38. Bianca
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
BIANCA
H appiness was hard-earned for every couple.
Nico and I were no exception. Yes, we’d built a warm and loving home and had amazing children that made us proud. But every so often, something ugly would rear its head and interrupt our tranquility.
Just as it did a week ago when the engagement was announced and everything seemed to implode. Our daughters. My friend’s son. My husband.
I paced back and forth in the bedroom, waiting for Nico to wrap up his meeting and praying he didn’t kill poor Matteo. Or even the other way around. People did dumb things in the name of love.
And I had no doubt that Matteo loved our daughter.
It wasn’t until the incident at Luciano Vitale’s office that I saw it, plain as day. Honestly, I couldn’t believe we were all so blind to it up until that point.
Matteo watched Arianna the way Nico looked at me, the way Luciano looked at Grace.
I feared that, despite Hannah’s stubbornness, there would be no way around it. Matteo Vitale was his father’s son and nobody—not even God—would force that boy to marry her.
My phone rang and I jumped out of my skin, then flicked a glance at the screen.
“Grace,” I answered. “He’s here. They’re in the office.”
“Alive, I hope.” I could almost feel the tension across the line.
“He promised me nothing would happen to him.”
“Our husbands aren’t helping matters,” Grace grunted.
“Neither is Hannah,” I said reluctantly. “I tried talking to her, but…” Failed.
“Did you tell her it’s what Matteo wants?”
I sighed.
“No.” The truth was that I didn’t want to cause a rift between the girls. “I was testing the waters and tried to explain that there was a misunderstanding and that Matteo isn’t ready to settle. That he might be interested in someone else.”
“What did she say?”
“That she’d wait,” I said.
“That seems so unlike her,” she commented dryly. “Hannah hates playing second fiddle to anyone.”
I completely agreed with Grace, but the fact of the matter was that unlike Arianna, Hannah’s stubbornness knew no bounds. It was a trait of hers that reminded me of her biological father, something that had constantly gotten him in trouble during his life.
“What was Matteo’s plan?” I asked, shaking off the dark thoughts before they could consume me.
“I’m not sure,” she muttered. “He’s been tightlipped about everything except the fact that he will not, under any circumstance, marry Hannah.”
“I don’t know if I can handle this four more times.” I let out a heavy breath while tugging on my hair. “Why did I have so many children?”
She chuckled despite our predicament. “Maybe we should start with staying out of their romantic lives.”
My lips curved. “You might have a point there.”
Over the years, I’d grown close to Nico’s friends’ wives, but with Grace being geographically near to us and our children being similar ages, it was inevitable that our friendship had blossomed.
We remained silent for a short moment when Grace said, “I overheard something, but you can’t repeat it. Not even to Nico.”
I tensed. “I don’t like keeping secrets from him.”
She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Neither do I, but my guess is he already knows.”
An unsettling feeling crawled up my spine. “Go on…”
“There are rumors that someone is trying to resurrect the Belles and Mobsters Agreements, but with new and improved auctions.”
“How can that be?” I rasped, knowing this news must’ve knocked her off her feet. My mother suffered through one of those ordeals and it cost her dearly—her life.
“I don’t know, but let’s keep our ears open.”
I finally understood why my husband had been on edge lately. I contributed it all to the mishap with the engagement, but it was so much more than that. The extra security he’d implemented. The constant chiming of his phone with alerts to anything out of the ordinary.
My husband definitely knew about the auction’s resurrection.
Nico
I stared at Matteo Vitale, so fucking tempted to get rid of him.
He shouldn’t be here, demanding Arianna’s hand. Not after he had his wrapped around her neck less than a week ago. Not when he looked at her with his heated eyes like he would fucking burn her alive.
Why in the fuck couldn’t he want Hannah? She was more resilient and would fuck him up if he broke her heart. Arianna was… fragile.
“You shouldn’t be here, Matteo.” I placed my gun on the desk, the barrel facing him.
The boy kept his expression blank.
“This is exactly where I should be,” he commented dryly. “I want to make it clear to you that Arianna is the only woman I will marry. Consider the other arrangement null and void.”
I scoffed. “The fuck it is. Hannah wants to marry you.”
The truth was I believed Hannah would eventually bail out, but until she did, I’d keep this shit going.
Arianna said no—thank fuck—and I would ensure her wishes were respected. My daughter needed someone… I didn’t know, but I knew it wasn’t a mini version of my best friend. She needed to be nurtured, not get swept up in someone else’s drama. Arianna was a dreamer and so damn close to finishing her post-graduate degree in astrophysics. Matteo would be nothing but a distraction.
“I’ll talk to Hannah and explain, but I won’t marry her. Ever. It’s high time she learned it from me.”
“You will do no such thing,” I gritted. “And it wouldn’t matter if you did. Arianna will not marry you.”
Jesus F. Christ. I should have conjured an expedited plan and murdered this fucker. Luciano was my friend—although the tension between us was at an all-time high—but his son wasn’t suited to any of my daughters.
“Mr. Morrelli, with all due respect, Arianna and I have?—”
“Better think twice how you finish that sentence.”
“Ari and I have grown close.” Fuck.
I glared at him, seriously considering all the ways how I could murder the little fucker and dispose of him without his father learning about it.
“Close,” I finally repeated.
He held my gaze, his expression neutral. “Yes, very close.”
Once again, I fought the urge to put a bullet in him. Deep down, I knew what very close meant, but, fuck, I couldn’t go there.
This had to be Matteo’s doing. He’d seduced her.
“Arianna has been perfectly happy focusing on her studies, and then you come along and…”
The little prick raised a brow and my finger twitched to squeeze the trigger. But before I could reach for the gun, my wife strolled into the office. Her gaze bounced between us as she strolled over, taking the heap of metal and delicately placing it in the drawer.
“Hello, Matteo. How are you?” she asked him, her soft voice matching the smile on her lips. I narrowed my eyes at him.
Another point against the fucker.
“Hello, Mrs. Morrelli. Very good.”
“I know things have been a bit tense with a… mistake your father and Nico made.”
Bianca grabbed my hand and stroked it softly, which didn’t help at all. I was a goner whenever she touched me.
“Wasn’t a mistake,” I grumbled.
Bianca smiled at him, ignoring me. “Would you like to join us for dinner? Kids are all here too, so we’ll have a full house.”
“He’s busy.”
“I’d love to,” Matteo answered at the same time. He even had the audacity to smile at her. This would not fucking do.
“It’s settled, then,” Bianca answered, ignoring me.
I took a deep breath to remain calm or risk wringing his neck.
“You’re not to speak to Arianna. Do not sit anywhere near her.” I stood up and so did Matteo as Bianca strolled ahead of us and I made an I’m watching you motion with my fingers. “And you’re not spending the night. Are we clear?”
“Crystal.”
The Morrelli hospitality was officially revoked.