Chapter 35 – Five Days Later
AIDA
FIVE DAYS LATER
The girls have been dolling me up for the past hour. Shoes are scattered across the room I share with Matteo in Chiara’s house, while Raquel does my makeup. I don’t exactly know what I’m being made up for and none of them will tell me.
I have a sneaking suspicion they’re planning something, especially with Matteo being gone, coincidently running errands with his brothers.
I bet he’s in on it. Butterflies flutter in the pit of my stomach, a smile dancing over my lips as I start to wonder what’s waiting for me.
When Raquel starts on my cheeks, memories of the past come barraging in—Destiny’s face flashing before my eyes. I drag in a breath, holding it as I count to three, a coping mechanism I had learned from my new therapist.
I picture myself going inside my head, picking out the awful reminders and flushing them down the toilet, replacing them with the present moments.
The good ones. It sounds silly, but it works.
And that’s all I could hope for—to get better every day.
To remove myself from the horrors of my previous existence.
“I think she’s ready,” Raquel announces. Moving aside, the rest of them examine me on the chair I’m seated in. It’s as though I’m a display at those fancy museums I’ve read about in my books.
“You look gorgeous,” Jade gushes, clasping her palms together at her chest, her brows knitting.
“Wow. Seriously, wow,” Chiara adds, picking up a pair of gold satin flats in a V-shape at the front. “Stand up. I want to see how the dress will look with these shoes.”
I rise as she places them before me, stepping into them. They’re one of the many things she had graciously purchased for me the day we all went shopping.
Both Matteo and I have had everything we could ever want. I almost feel undeserving of it all, like I’m not supposed to have any of these nice things. But they keep reminding me that I do, that I matter to them.
“Aren’t you glad you listened to me?” Chiara pops a hand on her hip. “That dress is hot.”
As I look at myself in the full-length mirror, I have to agree.
The baby-blue dress she had spotted flatters my body well.
Hopefully, Matteo returns soon so I can show him.
He’s never seen me done up before. I wonder what he’ll think.
Raquel didn’t go crazy with my makeup. I still look like me and that’s exactly who I want to be.
“Are you ready?” Chiara swings her arm around my shoulders.
“Ready for what?” I squint a gaze at her.
“You’ll see.” She shrugs, darting her eyes away with a curious turn of her mouth.
“What did you guys do?” I happen a glance at each of them and they suddenly all look suspicious.
“Trust me, you’ll love this surprise,” Raquel adds, walking toward the door with Jade and opening it for us.
We make it down the stairs, just as the doorbell rings.
“I wonder who that could be.” Jade laughs, biting the corner of her bottom lip, moving toward the door. With her hand on the doorknob, she looks at me, her eyes glistening, and my pulse kicks up, almost climbing out of my throat.
“Open it,” I whisper just as Chiara parts from me, and I stand there alone, staring at the door, wishing that the man I love is on the other side of it.
Jade pulls it open, and I see him…
Matteo.
Goose bumps skitter up my arms, my breath stilling in my lungs as I take him in, a bouquet of bright pink roses in his hand, a gray suit wrapped around his body. But the most beautiful thing about him is the dreamy smile he wears just for me.
My feet tread slowly toward him as he stands there, and in his eyes are the same flame of emotions burning in mine. This man, my man—my God, he’s beautiful.
His wide chest rocks up and down the more I stare at him, the more he stares at me, unable to peel our gaze off of one another. I’m drowning in the weight of my tumultuous emotions.
Tears form in my eyes, and I try not to cry. I try not to ruin my makeup, but I fail. Because it’s impossible to contain it all right now, and I don’t want to.
“Matteo…” I whisper, walking faster now, and he does too, practically running to me, throwing his arms around my back while mine envelop his neck.
“You look so damn beautiful,” he softly says against my ear, sending a jolt down my spine. I can’t believe this is even happening. That we’re together.
Finally.
We can go on as many dates as we want. Do whatever we want. No one will stop us.
