehead against hers. I see her dilated pupils and the way the green in her eyes slowly begins to dissolve.

“This body of yours is mine tonight. I am claiming you—as mine,” I pant against her breaths. “Let me work your body into oblivion.”

She smiles and steps back before she takes my hand in hers and leads the way.

We make our way up the stairs as she leads us to her room. My cock strains against my trousers and it takes everything in me not to slam her against the wall and have my way with her.