19. Summer
Summer
The rocking chair was going to wear grooves in the carpet from the amount of use it had received over the past week since Serafina had been discharged from the hospital. The baby girl was on the mend, but she was still clingy.
If I was being honest, the constant snuggles were just as much for my benefit.
Having my hand on her chest, so that I could feel its rhythmic rising, helped reassure me that she was actually breathing.
It would be a long time before I recovered from the trauma of finding her turning blue in her crib.
Matteo had been surprisingly present. Electing to work from home, he’d even set up a little desk in his office for Bianca to complete schoolwork provided by her teachers.
A preschool classroom was like a petri dish of communicable diseases, and we couldn’t take the risk with Serafina’s fragile health, so Bianca would be learning remotely for the time being.
While he was available to lend a helping hand with the girls, he never once questioned my need to keep Serafina in my arms, even going so far as to feed me from his plate during meals so I didn’t have to let her go.
Stuffy snores sounded from the infant tucked to my chest, but I kept us rocking, not ready to transfer her to her crib for the night.
Footsteps near the door had my head lifting, and my jaw dropped when I caught sight of Matteo. The impeccably tailored tuxedo, molded to his muscular frame, was a far cry from his standard attire of a T-shirt and joggers over the past couple of weeks.
“Are you going out?” I kept my voice quiet so as not to wake the sleeping baby.
He dipped his chin. “Unfortunately, it can’t be avoided. There’s an event that requires my presence.” After a brief pause, he said, “I’d like for you to accompany me.”
“Oh, I don’t know . . .” My gaze dipped to Serafina.
She didn’t know it, but she’d provided the perfect buffer between us, which was very much needed after the shit that had gone down with the tabloids and Matteo thinking that keeping his distance was the best course of action. It hurt that he chose to isolate me when it impacted both of us.
“We won’t stay long, but I at least have to put in an appearance.” He must’ve assumed my reluctance had more to do with not wanting to leave the baby.
One hand lifted to the greasy hair I had thrown up into the messiest of buns. “I haven’t showered in days.”
“We have time.” He batted down my weak excuse.
I gestured to his appearance. “And I’m not sure I have anything that can match the black-tie look you’re sporting.”
That devastatingly handsome man leaned one shoulder against the doorframe and shoved a hand into his pocket, the picture of casual grace. “You don’t have to worry about that. There’s a dress laid out on your bed.”
My eyes bulged. “There is?”
“Mm-hmm.” A corner of his lips twitched. “There’s something I want to show you.”
Heart rate kicking into high gear, I asked, “You do?”
Matteo stepped further into the room and flashed me with an uncharacteristically shy smile. “Please, Summer?”
Lord, when he let his softer side shine through, there wasn’t anything he could ask that I wouldn’t agree to.
“Okay.” I stroked a soothing path down Serafina’s back.
He reached toward her. “May I?”
Heat flooded my cheeks at the reminder that I’d been monopolizing his baby. With a tiny nod, I replied, “Of course. She’s your daughter.”
“Maybe so. But she’s awfully attached to you.” Eyes staring a path straight into my soul, he added, “We all are.”
Pretending like I wasn’t on the brink of tears, I allowed Matteo to gently ease Serafina from my arms.
“I’ll, uh—” I averted my face, so he didn’t see me swipe beneath my nose with the back of my hand. “I’ll just get ready then.”
Hustling out of the room like my ass was on fire, I wasn’t quick enough to avoid overhearing him singing softly to his baby girl in Italian, and I about damn near fell in love with him on the spot.
Who was I kidding? I was already falling.
The only question that remained was how badly it was going to hurt when I crashed on the jagged rocks that inevitably waited for me at the bottom of that cliff.
After the world’s quickest shower and using an entire bottle of concealer to hide the dark circles beneath my eyes, I was seated beside Matteo in the back of a blacked-out SUV, wearing a stunning red silk dress that cost more than two months’ rent at my old apartment.
When I spied the Addy June insignia on the garment bag lying on my bed, I nearly fainted.
The fashion label designed by a real-life royal was featured on red carpets around the globe, worn only by the rich and famous.
I certainly didn’t fit into either of those categories, but the minute the fabric fell over my curves, it almost felt like I could pretend I was.
The car pulled into an industrial park, coming to a stop before a nondescript building that looked like a warehouse.
Confused, I turned to Matteo. “This is where your fancy event is being held?”
