“Don’t worry,” I said. I’d teach her a lot of things.
Two days later my father and Scuderi came to an agreement and Gianna was mine. Now I just had to figure out a good time to tell her.
* * *
Gianna
Sometimes at night when I relived our kiss, I wondered if maybe Matteo and I weren’t such a bad idea, but then Aria called and told me about how she’d found Luca cheating on her, and that was the wake-up call I’d desperately needed. Made Men would always kill, always cheat, always ruin anything they touched. I wouldn’t let anyone treat me like that. I wouldn’t even give them the chance to try. No matter how much my body wanted to kiss Matteo again, I swore to myself that I would push him away. One kiss had already been too much. If I let him close again, he’d never leave me alone.
Of course when I visited New York a couple of weeks after Aria’s wedding, Matteo was there in Luca’s apartment to have dinner with us. The grin he gave me when Aria led me toward the table made my blood boil. Had he told anyone about our kiss? I hadn’t even told Aria about it, and I’d always told Aria everything. This would be a long dinner.
* * *
The next day I convinced Aria to take me to a club dancing, desperate to forget Matteo. It was my first taste of freedom, and boy, did it taste good. Not as good as Matteo, an annoying voice reminded me, but it was soon blasted away by the beats filling the dance floor of the Sphere. It was an exhilarating experience to have strangers check me out, to have them want me. I’d never dressed this sexy before, had never been allowed to, and couldn’t help but feel strangely empowered. I was dancing with a tall guy when he was suddenly shoved away from me by none other than Matteo fucking Vitiello.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he snarled.
“What the fuck are you doing? This is none of your business.” My dance partner had found his balance again and stepped up to us but before he could say something Matteo punched him below the ribs, sending him to his knees, and then two bouncers were there and dragged the guy away.
I stood in stunned silence. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Matteo brought his face close to mine and gripped my upper arm. “You won’t ever do this again. I won’t let you mess around with other guys.”
“I wasn’t messing around, I was dancing.” Then his words really sank in. “With other guys? So you think because we kissed once you can tell me what to do with my life? Newsflash: you don’t own me, Matteo.”
He smirked. “Oh, but I do.” His dark eyes roamed over my skimpy outfit, lingering on my naked legs. “Every inch of you.”
I shook off his grip. “You are insane. Get away from me.” He followed Luca without another word, but left one of his stupid baboons-slash-bodyguards with me. I was so angry, I wanted to run after him and pummel him to dust.
Instead I went over to Aria who looked lost as she stood unmoving in the center of the dance floor. “That asshole,” I muttered.
After a moment, her eyes settled on me. “Who?”
“Matteo. The guy has the nerve to tell me not to dance with other men. What is he? My owner? Fuck him.” Aria looked as if her thoughts were miles away. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go to the bar.” Luca’s two lapdogs, Romero and Cesare, followed us and Aria lashed out at them. “Can you watch us from afar? You’re driving me crazy.”
Stunned, I watched as she rushed toward the bar and ordered drinks for us. Romero and Cesare were watching us with hawk eyes from afar. So much for feeling free and having fun. Anger at Matteo resurfaced again but I swallowed it. I wouldn’t let him ruin the evening.
“You can go dancing,” Aria said with a shaky smile, clinging to her drink like it was her lifeline.
“In a few minutes. You look pale.”
“I’m okay.”
She didn’t look okay, and I wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to tell me what was bothering her. Although, I really had no right to complain. After all, I still hadn’t told her about the kiss.
“I really need to go to the restroom,” I said after several minutes of silence.
“I need to sit for a few more minutes.”
I hesitated, wondering if it was a good idea to leave her, but it wasn’t like she was alone. After all, Romero never let her out of his sight, thanks to Luca’s possessiveness.
I made my way toward the back of the bar where the restrooms were, trying not to lose my shit on Cesare who was like an annoying shadow. When I returned to the bar a few minutes later, all hell had broken lose. Aria was swaying and Cesare had to hold her up while Romero had his knife buried in some sleezebag’s leg. “You will follow us. If you try to run, you’ll die,” Romero growled.
“Aria?” I whispered, my heart pounding in my chest. She didn’t seem to hear me.
“Take her drink. But don’t drink,” Cesare told me. I picked up the glass, too shaken to be annoyed by his patronizing tone.
We made our way to the back and then down into a basement. Aria’s legs barely supported her. I stayed beside her the entire time. When we stepped into a sort of office, my eyes settled on Matteo who lounged in a chair. His gaze zoomed in on me before taking in the rest of the scene. He pushed to his feet. “What’s going on?”
“Probably roofies,” Romero said.
Roofies? I narrowed my eyes at the asshole who’d drugged my sister. I wanted to hurt him, but the expression on Matteo’s face made it clear that I would get my wish. His eyes held a promise to me. I knew it was sick, but somehow this made me want to kiss him even more.
Something was so wrong with me.
* * *
Aria and I were sent away before Luca and Matteo started dealing with the bastard, and Romero led us out the back door toward an SUV. My heart clenched when I settled on the back seat with Aria’s head on my lap. She was so helpless. I stroked her blonde hair as I listened to her rambling. The idea that someone wanted to hurt her scared the shit out of me. This was probably the first time that I was glad for our bodyguards. Without them that sick fuck would have kidnapped Aria and raped her. But I knew he’d get what he deserved, and I was oddly okay with it. I hated the mob and what it stood for, but right now I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad for Aria’s attacker. Maybe this was a sign of how much this life had shaped me, a sign of how messed up I was. I couldn’t get the look on Matteo’s face out of my head. That flicker of excitement as he pulled out his knife before Aria and I left the room. He and Luca were both monsters. I wasn’t sure yet who was more dangerous of the two. But the worst thing was that part of me felt attracted to Matteo’s monstrous side.
* * *
Almost one month had passed since I’d last seen Matteo. Somehow his words about owning me still wouldn’t leave my mind. Every time I relived our kiss, I brought them to the forefront of my brain to let my anger wash away any kind of longing my body felt. The only reason why I even still remembered that stupid kiss was because things at home were so bad. I was constantly fighting with Father, most of the time about my habit of saying whatever crossed my mind, just like today. “I don’t give a damn what’s expected of me.”