Page 28 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)

MATTEO

I ’d gone in search of Lila and Renzo after talking to Alessio.

No matter what I said, he continued to think it best to keep Lila in the dark about our true nature.

I’d argued that she needed to know and could handle it, and that she probably already guessed by now, but fear kept Alessio from admitting our ties to the mafia.

Finding Renzo and Lila locked up together pushed my frustration to the background.

I leaned against the gazebo’s wooden wall and crossed my arms.

“Anyone fancy a swim?” I ran a hand through my dripping hair and adjusted my stance to show off the swimsuit I’d pulled on. “I’ve heard water is great for relaxation.”

“Fuck off,” Renzo growled in my direction, and I matched the sound with a growl of my own.

Lila raised her head, shaking hair from her eyes. Her sweat-slicked skin glistened. “I’ll swim.” Her gaze homed in on me then behind me. “Where’s Leo?”

“With Alessio.” I’d suspected finding Lila and Renzo together, so I’d convinced the boy to stay behind and keep swimming. “He’s putting on sunscreen after showing off his diving skills.”

Lila chuckled and climbed off Renzo’s lap. “I need a bathing suit.”

“There’s one in the bath house. I’ll show you.

” I didn’t bother offering to help her dress.

Especially when she bent over and showed me her ass while grabbing her clothes.

How did Alessio find the determination to keep Lila at arm’s length?

One look at her, one five-minute conversation, and I’d hand over my entire life if she asked for it.

“Are you coming, Renzo?” Lila grinned at him over her shoulder, her profile warm and inviting as she pulled on her shorts and shirt.

“Looks like he already did.” I avoided looking at another man’s dick when possible. Renzo kind of made that impossible when he lay stretched across the bench like a motherfucking god of sexual deviance.

He stood with a stiff glare in my direction. “I need to check in with the guards. I’ll see you later.” He pulled on his clothes and left through the other side of the gazebo.

Lila watched him walk away, her brow furrowed until Renzo disappeared into the foliage.

“I hope you’re ready for a water fight, because Leo has been talking smack for a half hour.” I placed a hand on the small of her back and walked alongside until we made it to the bath house. “The suit’s in there. Join us when you’re ready.” I opened the door. “Unless you’d like a little help.”

“Matteo.” She laughed around my name. “I’m still coming down from sex with Renzo. You really want to have sex with me now?”

“Anytime. Any place.” I meant it too. It didn’t matter to me. I’d have joined her and Renzo if I’d arrived a few minutes earlier. Unless she wanted me to wait. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“I bet you say that to every girl you bed.”

“I don’t bed girls. ” I’d slept with a lot of women, I didn’t deny it. “But I’ve never been willing to give them anything more than one night and a good time.” I held up a single finger. “You’ve already beat the score.”

“Didn’t know it was a competition.” She slid past me and closed the door.

“It isn’t.” I made sure my voice carried to her. “I’ll see you in the pool.”

Leo rounded the corner and threw himself at my legs. “Is she going to swim?”

“Yep.” I tweaked his nose. “Let’s go get ready for her.”

“Okay.” He spun and raced away. The kid had more energy than I knew what to do with.

Hopefully the time he spent running and swimming would wear him out and he’d get a good night’s sleep.

We all needed that. Exhaustion dogged my steps, but I made myself move to the edge of the pool and back into the water.

Alessio was back in the lounge chair, his phone to his ear and a twisted scowl darkening his expression. He slammed the phone down to his lap and rubbed both hands across his face while swinging his legs around. “I need to find Renzo.”

“Can I come?” Leo popped up from the water.

Alessio started to deny him, the look in his eyes reminding me of his father. But then he smiled and nodded. “Sure.”

Lila walked around the corner. The small bikini hugged her curves, and my cock responded with a surge. “Alessio is taking Leo to talk to Renzo.” I rushed to get the words out.

Lila frowned, her hands landing easily on her hips. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No.” Leo grabbed a towel and flung it around his shoulders. “You can stay and play with Matteo.”

Yes. Please come play with me.

She walked to the edge of the pool and stopped. “Alessio?”

“It’s fine.” He waved in the general direction of the gazebo. “You should enjoy yourself.”

She sat down and lowered her feet into the pool, kicking them back and forth and making tiny ripples fan out around her. “I’m not sure I remember how to enjoy myself.”

“I can show you.” I winked and dove under the water, coming up close enough to grab her ankles and pull.

