Page 19 of Third Crime’s A Charm (Princes Take New York #3)

Twelve

H allelujah and praise Dr. Barnaby. The state’s best cosmetic surgeon happened to live next door and had declared that Matteo once again had the face of an angel. It had sustained no permanent damage and had healed nicely.

They were returning to Manhattan on Monday so Truman was selling the last weekend of their romantic getaway—to the neighbors and Matteo—for all he was worth.

He drove into town with the convertible’s top down and waved at everyone.

Nothing aggravated Truman more than useless small talk but he chatted up the florist and the barista, asking for tips and advice.

“How do I say he’s the one without scaring him off?

” he asked the young woman gathering their pastries.

She giggled and groaned at Truman’s thoughtfulness and he enjoyed his solo performances as the perfect boyfriend.

“I should hurry,” he said as he checked his watch.

“I don’t want him to wake up without me. ”

“I hope he appreciates how lucky he is.”

“I promise, I’m the lucky one,” Truman said, then thanked her. He stopped to get the door for a pregnant woman and plucked one of the smaller roses from the bouquet. “Because you are blossoming and glowing,” he told her with a wink, making her laugh.

“Thanks, now I’m double pregnant!”

Truman chuckled about that all the way back to the beach house and was smiling as he let himself in, juggling the flowers, pastry box, and coffee carrier.

“That’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to conception,” he noted and paused when he found Matteo in the kitchen in a white robe and searching the cabinets.

“Danke!” he said when he spotted the coffee cups. “No one was here and there was no coffee so I started to panic.”

“I sent Donna to Atlantic City for the weekend. She’ll be back on Monday, before we take off.

Neville’s headed back to the city to prepare for our return,” Truman explained as he set everything down and took the lid off of Matteo’s coffee.

He wanted everything to be perfect and for all the right people to be aware that Matteo would be staying at the townhouse.

“Espresso with just a splash of milk and two sugars,” he said as he handed Matteo the cup.

“You remembered,” he said but Truman shrugged and went to get their plates and silverware.

As the perfect boyfriend, it was Truman’s job to know how Matteo liked his coffee and what his favorite foods were. Truman took his role as besotted lover seriously. Maybe a little too seriously… His gaze dropped to Matteo’s bare feet when he turned from the silverware drawer.

He was transported back to the bedroom as he sipped coffee, unable to think of little else the last two days.

He stifled a wishful sigh but it had little to do with Matteo’s feet.

They were often bare and Truman wondered if Matteo did it to be cruel.

If only Matteo understood how deeply Truman craved every part of him.

He swept the memory and his regrets aside for later and focused on setting their places on the kitchen island. “I got blueberry cake and apple muffins.”

“Super! I love the blueberry cake and apple muffins.” Matteo picked up the bouquet and his eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you’re safe without your bodyguards and am I safe, alone with you?”

They both knew that was ridiculous. “Neville isn’t my bodyguard. He’s my assistant and manages my security and Carmine is my driver. I’m not particularly concerned about my safety but we had a feeling you’d react poorly. You have a tendency to be…hotheaded,” he said gently.

Matteo hummed as he sniffed. “Especially if I’m being blackmailed and you use my brothers to manipulate me. It was smart to have protection.”

“Ah! Ah!” Truman shushed as he placed a square slice of cake on a plate and slid it in front of Matteo.

“We don’t have to pretend to have a lovely weekend.

You’ve worked hard and we’ll have to be careful once we return to the city.

Let’s relax for a few days without Neville stomping around and Donna’s constant rambling. ”

They had mastered the art of behaving like a couple but a week and a half of dueling with Matteo had worn Truman out. He was hoping that a few days of true privacy would give them both a chance to be their true selves and recuperate.

“Your assistant and your driver are handy with their fists and carry weapons. Seems like you’re concerned about something,” Matteo observed but Truman made a dismissive sound.

“I’m as safe as anyone else.”

Matteo gave him an impatient look. “The average person doesn’t keep the kind of company you keep. Most of your associates are afraid of getting assassinated,” he said, making Truman snort at the thought.