Dark eyes glittering, he said, “I need you to trust me.”
He’d given me every reason not to. The man had used money to manipulate me into taking a job that put me under his roof. Then we found ourselves at the center of a veritable sex scandal, and he fucking disappeared. When Serafina was sick and I needed him most, he couldn’t be reached.
My brain screamed for me to open my mouth and tell him that he hadn’t earned it. But even though it was sheer lunacy to admit it, deep down in my gut, I did trust him. I couldn’t explain it, and I didn’t want to try.
Taking the hand he offered to help me down from the vehicle, I whispered, “Okay.”
“That’s my girl,” Matteo praised, his palm scorching against the bare skin of my exposed back as he guided me toward the door.
A heavy metal door loomed before us. I peeked over my shoulder, scanning our surroundings. Other than the two guards who stood beside the SUV, arms crossed, there was no one else around.
Whatever was going down tonight, it was not your standard high-society function.
“Uh.” I shifted uncomfortably. “Do you need a key?”
A soft chuckle sounded from beside me. “Oh, sweet Summer, I am the key.”
“How—” My words cut off abruptly when he pressed some hidden button that brought up an electronic panel.
First, he touched his index finger on the smooth screen. Then, he leaned in for what appeared to be a retina scan. Finally, he spoke into a microphone, reciting his first and last name.
Like magic, the door unlocked and swung open.
Holy shit, that was some spy-level shit right there.
Or organized crime, but who’s counting?
“Biometrics,” Matteo explained when he caught me gawking.
A stunned exhale rushed past my parted lips, but there wasn’t time to dwell on the extreme security clearance required to enter this building, because when we stepped inside, my mind fucking exploded.
You’d have thought that door was a portal that transported us from Chicago to Vegas, because what I was staring at was a bona fide casino, complete with table games and slot machines as far as the eye could see.
“What is this place?” I wondered aloud.
Warm lips brushed against my ear. “Another piece of my kingdom.”
I whipped my head around to stare at him. “This is yours ?”
Matteo flashed me a brilliant smile. “What do you think?”
“I think”—surprised laughter bubbled up from my chest—“it’s not at all what I expected, but it’s beyond beautiful.”
“Glad you think so.”
He led me down the steps that brought us to the casino floor. Moving around the perimeter of the room, we came to a stop at a side door, where two men in suits wearing earpieces stood guard.
One of them opened the door for us. “Boss.”
“ Grazie .” Matteo thanked them in Italian—one of the few words I did know—and damn if a shiver didn’t roll down my spine.
Inside, there were no fewer than a dozen poker tables, each one containing eight men dressed sharply in tuxedos, the same as the man who had escorted me this evening.
“High-stakes poker tournament,” he explained.
“We run them quarterly. Buy-in is five hundred thousand. Only one hundred and twenty seats. The house takes thirty percent, so this one night nets us eighteen million. The other forty-two million go to the top five players, in varying percentages based upon their final placement.”
Pretty sure my jaw landed on the floor.
My mind raced, thinking of all I could do with half a million dollars. And here were these men, willing to risk that exorbitant amount with the full knowledge that, with the exception of five of them, they were going to lose it.
“Come on.” With gentle pressure on my hip, Matteo urged me forward. “The quicker I make the rounds, the sooner we can get home.”
His earlier comment about putting in an appearance suddenly made more sense. He was the man in charge, the face of the family, and with that came a requirement to maintain a public presence.
It also comes with zero respect for privacy, apparently .
Yes, I was still salty about those damn pictures taken without our knowledge or permission and plastered all over the internet.
One face in particular stood out as I scanned the crowd, and a near-silent gasp clawed up my throat.
“Oh my God,” I breathed out in a rush. “Is that the mayor?”
Matteo hummed. “Some of the most powerful men in this city and several others are in attendance tonight. Politicians, diplomats, entrepreneurs, and I believe even one Saudi prince, if I’m not mistaken.”
In a daze, I muttered, “Unreal.”
“Matteo!” A lifted hand drew our attention, and we moved in the direction of the man to whom it was attached.
“Senator Hawthorne. Pleased to see you could join us this evening.” The two men shook before Matteo brought me forward. “May I introduce you to Miss Summer Reynolds?”
A spark of recognition lit up in his green eyes—guess I should get used to that—before he offered me a polite smile. “It’s my pleasure, Miss Reynolds.”