Chapter 12 Matteo #2
He steps closer. “To keep you safe, Tesoro. I don’t want you running off again without me noticing and having you end up in the wrong hands.” Suddenly, he places a hand on my shoulder. “You’re far too precious for that.”
I suck in a breath and let his words sink in. “Are you angry with me for escaping?”
His incessant gaze is hard to look away from, almost as if his eyes alone hold power over me. “I’m not mad at you, Tesoro. I wanted to be, trust me. But it’s my fault that I chased you away, and that I had to kill those men to get you back.” He pauses. “I apologize for blaming you.”
When he said those words, I couldn’t stay in his house a minute longer. Even when I tried so hard not to cause any more deaths, their blood is still on my hands.
But I am grateful he said he was sorry.
Suddenly, he tips up my chin and makes me look at him through the mirror.
“Don’t avert your eyes from your own beauty. You are not to blame for their deaths. Do you hear me?”
I nod.
“Good girl.”
A shiver runs up my spine and down again.
Good girl …
How do those words have such an intense effect on me?
“Now tell me why you ran.”
Even though I know I shouldn’t answer a devil like him, it’s the way he says it with such conviction that I feel obligated to obey. As though the mere sound of his commanding voice can persuade me to give up my thoughts freely.
I lick my lips. “When you told me those people at the restaurant died because Lucio wants me back, I felt so guilty. I just couldn’t stomach it.
” Tears well up in my eyes. “All of those people died because Lucio wants me. He’ll do anything to get to me.
He’ll kill all of your staff. Every last person who works for you. He won’t stop.”
With his thumb, Matteo brushes away the single tear that rolls down my cheek. “None of this is your fault, Tesoro. This was my choice to make. Those deaths are on my hands, not yours. And I would never, ever hurt you. But I also never want to make you cry again.”
I suck in a breath. “I …”
He smiles at me through the mirror. “Every tear you shed on his behalf, I will pay Lucio back tenfold.”
My pupils dilate. “You want to go to war with him and the entire Agostini family? That’s insane.”
Matteo’s nostrils flare as he blows out a breath. “The only thing that matters now is that you’re safe and that you’re here with me.”
Way to avoid the question.
“I don’t understand why you want me so badly that you won’t allow me to leave your house. That you’ll kill people over me, that you’ll go to war with another Mafia family because of me.”
He pulls something from his pocket and plays with it a little, but I can’t tell what it is, only that it’s metallic.
“Because that’s what you’re worth to me, Tesoro. You’re worth everything, and I would risk it all, even my life, to keep you out of his claws.”
And I don’t know if it is his egotistical need to destroy Lucio that’s talking right now, or if he’s truly become obsessed with me.
He grabs a few strands of my hair and gently slides them aside, brushing my skin near my neck, and goose bumps scatter all over my body. Something metallic slithers around my throat, and I gasp as my own wedding ring is hung around my neck, sealed tightly with a clasp.
“I found this on the floor in your room the other day,” he says. “Since you so quickly discarded my love and refuse to keep it around your finger, I thought it might be easier for you to carry it around your neck.”
He presses the ring down on my clavicle, his eyes blazing with passion. “Close to your heart.”
“It’s just a ring,” I say.
His fingers won’t leave my skin. “It’s not just a ring. It’s a symbol of my devotion to you, and I hope that you take yours just as seriously.”
He flaunts his own ring in the mirror, the same ring I put around his finger the moment we said our vows and became husband and wife. Something he seems to seriously want to take to the grave, and it’s only now slowly starting to settle with me.
He smiles at me through the mirror. “You look gorgeous with my ring around your neck.”
Even though I don’t want it to, a blush still creeps onto my cheeks.
Could I …
No. Don’t ever give in. He’s just another man looking to own your body in exchange for your safety, Stella.
His fingers trail a line from my clavicles to my neck, the soft touch sending shocks down my body, and my breath shudders. Good God, even this simple touch has my knees buckling.
His head lowers down toward my neck, and when his hot breath fans my ears, I nearly cave to the need to moan as my eyes roll into the back of my head.
Fuck.
What has this man done to me?
“Is this what you want, Tesoro?” he whispers into my ear.
I shouldn’t.
He’s a mobster, a killer, a monster.
I can feel his breath. “Is this what it takes to keep you from running away from me?”
My eyes burst open and connect with his through the mirror in an attempt to curtail my arousal, but the dirty grin spreading on his cheeks fills me with rage.
Goddammit, he nearly got me to say yes.
“You’re going to have to try harder than that,” I growl back.
He pulls away, and I force myself to ignore the rampant disappointment coursing through my veins at the thought of his lips grazing my skin.
He chuckles. “Don’t say that to a man like me … you know I’d never back down from a challenge like that.”
Fuck.
“Pfft. You’re not going to win,” I retort, folding my arms. “I will always hate you for locking me away.”
I spin around on my heels. Big mistake, because seeing him right in front of me is even harder than through the mirror.
And for some reason, that one image of him jerking off on his bed suddenly crosses my mind for just one second.
But that one second is enough to completely throw me off my resolve to despise him.
“If you behave from now on …” He pauses for a second. “I’ll allow you to roam about the house freely.”
“What about going outside?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Small steps, Stella.”
“But I don’t want to be a prisoner,” I say.
He slides his hand across my hair and tucks it aside until he can cup my face, his coarse hand so gentle with me that it nearly makes me falter right there and then.
“You’re not my prisoner. You’re my wife.”
“Then let. Me. Out,” I hiss.
“Not until I’m certain you’ll return to me.”
His thumb brushes across my lips as his eyes desperately search for answers to questions I can’t give him, and he leans in, closing the gap between us.
Don’t give in. Don’t let him worm his way into your heart.
“You only want me to exact revenge on Lucio,” I say through gritted teeth.
“I do crave revenge … desperately. But I also can’t help but think …”
What if?
What if we just gave in?
His lips graze mine, and I can nearly taste the desire on his mouth, while his fingers graze my shoulders, pushing aside the fabric of my dress that keeps my rampant lust contained.
Suddenly, he pulls away and runs his fingers through his hair. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
He backpedals his way out of the room, almost like he regrets ever coming in … Like it’s becoming harder and harder to resist.
But as the door shuts behind him and he leaves me to myself again without locking the door, a smirk still forms on my face.
And I can’t help but wonder … What if I can use this attraction to my advantage?