Chapter 20
Matteo
I got dressed up, planning to take her to the North Harbor Point Country Club for dinner.
It’s the go-to place in town. But at the last second, I changed my mind and drove to Pasquale’s.
I thought she’d throw a fit—the way many other women have in the past. It’s small and old, and rather than a high-class meal, you get real Italian food.
I’d take Pasquale’s over any of those fancy, overpriced restaurants any day, but most women would disagree.
But Dani proved to be different. Not only did she love the ambiance, but she devoured her food, talking animatedly with the server and people who walked by. She took a few pictures of the walls and made me promise to bring her back again.
I’d brought her there because the shit I was feeling for her was too raw, too real, and I thought by bringing her to Pasquale’s, it would help knock it down a peg, but instead, it only strengthened my feelings for her. And now, I’m fucked.
Because I want her.
Despite her age.
Despite her being my best friend’s sister.
I want Daniella Russo.
But I can’t have her.
“Thank you for dinner,” Dani says when we step into the condo a few hours later. “I had a really good time.”
She smiles warmly at me, and I need to get away. She wasn’t supposed to like dinner. She was supposed to bitch that she’d dressed up for nothing. Demand that I take her somewhere nicer, more expensive. But it shouldn’t surprise me. Dani never does what I expect.
“I’m going to change. Want to watch another episode of TVD?”
Her big, bright green eyes lock with mine, and something in my gut churns.
“I can’t. I’m going out with some friends tonight … to celebrate.”
Her features fall, and as much as I feel like a dick, I know it’s the right thing to do. We’re getting too close, and I need to draw the line.
“Oh, okay. I hope you have a good time,” she says, her tone laced with disappointment.
After changing into my regular clothes, I head to my brother’s place. I voice-text him on the way so he knows I’m coming over, and when I get there, Peyton opens the door.
“Congratulations!” she says, giving me a hug.
“Thanks.”
I have a seat on the couch, and Damien comes running over, dressed in his pajamas.
“Wanna play with me?” he asks. “Adam and Justin don’t play,” he says with a pout, referring to his younger twin brothers.
I stifle a laugh.
He was so excited for his brothers, but finding out that they were too little to play with him bummed him out a bit.
“Sure. What are we playing?”
“Go Fish!”
I spend the next hour playing cards with my nephew while chatting with Peyton and Dominick. Bri is out, and according to Peyton, that’s common.
When they tell Damien it’s time for bed, I take that as my cue to head home.
“Is everything okay?” Peyton asks when Dominick takes Damien upstairs to read him his favorite story—The Giving Tree. “You seem different.”
I consider lying to her, but Peyton is one of the most genuine people I know, and she won’t judge.
“Having Dani in my house has fucked with me a little,” I admit.
She smirks, and I groan, regretting my words instantly.
“Never mind.”
“No, not never mind.” She covers my hand with hers, and it reminds me of when Dani did it in the car—only when Dani did it, a spark flew up my arm and went straight into my chest. “I know you’re all anti-marriage and family, but—”
“It’s not like that. I’m just attracted to her, and giving in to it would be a mistake. She’s been through a lot, and she deserves more than what I can give her.”
“Have you asked her what she wants?” Peyton asks. “After what she’s been through, maybe she’s not looking for anything more than a good time.”
“And risk pissing off my best friend?” I scoff. “I don’t think so.”
“You’re grown adults,” she points out. “If it’s consensual, I can’t see Lorenzo being pissed. He’s so easygoing.”
My phone dings with a text, and I click play.
Lorenzo: Hey, I still haven’t heard from Hillary. I know you said she’s okay, but I’m worried. Can you please check on her again? I think her phone might’ve blocked my number since it’s a burner phone.
I sigh. “I gotta go. Lorenzo has enough going on. He doesn’t need to add me fucking his sister to the list.”
When I get to the door, Peyton calls out my name. “You deserve to be happy. You do so much for everyone else. It’s okay to do for yourself as well.”
The house is dark and quiet, and my stomach sinks at the thought of Dani going to bed alone. I stop at her door, which is cracked open, to check on her. She’s lying on her side with her blanket tucked around her, the glow of the tablet lighting up her beautiful face.
I chuckle softly and walk inside, lifting the tablet and turning it off. I plug it in on the nightstand, and even though I shouldn’t, I place a kiss on the top of her head, inhaling her scent.
