Chapter 30
Present
Upper-East Side, New York City
I FOLLOWED MATTEO INTO HIS office, just as angry, if not more, the longer this fight went on.
We’d argued the entire way home in the car, and in the elevator ride.
I didn’t let down, not even when Matteo was clearly done with the conversation. He threw his jacket over the back of a chair and started undoing his tie like he was actually suffocating.
“You’re being a brat.”
“Ugh! How can you even act like that after everything you’ve already put me through? Like it wasn’t enough you had to swoop in and fuck up my life with a fake marriage!
“You’re in this because of your family. So, stop blaming me for everything.”
“Oh, I will keep blaming you! What are you going to do once I’m Underboss in a few months? Lock me away in your penthouse?!”
He smirked. “There’s an idea.”
A scream of frustration escaped me. “Just because we’re married on paper, and fucking on the low, doesn’t give you the right to act like the possessive Mob husband.”
“I can act however fucking possessive I want, as long as I’m doing it to keep you – my wife – safe.”
“Oh, my God! I told you us getting emotionally involved was a bad idea!”
“You didn’t seem to think it was a bad idea when you were all over me in Vegas.”
“This is what I’m talking about! You don’t listen!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He frowned, extending his arms out.
He looked so amused, so unbothered by all of this…
Frustration filled me like steam in a kettle, exploding before I could rationally sort through my emotions. I said the first thing that came to my mind that I knew would get him just as mad as me.
“You were just a rebound for me, Matteo. That’s it.”
His entire face changed, not a single bit of amusement left.
“Say that again. To my face this time.”
“Us hooking up in Vegas? You were just a rebound.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You not believing it has nothing to do with him existing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!” I scoffed.
“What’s his fucking name?”
“Kyle,” I blurted out the first name that came to my mind.
“Kyle who?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You better be more specific unless you want to wake up to every motherfucker named Kyle in the State of New York, gone.”
“Can’t you see how toxic this is? You’re just gonna start killing random Kyle’s? Are you crazy!?”
“Not random. I’ll start with the ones that got ties to the Five Families. Then I’ll work my way out with five-mile radiuses.”
“You know what? Go ahead. Why the fuck would I care? I hate men! Actually, you’d be doing me a favor. We could use less of your species around here.”
And with that, I turned my back to him and headed out.
“Don’t walk away from me, Francesca.”
“Walking away.”
“And don’t swing your fucking hips at me like that.”
“Swinging my hips.”
“You got a ten second start.”
That made me stop in the doorway, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Matteo pouring himself a drink and downing it, a different restlessness in his movements.
“To do what?”
“To run.”
I frowned.
“When I catch you, you won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning. Much less say another man’s name while walking away and swinging your hips at me like that.”
It took me a full moment to understand what he was saying to me.
We stood there looking at each other in silence. Then a slow smirk upturned the corner of his mouth.
“Ten.”
Matteo advanced toward me.
My eyes widened and I felt my heart jump in my throat. I stumbled before grabbing the doorframe and running down the hallway to the main living space. I caught the railing and used it to run up the stairs.
Once on the first floor, I entered one of the rooms with three exits, already hearing Matteo’s slow yet heavy footsteps behind me.
My breathing whooshed out in anxious ways. Blood roared in my ears and my vision spotted black for a moment. Those goddamn stairs. But most of all, my heartbeat had sunk between my thighs, pulsing in a heavy rhythm.
There was a twisted excitement building in my core the more I looked around for a hiding spot.
I knew I wouldn’t find one.
The apartment was designed specifically so it was impossible. So that – god forbid – if someone broke in, they’d have nowhere to hide from us.
The moment I shut the door behind me and stepped into the shared ensuite bathroom, I heard the door I’d previously entered the room with open.
I panicked, not even bothering to close doors behind me as I ran from room to room.
Matteo wasn’t chasing me, but somehow managed to stay on my tail the entire time.
And eventually, there was nowhere else to run.
I stumbled into our massive bedroom, stopping at the foot of the bed, and turned around to see Matteo entering after me.
“Don’t come any closer! I mean it!”
Matteo’s jaw clicked with tension. “Fine. Give me his name.”
I gulped. “No.”
“I want a fucking name, Francesca, or I’ll keep the promise I made to you downstairs.”
“Why can’t you just be cooperative?”
“Mhm… Cooperative…” He pretended to actually think about it. “Okay. What do you suggest I do?”
