Chapter Forty-Five
Valentina
S hock roots me to the floor. I’d only just made it back home when Arturo dragged me out of my apartment and brought me to Tanta, but the last person I expected to find in Thiago’s office was Matteo. He must have come straight here after stalking out of his flat.
Is he on a suicide mission? Because that’s what it looks like. My brother isn’t one to react kindly to being ordered about or threatened.
My heart swings back and forth between being worried for him and trying not to give way to hope. Thiago said Matteo asked him to break off my engagement—does that mean there’s a world in which there’s a future for us after all?
Thiago’s eyes bore into the side of my face but all I can see is Matteo’s staring at me like I’m the center of his world. Like I’m the answer to his every prayer.
He came here to fight for me, to fight for us .
My brother mistakes my drawn out silence for disinterest.
“Kill him,” he orders with a casual flick of his hand.
“No!” I shout at the top of my lungs.
I find out in that moment what the two worst words in the English language sound like when strung together. Alarm slams into me as violently as being hit by a bus. My heart races, time slows, and I just react. Panic makes me move without thinking. It’s a primal, animalistic instinct inside me that forces me to protect.
I can’t lose him. I won’t .
I lunge. I’m across the room in two steps and throwing myself in front of Matteo, flinging my arms out to each side to shield him. Arturo and Joaquín and three other guards I know have their guns raised at me. I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my face away, waiting for the gunfire.
“Stop!” I hear a petrified voice call.
In the same second, arms close around me from behind and twist. I’m ripped violently off the ground and twirled away, bent in half beneath a large body that wraps around mine and shelters me from the guns.
“What the fuck , Leni,” Matteo yells harshly into my ear, his heart thrashing against my back. It beats angrily, the tempo announcing his terror with every thump.
“ Baja tus armas ,” Thiago orders sharply.
Matteo ignores him. He twists me back around, grabs me by the arms and shakes me.
“What the actual fuck? How many times do I have to fucking tell you to stop putting yourself in harm’s way?” Matteo reprimands me angrily, fear bleeding overtly into his words, his eyes wild and frantic.
“Are you injured?” I feel at his abdomen, his chest, his arms. His face. Every part of him I can get my hands on. “Are you hurt?” I ask, slightly hysterical.
“No,” he hisses. Then he cups my face, yanks me to him, and crushes his mouth urgently to mine. “Don’t ever do anything that stupid again. Fucking hell, my heart is going to give out before forty with you around.”
I cling to him, finding his lips again and returning the kiss with equal fervor. My pulse is still pounding in my ears after hearing my brother issue a kill order for him.
With a gasp, I remember where we are and pull away from Matteo. I blush when I see Joaquín gaping at me, then turn a deep tomato red when my gaze clashes with Thiago’s. I’ve never kissed anyone in front of him before.
In my defense, he’s also never tried to kill the man I love in front of me before either.
Matteo’s gaze lifts above my head to Joaquín and Arturo. “Point your guns at her again and I’ll feed you the other's organs before I slit each of your throats.” His gaze moves to Thiago next. “I told you she’d choose me,” he declares, curling me smugly into his side. “You didn’t even need to ask for her to prove it.”
Thiago’s expression shifts dangerously.
“Leave,” he orders.
“Fuck off,” Matteo answers.
Fresh tension erupts to life between the two men. The air feels volatile, like the situation is about to devolve into a deadly fight. I whirl on Matteo, pressing my hands into his chest.
“Let me talk to him,” I entreat.
He shakes his head, his jaw setting. “I’m not leaving.”
“Please, Matteo,” I urge softly, eyes roving between his. “We won’t get anywhere with you here, trust me.”
His hand closes around my wrist and squeezes, using it to pull me into him. “You’re not marrying anyone else, Leni,” he vows adamantly, voice shaking with emotion.
“I won’t, Phantom,” I say soothingly. “I won’t.”
His jaw ticks as indecision tears through him. Finally, he grunts and kisses me again. “I’m texting you an address. Meet me there in two hours.” He looks back at Thiago. “I don’t think I need to spell out what happens if she doesn’t show.”
“Go, Matteo,” I say, pushing him towards the door. “I’ll be there, I promise.”
He looks at me the entire time he walks out, his mind resisting every step that takes him closer to the exit. Finally, with one last heated glance and a frustrated grunt, he leaves.
I take a large, heaving breath, both already missing him and relieved that he’s away from Thiago.
“So he’s the reason you changed your mind about the engagement."
I turn. My brother is sitting behind his desk like a king on his throne, his fingers steepled as he stares at me.
“Yes,” I say simply.
Golden eyes pierce through me. “How long?”
“About four months.”
He drops his forehead against his fingertips. “ Joder ,” he swears. “You can’t marry him.”
“He hasn’t asked.” My throat dries. “He won’t—”
“He will.”
My stomach flips. “Thiago—”
“It’s a no, Vale .”
Thiago put it correctly—Matteo was ready to die to put an end to my engagement. But it’s time that I fight my own battles with my brother.
“Stop interrupting me,” I snap angrily. Joaquín winces behind him. He knows heads have flown for less. “I don’t want to marry Carlos Cordoba, Thiago. I should have put my foot down harder when you told me, but I’m doing it now. I don’t want him.” I tip my chin up at him. “I want Matteo.”
“Did you forget the Leones are responsible for Adriana’s murder, Vale ?” Thiago roars back, raising his voice.
“It wasn’t him!”
“And how do you know that?” he asks silkily, his voice a warning.
“I just do. Do you really think I would have gone anywhere near him if I wasn’t sure he had nothing to do with it?” I explode. “If you only knew the things he’s done for me, the number of times he’s saved my life, Thiago…”
“Clearly there’s a lot you’ve been hiding from me, hermana . We’ll talk about that very soon, I promise you,” he replies testily. “But until I can confirm for myself that he really isn’t involved, I won’t risk you.”
I tip my chin stubbornly. “I won’t marry Cordoba.”
“No, you won’t.”
“You—” I blink. “Wait, what?”
Thiago sighs and runs a hand over his face. “Clearly, Matteo is protective of you. I won’t provoke him into an unnecessary war when his terms for peace are as attractive as what he’s offered and I won’t gamble with losing you when you seem ready to choose him over your family, so we’ll compromise on breaking your engagement. Until he can prove to me that he’s worthy of you, that’s the best I can do.”
“Thank you.” I round his desk and nearly throw myself at him in a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Elation doesn’t even start to cover the emotion whipping through me. Relief. Hope. Joy. There’s a million more, all fluttering in my belly and in my heart.
“Thank you,” I say again, planting a kiss on his cheek.
“Don’t thank me,” he mutters gruffly. “You’re the one who changed my mind.”
“What? How?”
Thiago’s eyes turn gentle for a moment. It’s a rare show of fragility from my brother. I can count on one hand the number of times he’s shown this side to me. A knot forms in my throat at the tender look in his gaze.
“He calls you Leni,” he whispers. My throat is suddenly tight, my breaths shallow. I nod. “And you let him,” he adds, as if that’s the truly shocking part.
I smile, tilting my head ever so slightly to the side. “I do,” I murmur. The words come out warm and airy. Floaty. Made up only of curves and soft edges.
“As much as I dislike the prick, he must have done something right to earn this side of you,” Thiago mutters. “God knows I hadn’t seen it in almost two years before tonight.”