“Matteo,” she croaks out, her eyes fluttering open. “You’re home.”
“Yeah. I was just checking on you. Go back to sleep, Little Russo.”
A frown mars her features, but she nods. And within a few seconds, she’s snoring softly.
Rather than go to my room, I sit in the reading chair in the corner of her room and watch her for several minutes, thinking about what Peyton said.
But ultimately, I know that if I were to be with Dani, it could never be just a hookup.
She already means too much to me, and since it’s all I could give her, I need to keep my distance.
And once Lorenzo’s out, she’ll move in with him, and our time together will be a thing of the past. I’ll go back to my meaningless hookups, and she’ll find herself a good man who will treat her like she deserves.
Giving her the family she wants. All I have to do is resist my attraction to her for a little longer …
“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Lorenzo glares at me from across the table.
“I kicked her out of your condo … after we found out she had been working with Enrique.”
His face falls, reminding me so much of his sister, and I hate this for him. Like his sister, he has a big heart and doesn’t deserve what Hillary did to him.
“I’m sorry, man,” I tell him. “She was hired by him to seduce you to get info on the company. I think it’s how he knew Michael was your attorney.”
“Are you sure?” he asks. “Maybe …” He doesn’t finish his sentence because even he can’t come up with a plausible reason why the woman he fell in love with would screw him over.
“Dani saw the text from her to Enrique, and when I called Hillary out on it, she came clean. She needed the money.”
“Where is she now?”
“Dominick and I went to your place and told her she had to go, and I made sure she left with only her shit. Then, I had all the codes and locks changed.”
“Thanks,” he says with a defeated sigh.
“For what it’s worth,” I say, trying to lighten the blow, “she tried to argue that even though it started as a job, she genuinely cared about you. But she knew she had fucked up and there was no going back from that.”
“Fuck her,” he says, leaning back in his seat, trying not to look as heartbroken as I know he is. “Guess you were right. She was nothing more than a gold-digging bitch.”
“Doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I check it to make sure Dani is okay.
Little Russo: Are you eating dinner at home tonight?
Me: No, I have plans. Order whatever you want.
“Everything okay?” Lorenzo asks.
“Yeah. Your sister was asking if I’d be home for dinner, but I have some shit I need to handle.”
Lies. All fucking lies. At the moment, everything is handled.
But going home means hanging out with Dani. And hanging out with her means being surrounded by her smiles and scent and laughter. And my restraint is only so fucking strong.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for her,” Lorenzo says, snapping me from my thoughts. “She’s the only damn family I have left, and I don’t know what I would’ve done had something happened to her. I owe you for taking care of her.”
And just like that, I’m reminded of why I need to stay away from Dani. Because even though we’re all adults, Lorenzo would kill me if he knew the thoughts I was having about his little sister.
After talking with Lorenzo until visitation is over and then stopping by the port to prolong the inevitable, I head home.
Once again, it’s dark and quiet, and I find Dani sleeping in her bed with her tablet still lit up.
I turn it off, but this time, I don’t kiss her head, not wanting to risk waking her up.
And then I set my alarm for four a.m. so I can go to the gym to train. With my fight coming up, I need to get serious, and since I can’t be home, the gym is the next best place.
“Wow, are you home before dark?” Dani asks without glancing back as I kick my shoes off, leaving them by the door.
It’s been two weeks since our celebration dinner, and I’ve made it a point to be gone more than I’m home. But for some reason, I couldn’t stay away any longer, so here I am, at home in the middle of the day, when I should be as far away from Dani as possible.
“Hey, Matteo,” she calls out. “Can you help me really quick?”
I step into the kitchen and find her up to her elbows—literally—in what looks like flour and some sort of dough. There’s baking shit all over the surfaces, and some flour has even gotten on her face and hair.
“Can you read what comes after two cups of flour?” She nods toward the baking book that’s open on the counter and covered in flour. “I don’t want to wipe it off and ruin the page.”
I swipe the flour off and then freeze in my spot. Because there are numbers and words all over the page, and unlike my phone, I can’t click play.
“Hurry, Matteo!” Dani laughs. “I need to add the next ingredient. Can you read what I need to add and how much, please?”
I stare at it for several seconds before I say, “No”—I swallow thickly—“I can’t read it.”
She glances at me and then laughs. “Really? You can’t read it?”
“No, I can’t fucking read it!” I bark, then stalk out of the kitchen because fuck her.