CHAPTER THREE
Matteo
Maybe Gianna didn’t understand it yet but marriage would be her cage no matter if she wanted it or not.
Last night after our kiss, I’d returned to the party to drink myself into a stupor when I’d come across my bastard of a father and Rocco Scuderi, talking about Gianna and his plans for her to marry some old geezer who was known for his hard hand with women. I hadn’t said anything then because I knew Father. If he thought I wanted Gianna because I desired her, liked her or wanted to protect her from a worse fate, he’d never agree to set me up with her.
Now in the morning after the presentation of the sheets, I searched for Luca and found him on his way to the master bedroom with Aria at his side. “You two lovebirds will have to postpone your mating session. I need to have a word with you, Luca,” I said.
Luca and Aria turned around to face me. Aria’s cheeks turned bright red and she peered up at my brother with a mix of worry and embarrassment. He glared at me before lowering his gaze to his wife. “Go ahead. Check if the maids packed all your stuff. I’ll be back soon.” She quickly disappeared in the bedroom.
“The sheets were fake, weren’t they? My big bad brother spared his little virgin bride.”
Luca glowered as he stepped close to me. “Keep your fucking voice down.”
“What happened? Did you have too much to drink and couldn’t get it up?”
“Fuck off. As if alcohol ever stopped me,” he said.
“Then what?”
Luca glared. “She started crying.”
I chuckled. I reached for the knife holder around his forearm and pushed it up, revealing a small wound. Luca snatched his arm away.
“You cut yourself.”
Luca looked like he was considering slicing me up into bite-sized pieces. Since I still needed his help, I decided to keep my taunting to a minimum.
“I knew it. I told Gianna last night that she didn’t need to worry about Aria. You have a soft spot for damsels in distress.”
“I don’t—” He frowned. “You were alone with Gianna?”
I nodded, then led him away from the bedroom, in case Aria was trying to eavesdrop. She’d only tell her sister everything. “I kissed her, and she tastes even better than she looks.”
“I can’t fucking believe you got more action than me on my own fucking wedding night,” Luca muttered.
“The ladies can’t resist my charm.”
He clamped his hand down on my shoulder. “This isn’t a joking matter, Matteo. The Outfit won’t find it funny if you go around deflowering their girls.”
“I didn’t deflower anyone. I kissed her.”
“Yeah, as if that’s ever the end of it.”
“I want to deflower her. But I’m not an idiot.”
“Really?” that’s what Luca’s expression said.
“I want to marry her.”
Luca stopped abruptly. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“I’m not. That’s why I need your help. Father won’t talk to Scuderi on my behalf if he thinks I want Gianna for any other reason than spite or revenge. You know him.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“Help me convince him that she hates me and insulted me and that I want to marry her to make her miserable.”
“Isn’t that the truth? The girl can’t stand you, and you want her because of it. How is that any different from the story we’re going to tell Father?”
“I don’t want to make her miserable.”
Luca looked doubtful. “The end result might be the same. That girl is going to drive you insane, you realize that, don’t you? I’m really not sure if I want her in New York.”
“You’ll deal with it. And Aria will be happy to have her sister with her.”
“You really think you thought that through, don’t you?”
“I did, and Father will choose some bitch that’ll make me miserable for me soon enough.”
“So you rather choose your own bitch who’ll make you miserable.”
I shook off his hand. “Gianna isn’t a bitch.”
“You want to hit me because of her,” Luca said with a twisted smile.
“I want to hit you for a lot of reasons.”
Luca shook his head. “Come on. Let’s find Father.”
We headed down the corridor and down the stairs toward Father’s office. He was on his way out of the room. I forced my face into a mask of fury. “I can’t believe her fucking nerve.”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Luca said to me, then he turned to Father. “The Scuderi redhead provoked Matteo.”
Father raised his brows in mild interest. “How so?” He gestured for us to move into his office, then closed the door.
I pretended to be seething while Luca made up some ridiculous story that ended with Gianna telling me that her father would never give her to New York, and that nobody could convince him otherwise.
“She made it sound as if I was beneath her, as if we were beneath her. I want the bitch to pay. I don’t care what she wants. I want her in my bed.”
Excitement flashed in Father’s eyes. The sadist actually believed that bullshit, because in his twisted, power-hungry, sadist mind, it made sense. “I suppose I can talk to Scuderi. He’ll be glad to be rid of her. She’s a handful.” His smile widened. “You’ll have to teach her manners, Matteo.”
“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.
* * *