“No, I face the exact same risk as anyone else because the really dangerous people know better than to bother me. I might get mugged by a random dickhead but any criminal with half a brain doesn’t want to be on my radar unless they’re hiring me.

” Truman tried to take the flowers so he could put them in water.

A vase was waiting by the sink but Matteo held onto them.

“Why hire an assistant and a driver with those…skills if you aren’t in any danger?” he asked accusatively. “Unless you’re in the habit of intimidating people…”

“I am,” Truman said simply. “Nobody likes to go to court and I deal with a lot of intimidating people. When have I ever denied what I do or the type of people I hire? In fact, a lot of my employees are former clients, like Neville and Carmine.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Matteo said flatly.

“Everyone deserves a second chance, not just princes,” Truman returned. “Neville wanted to turn over a new leaf and do something a little more respectable.”

“A little more respectable,” Matteo agreed with a snort but Truman waved it off.

“Carmine was a pro bono case. He could have gone away for shooting a man in the course of a robbery but I could tell he’d been forced to do it and felt like hell because someone almost died.

It would have been a waste to lock up a good kid because he worked for a rotten prick like Jimmy Malone.

I got Carmine a deal with community service and therapy and then I hired him.

He’s a bright kid and I can trust him to keep his mouth shut about my business. ”

Matteo looked surprised as he picked up his fork and poked at the blueberries on his cake.

It wasn’t as sweet as a dessert cake, similar to many of the cakes he had grown up with in Austria and Italy, Truman had learned.

Matteo’s most frequent complaint about American desserts was that they were way too sweet but he devoured the blueberry cake and muffins from Tate’s whenever Donna brought them.

“Besides, I associate with princes now,” Truman said while arranging the flowers, then added water to the vase. He turned with it and found Matteo frowning at his plate. “What?” Truman asked, hitching a brow.

“I had my doubts and wasn’t sure we could sell this but you’re a better actor than I am.” He sounded disappointed, making Truman chuckle as he set the vase in front of Matteo.

“It’s the easiest role I’ve ever played,” Truman said as he came around and dropped onto the stool next to Matteo’s. He leaned in close, grinning. “Who doesn’t want to date a sexy European prince? I can think of worse gigs.”

“Like dating a sleazy attorney?” Matteo said sweetly and Truman laughed.

“Touché.” His gaze caught on Matteo’s lips.

“I’m trying to make amends and prove I’m not a monster.

” He sighed as he cupped Matteo’s cheek.

“Remember what you said the other day about making the most of your time? Let’s make the most of this weekend and stop pretending.

” His thumb brushed over Matteo’s dimple and his lips.

“Aren’t you tired of the games and fighting?

Think of all the fun we could be having. ”

“You brought me to plan a heist, not to fuck you,” Matteo said, his brow furrowing and his lips tightening.

Danger!

Why would Truman set himself up like that? “I know! I didn’t mean?—”

“Listen, Truman.” Matteo rose and pointed at him. “I’ll do a lot for the sake of a job but I have my limits. I don’t use sex as a trap or to get what I want. I have brains and talent,” he said, giving Truman’s chest a jab. “That’s all you’re getting.”

“I know and I’m sorry! I’m sorry about the night we met and wish I had listened to my heart, instead of my gut.”

Matteo leaned away, his eyes widening. “What are you talking about?”

“You want the truth?” Truman asked and Matteo nodded quickly.

“I almost got carried away that night and asked you not to steal from me but I thought… I didn’t want to come off as weak and I had to be sure you could do it.

” He was being sincere. Truman’s life would have been much more peaceful if he had been straight with Matteo but his ego got in the way.

He believed that seducing Matteo would stop him from stealing the diamonds and make him a willing partner in the theft of the star, ironically.

“No, you didn’t,” Matteo said as he swiped his coffee off the table and stormed out of the kitchen.

“You could have told me you’d figured it out and that you wanted to hire me.

I could have done a demonstration, if you needed proof that I could open the safe.

You decided there had to be a trap and used sex to get my guard down.

” He stormed around the corner and the bedroom door slammed.

“I don’t enjoy this part of the boyfriend experience,” Truman said, rubbing his temple as it ached. He knew what came next and went to get it over with.