My goodness. Is it truly over? After all this time? Is he really mine?
I pull back so I can find his eyes, needing them right now. “What is this?” I ask as he cups my cheek, the flowers in his other hand.
“There was so much I’ve wanted to do with you one day.
And I don’t want to wait anymore, baby. I want us to start today.
” His throat bobs as he continues, never separating his eyes from mine.
“I don’t want to live in the past, I want to live in the now, in the future.
” He pauses, slanting his forehead to mine.
“I love you more than I could ever describe, and I don’t think I’ll ever deserve someone as amazing as you, but there’s no way in hell I’ll ever let you go.
” His voice crumbles with a deep ache, and I feel it right in my chest. This love, this connection we share, no one will ever break it.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” I draw back, wanting him to see me, really see me. “You’re the most wonderful man I could ever meet. You did what you had to do to survive. You’re not them, Matteo. Do you hear me?”
He nods.
“Say it,” I tell him. “Say it for me.”
The back of his hand brushes down my cheek as his mouth forms a genuine smile. “I’m not them. I never will be.”
“That’s right. Now”—I place my hand on his other—“may I have my flowers, please?”
“Yes, my lady.” He hands me the bouquet with a bow and a giggle jumps out of me.
“So…” I take his hand and hold it tight. “Where are we going exactly?”
“Oh, you’ll see.” He tugs me out the door just as I turn back to wave at the three women who are all giddy with excitement.
As we exit, I see his brothers, waiting by a black SUV. Are they all taking us? I definitely can’t drive yet. Chiara has been teaching me though, but I’m still a little nervous.
“Have fun, you two.” Enzo throws a set of keys at Matteo who easily catches it.
“Wait, what?” I jerk my head back at Matteo whose only response is a tiny, crooked smirk, refusing to make eye contact. He opens the passenger side door. “Are you driving?” I ask while he helps me to my seat.
“Yes, baby, I am.” My stomach rolls. I’ll never get sick of hearing him call me that. He puts on my seat belt with a laugh. “Are you scared?”
“Ahhh…” I pull my lips back in a grimace. “Kinda?”
“Don’t be,” Enzo shouts. “He’s a natural. Just watch for the turns. May wanna hold on.”
“Shut up.” Dante swats him on the chest, but that only gets Enzo chuckling.
Matteo makes it around the car and hops in, pulling on his own seat belt.
“When did you get your license?” I ask him, placing the bouquet on my lap.
He puts the car in drive and we’re pulling away. “Today.” He grins. “I wanted to surprise you. Are you surprised?”
I lean back into the leather, unable to take the smile off my face even if I tried. “Just a little.”
“Good, because I’m not done yet.”
MATTEO
We arrive at a park my brothers had said would be the perfect spot for what I had planned. It isn’t grand, but it’s ours, something we wanted long ago.
There was a time I stopped believing in hope and a better tomorrow, that days like this would never be possible. But here we are. We made it out. And every day, I swear to make her life better than the day before. Because I’m hers and she’s mine, and it’s my job to make her happy.
She gasps, her eyes taking in the beauty of nature. “Is this a meadow?” she asks with awe basking in her voice.
“It is.” I lift our joint hands to my mouth, kissing the top of hers.
“Wow,” she breathes, her gaze wandering to the bright-colored flowers we walk through. Purple, yellow, orange—it’s like every color of the world is right here beneath our feet. Ours to touch. To feel.
I take her to the spot I had already arranged. My eyes catch sight of the picnic blanket and large basket my brothers had given me, along with a CD player that looks almost like the one she had in the basement. Everyone was in on it. I wanted to do something special for her and I hope I succeeded.
“Matteo…” She stills, blinking back tears as she glances at me, a hand against her chest when she finally sees the stuff on the grass. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“It’s not enough.” I face her, pulling her body to mine. “You deserve it all, baby. And I’m going to make sure I give it to you.”
