19. Renata
We reach the house,and I”m shocked to see armed men flanking the entrance with those large guns you see police carrying at major events. They step farther to one side as we approach the door. It opens, and a man I haven”t seen before waves us inside.
“Jeremy,” Matteo says with a nod.
“Boss,” the man answers.
“How are we looking?”
“There”s been a full sweep of the house, and everything is in order. I already have someone on the job of checking our systems for hackers and any outside attempts to get in. Not just security systems, sir, but the communication systems too. There are extra men on their way, and the drones are up.”
Drones? I glance upward as if I can see through the ceiling. This is like being in an action movie. Next an attack helicopter will come over the hill and start firing at our enemies or something. My family has good security, though, so I”m used to it. Still, the way this is all going down is making me slightly nervous.
“I really think I should go home,” I say to Matteo. “In all seriousness, I”m sorry I pulled such a stupid stunt. I shouldn”t have done it, and I was being childish to try to hurt you.”
I’m defeated in this moment, but there is no point lying anymore. There”s no point in trying to spin this or play games. Clearly, something huge is going down here, and I”m about to be in the crosshairs if I don”t get myself out of here.
“I was hurt because I know it was all just a game to you,” I say sadly.
Matteo glances around him, then he takes my hand and leads me down the hallway.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Clifford demands angrily.
“I”ll be ten minutes,” Matteo replies. “Great work, Jeremy. Keep it up, and let me know if anything changes.”
Matteo drags me into his study and slams the door shut. He walks to his desk and perches on the edge of it, hands gripping the wood either side of him as he looks at me, his gaze speculative. “Do you mind explaining exactly what you mean by that?”
“Oh, come on, Matteo.” I shake my head. “I thought you were smarter than that. I will admit I was sucked in at first. Mother was telling me all about the wonderful Angela who works for her and drips her bits of information about your organization and your life. I suppose I swallowed that quite easily. And then you brought me here into your lair and had your wicked way with me. And it was so good it addled my brain. Not enough, though, that when I walked into here, with the door handily left wide open, and saw all the things on your desk it didn’t click. It”s pretty obvious it was a setup, Matteo. I”m only offended that you think so little of my intelligence.”
He cocks his head to one side and looks at me as if I”m amusing.
“It”s not damn funny,” I seethe. I want to punch him in the face, never mind slap him.
“So, you think you figured it out, huh? How did you see the pictures?”
“I picked the stupid lock on your desk.”
“You did what?” A flash of fury streaks across his face. Then it”s replaced with something that follows fast on its heels, something wild and dangerous. “You know how to pick a lock?”
“Of course I do. I know a lot of things. When you went out the other day on your little emergency trip, I came in here and saw in your drawer. You”ve been following me. For ages. It was all just a game to get back at my family. Nothing but revenge. I just want to know one thing. Was it revenge on my family for the way that they”ve fucked yours over all these years, or was it revenge on me? Is this all about Duncan?”
“If you ever say his name again,” Matteo says seriously, “I”ll tie you up and gag you with the most beautiful silk you”ve ever seen and will only take it out to feed you chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. And I”ll leave you that way for a week. Then I will watch the security feed for my study, which I am behind on due to recent events, and fuck my cock into my fist while I watch you pick my lock.”
“Well, that”s interestingly deranged. You are a psychopath. There is something seriously wrong with you.”
“Says the woman who has twice humiliated me in my life. I mean, you set that up tonight, right? Did you ever think about the guy? Did you ever think about what happens to him?”
“Nothing will happen to him because he didn”t do anything wrong. He only met me once in a shopping mall and gave me his card. He hasn’t done anything to you.”
“Do you know why I asked him which hand he uses?”
“No.” My stomach sinks at his words.
“When I have his hand broken, I can make sure it”s not the dominant hand. The punishment fits the crime. If he ever dared to touch you again, I”d break the other one, and then he’d be useless for the rest of his miserable life.”
“You can”t do that,” I gasp. “Matteo, he had no idea there was anything between us. It isn’t his fault. I tricked him. I should be the one to be punished.”
“You will be, though, won”t you? You”ll be punished by knowing what that man is going through is because of your tricks.”
“My tricks?” I want to scream. This man is so infuriating. “What about yours? How long have you been following me? No, don”t answer that; I don”t want to know. Listen, Matteo, in all seriousness, this has gone far enough.”
Suddenly, I just feel an overwhelming sense of deep exhaustion. All of this—the games, toxicity, it needs to end. I must protect myself and be the adult in the room here.
The way he’s looking at me is making me burn inside, but I can”t give in to it. I need to go home and just eat chocolate on my sofa and live a normal life. I think there”s a new series of Married at First Sight starting tonight. I”ll curl up, eat myself into a sugar-induced coma, and watch trashy TV.
“Says who?” He still hasn”t moved, and the way he”s watching me is so alert it sends a shiver down my spine.
“Me. I don”t want to be a pawn in your games with my family.”
“Yet, when you thought you could play me, you were all in, correct? I never set it up so that you would come to me thinking there was anything real here. I set it up to see if you took the bait and tried to pull one over on me. You did. You came to that restaurant as an informant for your family.”