“I’m sorry, Matteo.” He gave the door a soft knock and leaned against the jamb. “I should have come clean before I had sex with you. But I thought you’d change your mind and leave the diamonds so I waited. I thought you’d choose me over the job and that I’d look like a god to Neville and Carmine.”

The door pulled open and Matteo’s nostrils flared. “You wanted to impress Neville and Carmine?” he asked loudly.

“I also wanted to get laid,” Truman added with an apologetic wince.

He hadn’t been able to stop and didn’t want to break the spell.

Matteo had been so perfect, playfully teasing Truman and bringing his hottest fantasies to life.

Somehow, Matteo had seen past Truman’s cool, careful facade and grabbed the animal he’d worked so well to hide.

“If I hadn’t felt cheap and gross before, I do now.” Matteo shook his head, seething. “I don’t have sex with people for money and I don’t play games with people’s minds.” Matteo gave the belt on his robe a defiant tug and hissed when he caught Truman looking at his feet. “Never again!”

“Fine!” Truman said, throwing his hands up.

“But for the record: I wasn’t implying that you were a sex worker and that isn’t why I brought you here.

All I meant was that I’d rather eat your ass and feed you cake than fight with you but everything sets you off,” he complained and Matteo froze, stuck and staring for several seconds.

“Fine!” he eventually shot back and yanked open his robe. “But this is the last time,” he added before he grabbed the front of Truman’s shirt and pulled him into the room.

They kissed like they were still fighting and Matteo was rough as he shoved Truman onto the bed and attacked his belt and the fly of his shorts. He freed Truman’s cock and the robe was flung aside. Matteo crawled onto the bed and turned, facing away from Truman before throwing a leg over his chest.

A chorus of angels could be heard as Matteo sat back, grinding his hole against Truman’s mouth.

Truman wrapped his arms around Matteo’s thighs, swearing in delight as he licked and sucked for all he was worth.

Matteo was so sweet and soft, with a hint of soap and the faintest tang from his sweat, Truman would never stop craving the taste of his ass.

Mine.

He couldn’t tell Matteo, though. He’d fight even harder and Truman would never know peace.

Instead, he used his tongue and fingers to wind Matteo up and make him wilder.

But Matteo was killing Truman! One hand was tight around Truman’s cock, pumping as Matteo gagged softly and drooled around the head.

Just when Truman was convinced he’d touched Heaven, Matteo dismounted.

He pulled Truman on top of him and ordered him to be rough.

Happy to oblige, Truman got to his knees between Matteo’s thighs, taking a moment to coat his length with lube.

He guided the head to Matteo’s hole, then slid all the way home, making him arch and twist on the bed.

“Yes! I want it hard!” he gasped out, twisting his fingers in the duvet and wrapping his legs around Truman’s waist. “Give it to me fast and fuck the cum out of me!” he begged and Truman could only nod, too overcome with love and lust to speak.

There would be bruises on Matteo’s hips and thighs but he made the most beautiful noises as Truman fucked him with as much brutality as he could muster.

The swift, relentless clap of his pelvis against Matteo’s ass and their feral cries echoed through the silent house.

Matteo came, squeezing tight around Truman as cum flicked onto his chest.

Truman gathered it up with his fingers, shoving them into his mouth, and the crisp tartness sent him tumbling over the edge. He came deep in Matteo’s ass, moaning with half of his hand still jammed in his mouth.

“You know, that was much better than fighting,” Matteo said once he had caught his breath.

“That’s all I was saying.” Truman raised Matteo’s hand to his lips and kissed it. “Can we have a truce for the rest of the weekend and just be ourselves?”

Matteo’s lips twisted and he considered. “I’ll give it a shot, but we aren’t having sex again.”

“If you say so,” Truman kissed his knuckles. “I’ll be right back! I owe you cake,” he said and hurried from the room.

Truman returned with Matteo’s cake and a bottle of champagne.

He fed Matteo and afterwards, they went for a long walk on the beach.

This time, they held hands just for the sake of it and kissed because they wanted to, not because they were secretly planning.

Marty and the star never came up throughout the rest of the weekend but they did have sex two more times.