She screamed and laughed. “Don’t do that.”

“What? This?” I pulled again, dragging her into the water. I caught her around the waist before she went under, kicking myself backward so we floated. “What’s bothering you?”

The sudden change in conversation settled around us.

I lowered my guard and let her see the war going on inside me first, hoping she’d open up as well.

“I’m worried that all this is going to be too much for all of us.

Is there anything I can do to help? We’re going to have to lean on each other for support, Lila. None of us can do this alone.”

She shifted, treading water with tiny strokes of her hands and her feet fluttering back and forth alongside mine.

“I feel like I’m a burden. Leo and I don’t belong here.

We got caught up in this world, and now we have people shooting at us.

That man wants Leo dead.” She trembled, goosebumps popping out on her arms. “I never wanted to be part of this.”

I swept my hands up her shoulders and brushed wet hair back from her face.

She leaned into me for a split second before pulling back. “I shouldn’t have sex with you. I just told you I don’t want to be part of this world.”

“Being together is not something to be ashamed of. Alessio understands that we all have feelings tied together. We all feel something for you.” We might still struggle with jealousy at times, but we were figuring it out. I made damned sure of that.

I tried not to push her into anything she didn’t want, but the new rawness of my feelings for her demanded I speak. “I’ll always be here, Lila. No strings. No pressure.” I’d give her what she needed, no matter what she asked for.

“Why do you make it so damned hard to say no?”

“Why do you make me so damned hard?” I rubbed my dick across her stomach and gave her a wicked smile. “We have time for another distraction.”

Her laugh emerged with a thick, wicked tint. “Right here? In the water?”

“Why not?” I ran my hand between us and pulled aside the thin scrap of material between her legs. “Have you ever fucked in a pool?”

“No.” She bit her lower lip and moved into my hand.

“Let me show you.” I brought our bodies together hard and fast, my cock spearing into her. Ripples lapped against the edge of the pool and splashed up the sides.

Lila locked her legs around my waist, her heels digging into my spine.

I put her back against the edge of the pool and used the position to drive into her.

The combination of sunshine, water, and Lila filled me to bursting.

I didn’t care that she’d just been with Renzo.

All that mattered was being here now when she needed me.

If she needed Alessio next, or Renzo again, we’d find a way to make it work.

Footsteps sounded from far away, voices carrying on the wind.

“Hurry.” She bobbed in the water, her slick pussy urging me to finish her off. “They’re coming back. Oh god, Matteo. I can’t stop.”

Her orgasm rushed through her so fast I barely had time to breathe before it demanded my own release.

Lila kissed my cheek and moved off me, adjusting her swimsuit as Leo and Alessio walked back into sight. Leo chatted away, his eyes raised to watch Alessio.

The two of them were such perfect carbon copies of each other that I wondered how long Lila would continue to deny Leo’s parentage. I’d heard her and Alessio arguing over it but kept my opinions to myself. No one could force Lila to accept our way of life.

But if she did, she’d be one of the most badass queens I’d ever encountered. Her willingness to do whatever it took to protect her family made her a jewel in a world gone cold and dark. She and Alessio were alike in that regard…which I would avoid pointing out.

I fixed my shorts and climbed from the water, approaching Alessio and marching past. “We need to talk.” It wouldn’t surprise me if he refused to follow me to the far edge of the pool area, but when I stopped and turned, he stood less than a foot away.

Leo and Lila splashed and played in the water. The need to keep them safe took over. Fuck everything else. “You need to find a way to make sure Leo gets to continue having a normal life.”

“His life will never be normal again.” Alessio pocketed his hands, any hints of remorse hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses that reflected my face back at me. “You remember how we were raised.”

“I do. And I wouldn’t wish that on any kid. If you think you can put your kid through that hell, you’re not the man I thought. He deserves the chance to grow up with his friends. In the school he likes. You can’t take that away from him.”

Alessio crossed his arms. “He has the entire mafia after him, and you expect me to send him to school?”

“You’re Alessio Cavallo. If you don’t send him, they’ll think they’ve won. Show them you’re not worried.” His pride was the best kind of leverage I had against him. “Show Lila you’re taking her requests to heart.”

The conjoined laughter of mother and son gave me the courage to force my will on Alessio. He was my friend, my boss, the most powerful man in the mafia. And I had to convince him to change his mind before we lost Lila forever.