8. Massimo
Chapter 8
Massimo
A t dinner the next night, I couldn't stop watching him. Every move, every word—I'm overanalyzing it all. Elio is my family, my blood, but the suspicion Vera planted in my mind won't let go. It eats away at me, making me question everything.
What if she's right? What if Elio isn't the man I think he is? If something were to happen to my family and I ignored the warnings… I'd never forgive myself.
There's no harm in looking into him, right? Just to clear my head. Just to make sure. Trust is earned, even within the family.
Elio has always hated that I was named Don. I've known that. I've felt the bitterness in his eyes, the jealousy that's burned between us for years. But could he really have been jealous enough to betray me? To work with the enemy?
The thought alone is suffocating, dark, and ominous. It's one thing to compete for power within the family, but to betray us—to betray me—that's unthinkable. Yet, the pieces are starting to fit in a way I can't ignore. It twists my gut to imagine that my own flesh and blood could be plotting against me, against all of us.
I look around the dinner table, at the smiling faces, the laughter, and the clinking of glasses. Everyone is sharing food, drinks, and company, steeped in holiday spirit. But I lost that feeling the moment I lost Vera. When I met my wife, I thought I'd found it again, but it was never the same—never as comforting. And then I lost her too. After that, I turned ice cold to everything about this time of year, to anything that used to make me smile.
Anything except Bella.
She's my entire world. The only thing keeping me tethered to some form of warmth. I'd kill for her without a second thought. I'd tear down entire planets before I'd ever let anything happen to her.
I look down at my champagne, untouched, and consider everything that Vera is currently doing. She is acting like a mother - she is fighting for a child she still believes is alive.
She has no reason to lie about this. I asked her the other night—what does she have to gain by taking this risk?
The answer was clear: nothing.
She gains nothing by tricking me, nothing by putting herself in danger. And yet, I can't shake the thought gnawing at the edges of my mind, like a virus spreading through my veins—she might be telling the truth .
And if she is… that means Elio is a traitor. My own blood.
The realization settles deep in my gut, twisting everything I thought I knew. If she's right, then the betrayal goes far deeper than I ever imagined.
Elio laughs and tilts his glass towards Adrian. They have always been close. Adrian is a die-hard friend. He sees the best in people. He trusts his family and never questions loyalty. It's why he wouldn't make a good leader - but he makes an excellent enforcer. He is my right-hand man and I know he will protect me and this family with his own life.
Elio keeps glancing in my direction, shifting in his seat. A shiver of tension runs through him because my stare is locked onto him.
"Are you enjoying the holidays, Elio?" I ask across the table.
"I love this time of year." He answers politely.
"And how was your day yesterday? I heard you left the lodge and went on some adventure of sorts. Where did you go?"
"Um." He stammers. "Um, last-minute shopping?" He spits out his answer as though he was asking a question.
"Ah, yes, the shops must have been packed now though. Not very pleasant."
He chuckles, his cheeks growing hot. "I was in and out. Didn't take long at all."
I watch him, smile tightly, sip his drink, and turn his attention away from me and my innocent questions.
Later that night, after dinner, he is sitting alone in the corner of the living room. Everyone else is happy and relaxed but Elio is on his phone, frowning as he angrily types a message to someone.
"Is everything alright, Elio?" I ask, stepping close to him and handing him a drink.
He drops the phone and jumps in his seat.
"Fuck." He mutters.
"Sorry. Didn't expect you to be so jumpy."
He laughs, nervous again. "Just stuff with work." He says, taking the drink and shoving his phone into the inside pocket of his jacket.
"The office is closed. I made sure everyone was with their families now. What issues are you having with work? I can help sort them out."
"No, don't be ridiculous. It can wait. You're right. The office is closed. We should be focused on family."
Elio stands up, holding the drink. "I'm just going to - I'm going to…"
"Go on," I say, tilting my head and he rushes away.
The more I interact with him the more my suspicions grow.
But it is because I so desperately want to believe Vera - or is it something tangible?
After everyone has gone to bed I carry a plate of food down to the cellar.
She is sitting on the bed and doesn't stand when I come inside.
"Are you ok?" I ask, noticing how her shoulders are slumped forward, and her eyes are cast down. "Yes." She answers, soft and distant.
My heart aches to comfort her, but how can I? How can I give in to this overwhelming need to take care of her when she's the very person I can't trust? It feels like a betrayal of everything I've built to protect myself.
I sigh and sit on the edge of the bed, watching her. She looks so lost, so sad, and yet still—so beautiful. No matter what has happened between us, she will never not be beautiful to me. Even in her brokenness, even in my anger, I can't look away.
"Vera." I want to tell her that I've been watching Elio, and I have a growing suspicion.
She turns to look at me, the shimmer of tears in her eyes breaking something deep inside me. Without thinking, I cup her jaw, my hand pressing against her soft skin. The moment I touch her, all the control I've held onto for six years shatters. Emotion floods me—buried anger, regret, desire—all rising to the surface.
"You never should have come back," I growl, my thumb brushing her lower lip.
"I had no choice," she breathes, her voice trembling. "I needed to see you again… to explain."
I pull her face to mine, and our lips crash together in a kiss that's fierce, desperate, filled with everything we've lost.
"There's nothing you can say to fix what you broke," I rasp against her lips, even as my body betrays me. My cock goes rigid against her. "But I can't stop wanting you. "
Her breath hitches, her hands roaming over my chest, pulling me closer.
"Then take me," she whispers, eyes locked onto mine. "Just like you used to."
I press her back onto the bed, pinning her beneath me as her legs wrap around my waist. Her body arches against mine and my lips find her neck, tasting the salt of her tears.
"You're still mine," I growl softly, my hand tangling in her hair. "You never stopped being mine."
"I never wanted to stop," she gasps, her back arching as my mouth travels lower. "I'm yours. Always."
I grab her clothing, pulling it off piece by piece, tossing mine aside as well - until all that is left is her beautiful, naked body lying beneath me. Our skin against each other, the heat from our bodies soaking into each other.
She looks up at me with those gorgeous eyes.
I lean down to kiss her again as I rub my cock over her pussy.
She moans against my lips, and I feel myself pulsing with need.
Slowly, I push myself inside her, inch by inch, I stretch her pussy open and bury deep into her.
She digs her nail into my back as I begin to thrust my hips, back and forth, in and out, feeling her body, tasting her, possessing her in ways my memory has haunted me with for years.
Despite the snow outside a thin layer of perspiration covers our skin as we move together. The heat of our passion, of long-lost things, all flooding from us at this moment.
She gasps as I penetrate deep inside her and wrap her legs tighter around my waist.
I can feel her pussy pulsing over me, tightening as her body begins to shudder with the pleasure of it all.
"Open your eyes and look at me," I command.
I want to see her. I want to know it's her.
Her pupils dilate as the orgasm waves through her, she never looks away from me, and I grow rigid, exploding inside her.
We lay together for a long time while the air around us grows colder. Eventually, I sit up, on the edge of the bed and start pulling my clothes back on. The last thing I need is for Bella to find me down here like this.
"Massimo - did you start looking into Elio?" She asks softly, still lying on the bed, wrapped in the blanket.
I turned to look at her, wanting to tell her everything on my mind, but scared to trust her.
I'm too conflicted.
"We need to find our son." She says, begging me again.
I nod, swallowing hard.
Then I stand up and walk out.
I can't find my words. I can't tell her what I'm thinking. I can't let her I know that being with her now has flooded me with the memory of how much I am in love with her.
I can't allow myself to remember that either.