Her warm exhales skim across my lips as our mutual gaze deepens, the air thickening with the power of our love.
My cock grows hard the more she stares, the more she rises on her feet, leaning into my mouth, her lips hovering against mine, panting heavily. With another rush of a breath, she kisses me desperately.
My heavy growl slices through the air as I grab the back of her head, her soft strands slicing in between my fingers. I kiss her roughly, groaning when her nails dig into my back.
My tongue invades her mouth, snaking around hers, those little whimpers only making me want her more.
With a quick move, I lift her into the air, my arms under her ass, hers holding on to me around my neck as I take us to the blanket. I lay her body down, mine over hers, our mouths still ravaging.
Harshly, she yanks my shirt up, her hands falling to my scars. Feeling her touch me there, accepting them, it does something to me. My hunger for her grows and I fight to steady it, to take my time and let her tell me what she wants. I know she’s been struggling. I’d never push.
My lips fall to her neck, kissing her there as she grinds her hips into my knee, rubbing herself on me.
“Touch me.” She sighs with a tremble. “With your fingers.” She swallows her bottom lip into her mouth as I glimpse at her.
Fear tugs at me, wanting to please her, yet afraid I may not know how. But I’ve done this before. I can make her come like that again.
My mouth returns to her neck, leaving tiny kisses down to her shoulder, my fingers stroking past her hip, my hand falling to her inner thigh as I part her legs wide. There’s no one here to see us. The park is private, and Dom ensured no one would step foot in it besides us.
She rocks her hips, her eyes shut, as though anticipating my touch, as though wanting it, like I deserve it. I brush my fingers up and down the skin of her inner thigh, teasing her, watching her as she squirms, a moan slipping past her full parted lips.
I let her feel my touch right over her panties, damp and warm. Propping myself on my elbow, I observe her in the throes of ecstasy, never seeing anything as beautiful.
“Matteo…” she rasps, her hand biting into my back as I part her panties to reveal the softness beneath.
My fingers run in between her wet slit, barely touching her as she cries, her lashes fluttering, the sounds coming out of her so sensual, I want to hear more.
I never want to stop hearing her say my name when she’s this way.
Eagerly, I sink the tip of my finger inside her, rolling it back up to her clit, rubbing her there as she bows her hips on a breathy cry.
“Yesss, that feels good,” she pants, and I do more, letting my thumb rub her there while my other finger thrusts all the way inside.
She clamps around me, pulling me in deeper. To know I’m doing that to her, that I can feel her become this free, fuck, I never felt this big. This powerful.
“Yes, yes… Oh God…”
“Your pussy is so wet, baby. I like knowing I did that,” I tell her, adding a second finger inside her, slowly sliding in and out.
“Please,” she groans. “I need…”
My cock throbs to feel her, even knowing I never felt it before. But it’s a natural feeling I can’t describe, this want—this desire.
“I’ll give you what you need. I always will.”
When I drive my fingers deeper, when my thumb swirls around her clit faster, she screams out my name over and over, her back arching, her body shuddering, her hands sinking into my flesh, so hard, I want to bleed for her.
“Matteo, yes, yes…!” She keeps going, wave after wave, until her body slows from the high, until her eyes open again, and the cutest smile makes it to her lips.
“Did we just do that outside?” She breathes all heady, her cheeks flushed pink, her chest rising up and down with her rough breathing.
“We did,” I say, unable to keep the smirk off my face even if I wanted to. Sitting up, I fix her panties, making sure she’s covered before I hold her against me, her back to my chest. I don’t know how long we stay that way, the cool air rustling around us, the world perfectly still.
“This has been the best day of my life,” she hums sweetly.
I kiss the back of her head. “And I’ll give you more of them, more of this. Forever.”
“I love you, Matteo Cavaleri, more than my whole heart.”
“Well, you are my heart, Aida Robinson. My heart and soul.”
And when she’s ready to take the next step, I’ll show her exactly how much of my heart and soul she really owns.