“We don’t have to pretend. We can keep our personal lives separate. This is supposed to be just business.”
“So, it was strictly business when you let me eat your pussy every night?”
“Yeah. ‘Just benefits,’ wasn’t it? Now it’s over. I don’t want to do this with you anymore.”
“Meaning what?”
“You live your life, I’ll live mine. It’s the logical thing to do.”
“That’s out of the fucking question. And I don’t ever want to hear those words come out of your mouth again.”
“Why are you being so difficult? This isn’t real, Matteo!”
“You thought I’d be fine with my wife cheating on me? What the fuck do you think is?”
“I don’t care how powerful you are! You will not force me to stay loyal to some bullshit, fake marriage while you run around New York, with God knows who, embarrassing me!”
“We’ve already gone over this, Francesca. I haven’t looked at or kissed – let alone fucked – another woman since we’ve met.”
“That was over seven months ago.”
Matteo’s jaw clenched as he took another step around the bed to get to me. I did the same, keeping the distance equal between us.
“You’re lying.”
“I told you I’ll never lie to you, Francesca. I’ve kept that promise.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“And I don’t intend to change my mind. Now, give me the motherfucker’s name or I’ll get it out of your mouth myself.”
Matteo rounded the final corner of the bed, now standing a couple feet in front of me, with nothing between us. I reacted on instinct, jumping on the bed to cross it on the other side.
Halfway across, he caught me the ankle and dragged me down the mattress. Then, he was pinning me down.
“I want a name.”
“No.”
“Francesca…”
“No!”
“If you don’t give me his name in the next thirty seconds, I’m going to put those handcuffs on you again and edge you all fucking night. No coming this time.”
“Matteo.”
“You think you can fuck with me and not get punished? We both know I can hold out longer than you so don’t torture yourself. I can make this happen all fucking month if you don’t give me what I want.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because you’re mine. You’ve been mine since you put your hands on me in your office.
And then everywhere all over me in Vegas.
When you put my ring on your finger and vowed to be mine forever.
When you came on my face and hand forty-six times in the past two weeks.
You’ve been mine, Francesca. And I have been yours ever since you grabbed me by the collar in your office seven months ago.
There’s no fucking doubt about that.” He breathed heavily, sending my pulse between my legs. “Now give me his fucking name.”
I sighed hard and shoved his chest, though he didn’t even flinch. I mumbled, “There is no Kyle. I made him up.”
A slow smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Thank you, baby.”
I scoffed. “You knew?”
“You should’ve picked a better name.”
“You’re sick!”
His hand slipped up my skirt, cupping me over my soaked panties.
“We both know you enjoy a little roleplaying, babygirl.”
I groaned, still a little whiplashed, as he kissed my neck.
“You really haven’t been with anyone else since August?”
“You’re the only one I want.”
My hands settled on the sides of his face, pulling him down to whisper against his lips, “Me too.”
We both moaned into the kiss with need. A moment later, my hands were wrapped around his neck, holding on as he pulled me in and pressed me between his body and the mattress.
I smirked against his lips. “You’ve been jerking off to me?”
Matteo ran his tongue over his teeth. “I didn’t want to be disrespectful. But after Vegas, I kind of lost it. Especially with your panties in my possession.”
I bit his bottom lip. “You really used my panties to jerk off?”
Matteo growled, moving to push up, but I pulled him back down.
“How many times?” When his eyes darkened, I couldn’t help but snicker. “I hope you washed them.”
He flipped me over and slapped my ass.
“Ah! What was that for?”
“Making me wait seven months for this pussy.”
“Five months. I made you come in Vegas. And what was it? Forty-six times since last week?”
Another slap.
“Mhm. In my pants. I’m a grown fucking man, Francesca. Don’t think I forgot about that stunt either.”
“I’m a Goddess. Do you have any idea how lucky you are to even touch me?”
Matteo watched me for a moment, running his tongue over his perfect teeth.
Another slap; this time between my legs.
I gasped, my ass arching into him.
“You fucking like that, don’t you?”
He pushed one big finger inside me without hesitation. I gasped, a small shudder escaping me as he slid in.
“Look at you, Donna. So goddamn wet, it’s all over your thighs and sheets… You’re fucking dying for this dick, aren’t you?”
His other hand came down to roll my clit between his fingers. I dropped my face to the mattress, feeling my orgasm rock through me with so much force I almost blacked out.
Then, the head of his cock was rubbing up and down my slit. My eyes rolled back with need.