Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
MATTEO
T he only thing that’s stopping me right now from going back into that room and helping her relax in more ways than just a bath is the fact that her face is so busted up. I know even a kiss would hurt her, and that’s not how I want her to remember our first one.
“She’s pretty, Boss,” Aldo says as I join them in my massive fucking living room.
My whole family convinced me to buy this place. They claimed the head of the Italian Mob in Ravenna Heights had to look the part. My mom and aunts did have a valid point that, eventually, the family would be expanding, and if there's one thing you should know about Italians, it’s that they love to throw huge parties full of food and drinks. My mom and aunts will find an excuse to have a party for just about anything.
“I know,” I agree because what else is there to say? They all have two fucking eyes, and I’m not giving them anything more when I don’t even know what’s going on myself. “Any updates on the accident?”
“Someone cut your brakes.”
“What?” I ask Alessio. “How is that even possible?”
“We have no fucking clue.” He shakes his head.
I scrub my hands down my face as I sit back in the chair. Why is so much stupid shit happening at once? “You think this was planned?”
“It’s looking that way,” Alessio reluctantly agrees. “We were talking when you were upstairs with Wren, and we think whoever it was might have tried to time when you would be coming up to the curve. No brakes and a curve would do the trick to send you into a tree.”
He’s not wrong. But who would do that, though? The list is fucking endless. “At the last sit down with all the heads, everyone seemed to be on speaking terms.”
“Maybe it’s time to have another one,” Alessio says.
“I think you’re right.” I sigh. I hate meetings with all of the heads. “I’ll call it, but I want it in our territory. And I want the whole family here, eyes on everyone.”
“You bet your ass I’ll be watching for that fucker,” Enzo says with a glint in his eyes, rubbing his hands together. “Pizzeria?”
“The Pizzeria.” I can’t help but smirk. His excitement to beat the ever-loving shit out of someone never fails to amuse me.
The Pizzeria is a family side business that we just stumbled upon one day. Gio is the main one running it, but the whole family has a stake in it. I honestly thought the whole thing was going to be a waste of time and money, but it turns out drunken idiots love late-night pizza, and it’s come in handy many times for random meetings. Like this one that I have to fucking call .
“How’s Wren doing?” Alessio asks, drawing my gaze to him.
“I don’t think it’s fully hit her yet. She wants to leave and go stay with her friend.”
“And obviously, that’s not happening,” Alessio says, looking amused.
“Obviously,” I say, feeling a sense of satisfaction. “I still feel like we’re missing something, though. Wren said that she stabbed the guy in the stomach, but you said there was no one there when you checked, right?” I ask Gio.
“Nope. Blood was fucking all over the kitchen, though. A little in the living room. She get him in the kitchen?” Gio looks like a kid on Christmas waiting to hear the details.
“Yeah. With a chef's knife.”
“Niiiiice,” Gio draws out. “I knew I got good vibes from her. She just has this aura.”
“And what aura would that be?”
“The killing aura,” Gio says, like I’m an idiot for not knowing that.
Of course that’s what it is.
Fucking Gio. I don’t even know what to say as I shake my head and try not to laugh.
“I’m going to go check on her and get her settled for the rest of the night. I’m calling the meeting for tomorrow, so be ready.
“Ma brought over some food. She might be hungry,” Alessio says to my back.
I don’t bother knocking as I enter my bedroom. The bathroom door opens just as I set the bowl of pasta I brought up for Wren on the nightstand. Turning to look at her, my breath gets caught in my throat.
Wren doesn’t notice me standing there at first, giving me time to take her all in. My eyes hungrily roam her body. One of the thick fluffy towels that my Ma insisted I buy is wrapped tightly around her body, pushing her generous tits together, making my dick twitch. Her long black hair falls down in waves as she towel-dries each section. A few water droplets slowly trail down her collarbone, making her fair skin glisten.
My brain is five steps behind my body as I release a growl, making Wren look up with wide eyes and freeze. Like a prey noticing its predator for the first time. I don’t give her time to react before I’m advancing on her. She smells like my soap, and fuck if I don’t like that. The thought of another man smelling my scent on her is immensely satisfying. Another rumble works its way out of my chest as I bring my thumb up to her lip, lightly caressing the bruise.
“He will pay for this, tesoro ,” I say quietly before leaning in. My dick throbs against my fly when I hear her suck in a breath as my nose lightly brushes her jawline. My tongue darts out, licking those few drops of water along her collarbone. “You missed a drop.”
Her chest is rising and falling rapidly as I step away. She hasn’t said a single word, but the heat in her eyes tells me she’s just as affected by this as I am.
“I brought you up some food so you don’t take the pills Aldo left on an empty stomach,” I say as I walk into my closet, coming back out with sweats and a big T-shirt. Ever since that night I broke into her place and she came strutting down that short hallway in a T-shirt that barely grazed her mid-thigh, all I’ve been able to think about is her strutting that sweet ass around in my shirt. And women love sweats, right?
“Here’s some sweats. I want you to put these on, eat, and just relax tonight. This remote is for the T.V., and this one is for the lights.” Wren quirks her eyebrow at me. “What? I like to be lazy sometimes too.” I shrug. There’s nothing worse than finding that perfect position in bed only to have to get out of it to turn something off. “I have some business I need to take care of. I’m not sure how long it will take, but I don’t want you to leave until I figure out what’s going on.” I toss the remotes over to her side of the bed before walking back over to the spot she still hasn’t moved from. “I’ll let you rest,” I mumble against her forehead before lightly placing a kiss.
I smirk at her stunned face. I know I just threw a lot at her, but I’m thinking this is the way to get her to listen. She hasn’t opened that smart-ass mouth once. “Be a good girl for me, tesoro, ” I call over my shoulder as I head out of the bedroom.
Wren may know me as Matteo, but she doesn’t know me as the boss .