I walk to him and place my palm flat on his chest, right where his beating heart is. It”s odd because I do think he”s truly dead inside, and yet his heart thuds away. Holding my hand there and looking deep into his eyes, I give him my truth.
“Matteo, at first it was a game. I wanted to exact my revenge because I felt humiliated by you. You were the one who got away. Yes, I know that you”re angry because of what happened with Duncan, but it meant nothing. It was dreadful. He was terrible in bed. I only had sex with him to get back at you because I felt so ashamed as I’d been tossed away by you for a measly DeLuca girl So yeah, you”re right. I was there for that reason at first. Then I felt that old pull that I always had around you. I wish I hadn’t. I can”t quite believe I”m laying my heart on the line like this because this is not like me. I”m just bored of it all. The games. The lies. No one”s real in this world.”
“See, that”s where you”re wrong,” he says. He places his hand over mine, warm and sure. “Yes, it started as a game for me too. I thought it would be fun to fuck with your family, but to be honest, I wanted you. I wanted revenge for your betrayal, and I wanted to make you hurt. I also want to make you stay and make you mine.”
“You do realize that they”re two opposing goals, right?”
“I never said I was well adjusted,” he replies. “The thing is, Renata, I wanted revenge because you hurt me. That”s not an easy thing for a man like me to say. But if I”m being honest, the way you have, there was always more to it than revenge on your family. I couldn”t admit it to myself, but I have now. I want you. Not the games, or the lies, and certainly not the cheating. I just want you.”
I let out a pained laugh. “So how is this supposed to work? Our families would go insane for a start. You don”t know me—you might hate me within a week. I mean, once this security threat has died down, what then? I go back to my apartment, and we date and hope our families give us their blessings?”
“They’d never let us date,” he says. “At least mine wouldn’t. Yours seem kind of on board, if I’m being honest.”
“See. It”s doomed before it can begin if your family won’t let us be together. My parents might be on board, but my brother won’t, and he’s the one with the firepower. He’d never let us date either.”
“They”d never let us date, but if we were already married, they couldn”t do a damn thing about it.”
I try to yank my hand free in shock, but he doesn”t let go.
“We can”t get married.”
“We most certainly can. I want you in my life, Renata. Every single night. I want to get up in the morning, walk down the stairs and find you in the kitchen, that delicious ass facing me as you make breakfast. I’ll sneak up behind you, move your hair, kiss your neck and taste you. I want to come back from a bad day at the office, which will probably mean I”d be covered in blood, and take a shower and have you join me. I want you here. The photographs that I have of you, I look at them every day. Sometimes I can spend hours in this room just looking at your face. I know every single tiny millimetre of it.”
He sighs. “When I go to bed at night and close my eyes, it”s you that I see.”
I don”t know what to say. I”m not sure if his words make me feel better or worse. They’re frankly terrifying.
“I”ll probably drive you mad in a week.” I give a weak laugh.
“You”ve been driving me mad for years, so what”s new?”
I don”t know whether to laugh or cry.
“How did you pick the lock?”
I snort. “I used a paper clip, of course. A hairpin will do too. It”s all about the jiggle.” I can”t resist the wink I throw him.
It’s a dangerous thing that wink. The match to the gas doused pile of rubble that is us.
Matteo growls low in his throat, all animalistic, and reaches for me, pulling me in. He winds his hand in my hair and tugs almost painfully, and then his mouth crashes down on mine.
He kisses me, and it”s like everything I”ve ever needed. The taste of him, the scent of him, and the sounds he makes as he plunders my mouth. His tongue is learning every corner, taking me over, dominating me and filling me.
I cling on to him because it”s all I can do. This is a full-on onslaught. This isn”t a kiss—it”s an invasion.
He spins us around so that my back is to the desk now, and he lifts me up and places me on it, pushing me flat onto my back. He slides his hands under my dress, moving the silky material up, up, always up. He pulls my panties down and dips two fingers into my folds.
“I said you were a liar,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“In the car, when you said you didn”t want me.”
“My body always wants you, Matteo. It”s my mind that thinks it”s a bad idea.”
“It”s a glorious idea. You and me, always was.” He circles my clit, slowly, torturously building the need in me. He pulls my dress down until my breasts are exposed, and he leans forward, bending his head to suck a nipple into his mouth. He bites at it gently and then sucks again, flicking his tongue over it and making me gasp.
I”m dying for his fingers inside me, so I push against him ask him for what I need. He grabs something to the right of him and holds it up. I see the metal reflecting in the light. It’s a letter opener. Is he going to stab me?
For one awful moment, I think he”s going to do me harm. Then I dismiss the idea. Matteo won”t hurt me that way ever. He”ll destroy me in every other way; I”m sure of it. Physically, though? No.
He takes the letter opener and turns it around. The top of it is a shiny sleek orb, followed by a long thick circular shaft, until around a third of the way down, there”s a bejewelled section before the sharp blade begins.
“This letter opener, costs over one hundred thousand pounds,” he says. “I always thought it was something of a useless trinket, but now, I think it may have its use.”
He slides it down my dress, and when he reaches my parted thighs, he brushes that cool, smooth metal orb over my clit.
I gasp, and he rolls it over me mercilessly until I”m desperate for more. Then he takes that extortionately expensive toy and pushes it slowly, dreadfully, inside me. This is what I”ve been wanting, from his fingers, his tongue, or his cock. But this object feels so depraved.
It”s cold and unyielding as it slips inside, and as he slowly pushes it deeper, and the thick, round shaft of it penetrates me, I”m blindsided by an unexpected and violent orgasm.
“Look at your beautiful pussy sucking this deeper. You’re so perfect. Your wet softness around it. How does it feel to be fucked by a twenty-four-carat gold Greek antiquity?”
I almost sob at how good it feels.
“I’m going to stick this in your ass while I fuck your pussy,” he snarls.
He’s feral and right on the edge of snapping any remaining control he has.
“You have to get back out there,” I pant as reality crashes over me. “You can”t spend the whole night in here with me. There”s no time to stick your fancy letter opener in my ass, you lunatic. How ready are you to blow?”
“Very ready.”
“Then fuck me. Fuck me hard and fast before you go back out there.”
I reach for his zipper and pull it open. I take him out, marvelling at the thickness of him. “God, your cock is a better work of art than that letter opener.”
He laughs as he leans down and bites my jaw gently. Then he licks along my jaw to my throat and my ear before he bites down again.
“Fuck me, Matteo,” I moan.
He does. He pulls the letter opener out of me, making me cry out. I see stars when he thrusts deep and hard straight away. He grabs my hips and pulls me closer to the edge of the desk, and he loses it.
Matteo Mancini loses that control he’s so famous for, and he fucks me like a possessed animal. He fucks me so hard, the noises I make feel knocked out of me. The desk moves, and I want to scream out my pleasure. The thought of his men out there stops me.
“Don’t do that. Let it out,” he says.
“What are you?” I gasp. “A mind reader?”
“When it comes to you. Yes. I have a Doctorate in Renata Andretti. I’ve been stalking you long enough.”
“You’re sick.” I muffle a cry at a deep thrust.
“You love it. Let it out, Renata. Let them hear. Who gives a fuck. Let them know you’re mine. The way I should have done all those years ago.” He reaches between our bodies and pinches my clit, then he slaps my pussy, and I lose it.
I scream for him. I’ve never screamed like this for a man before.
“Jesus fuck, Renata.” He thrusts deep and then stills as he pours himself into me.
“Fuck me,” I gasp. “What the hell was that?”
“That, my darling wife-to-be, was chemistry.”
He helps me off the desk and smooths my dress down as I simultaneously try to get my tits back in it.
When he’s satisfied I look presentable, he steps back.
“We’re not really getting married,” I say with a laugh. “But I’ll hang for a while.”
“We are getting married.”
“Matteo, be reasonable.”
“Renata. We’re not kids. Has any man ever made you come like that?”
“No, but you can’t build a marriage on explosive sex.”
“Well, we both tried to build them on practical mundanities, and that didn’t work out so well for either of us. Let’s try another way.”
“Matteo, give me one good, non-insane reason for us to get married.”
“I want to fuck you so bad knowing you’re my wife. I want to fuck you as I call you wife. I want to come all over my beautiful new wife’s tits. I want to wake up and crawl down the bed as you’re sleeping and wake you up to your new husband sucking your perfect pussy. I want to take you to the family holiday home in St. Barts. I want to rename my yacht, and Renata has such a nice ring about it. I can’t name my yacht after a fling, but I can name it after my wife.”
“Matteo, be reasonable.”
“No. I’m many things, and I do have some strong redeeming qualities, but reasonableness is not one of them.”
My phone buzzes and when I glance at it, I see a text from Cassie in Corfu. She’s asking when is a good time to talk about the security detail I had inquired about.
“Who is that?” Matteo demands.
I explain to him who it is, and why she’s messaging me. “You don’t need it, you’re here with me. See this is why you need to marry me. I’ll keep you safe from now on. Tell her you’re thankful for her help but I have it from here.”
“Matteo…”
He kisses me hard and then swats my ass. “Make yourself at home. Go where you like, do what you want. Unlock any drawers you wish to. The combo to the safe is eight, three, nine, one, two, four. Explore. Have some fun.”
“Matteo,” I gasp. “You can’t give me the number to your safe.”
“Why not? I don’t have anything to hide from you. After all, you know I stalked you like an unhinged lunatic for ages. There’s some nice jewelry in there. Family heirlooms.”
“I don’t want Francesca’s castoffs,” I huff, instantly offended.
“I never gave them to her,” he says. “They were passed down through the generations. I always swore to myself I’d only let the woman I loved wear them. Francesca didn’t get to. You can wear them. If you so wish.”
He kisses me again and sweeps out of the room, leaving me utterly speechless.
Did Matteo Mancini just tell me in that unhinged way of his that he loves me?