Chapter 20
20
Layne
O ut of everything today, it was seeing my photo in old Yale yearbooks that gave me the answer I was looking for regarding removing Ariana Rothchild from existence. But that was also the source of my sadness.
Deleting any trace of me as her was easy. I hadn’t fostered friendships that would span decades, and the only family that had mattered was my mother, and I’m pretty sure my father was responsible for her death. My academic achievements were the stumbling point. I’m sure if that’s vanity or ego talking or if it really matters in the bigger picture.
But small things matter. And they always have.
“I think I’m ready to go,” I offer, interrupting Matteo mid text.
The way he’s been sitting while he texts with Valentine and Dante is purposeful. He wants me to see what he is typing, and even though that isn’t why I’m ready to leave, it helped. The look in his eyes when he purposely shows me the screen—sheer relief and hope—was the reinforcement I didn’t think I needed, but judging by my own relief, I did.
Matteo’s phone scatters over the table as I surprise him, but in the next moment, he starts gathering our things. Without realizing his mistake, he switches the dogs back on alert with a series of hand gestures, and I flick my eyebrows up at him in question.
He has the good grace to look regretful, but the smile on his face is the perfect balm for my saltiness. “About that.”
I put a hand up. “Okay, you need to promise no conversation any of us have will start with about that again. I’m still pissed I found out we were married that way.”
With a chuckle, Matteo offers me his hand on his way past. “Ronnie is a really good guy, actually. I went to school with him.”
“Is that how Pack De Luca is planning to claim their crown? Out with the old, in with the young?”
“About that,” he says with a wicked laugh and a joking wink, making the both of us grin again. We stop laughing as we move to the counter to say goodbye to Carlos and Gina. And then I wait while Matteo walks over to a man sitting at a table, passing over what looks like a bundle of cash concealed in a handshake.
He holds the door open for me and the dogs. They do their sweep, but I wait inside the café while Matteo does one too. I’ve watched enough movies, read enough books to know drama and danger has a way of finding you when you least expect it. Considering I’m now willingly a part of their world, the sooner I learn these small things, the longer I'll hopefully live.
“I’m driving. You know that, right?”
He pulls a face. It’s not a no , but it is a we need to talk about this later .
Matteo opens the rear doors for the dogs to jump in, then opens my door. He waits until I’m about to sit down before stopping me.
“We can always resolve the questions everyone is going to have about why you’re driving my car,” he says softly, and I lean in to hear him.
“How?”
His eyes drop to my mouth, which is his answer. I knew what he wanted to do, even before we left the café. I’ve felt it building between us since he walked into the room, but I have no issue winding him up a little too.
“You up for a bit of PDA? It’s a weakness of mine.”
“Real or fake, Matteo?”
“You tell me, Layne. You’re the one in full control of all this now.”
Curling my hand around his neck, I draw him down and push my lips to his. He smirks until I lick my way into his mouth, his smile falling away as he cups my face and kisses me with a near feral desperation, making my toes curl.
“Jesus.” He pulls away slightly before dipping back in for another taste. “I could kiss you for hours.”
Matteo only stops when Gina yells in Italian from the doorway of her café.
“Give me a break, Gina. I’m taking her home!” He turns back to me, his lips a little puffy, his eyes dilated in the setting sun. “First, I need one more kiss from you.”
“To make sure I’m real, right?” I whisper before he kisses me a lot slower this time, the both of us ignoring Gina’s antics behind us.
He pulls away, swiping his lip with his thumb and looking very satisfied with himself as he helps me into the driver’s seat. Passing my seat belt over, he waits until I’m clipped in before he closes my door and climbs in next to me.
A break in the traffic means the road is clear, so I take advantage of the conditions and drive his car like it should be driven—hard and fast.
“If we weren’t married, you know I’d be begging you to marry me?”
“About that…” I laugh, opening the windows and turning up the music.
Matteo sits back in his seat, his legs open wide, his head back, looking completely relaxed. Using the navigation, I follow the directions on the dash back to their home, finally seeing it for what it is…a high rise. I saw it before when I drove Matteo back after he was hurt in the alley, but clearly, it didn’t stick as something important.
Turning the music down as we wait at the final set of lights before I can turn down the ramp to the parking garage, I lean down to look up at the tall building. “Who else lives with you here?”
“Only our most trusted, mostly our capos and lieutenants. Are you familiar with the setup of Italian syndicates?”
“Yeah. I wrote a law review article on syndicate setup and the best way to prosecute as part of my coursework.”
He reaches over and squeezes my knee. “I think it’s amazing you’re so intelligent.”
“Thanks.”
He flicks his head when the light changes and continues to give me a run-down on the tenants. “Because we’re under Vitale, we are required to have associates of his on-site, as a show of our support. We’ve managed to contain them in a sense by being so heavily involved in their businesses, they can’t order pencils without us knowing. We’ve definitely upset Vitale by limiting their access inside the building, but we own it. We paid for it and the renovations, which gives us more say than if we were using one of his.”
“Are you related to Vitale? I know Valentine and Dante are his grandsons.” I slow down, so the guards can see Matteo in the passenger seat, and they activate the door for entry.
“Yeah.” Matteo says it with a heavy exhale before twisting around to face me. “I’m actually Vitale’s only son. His bastard child.”
Gasping in horror, I pull the car to a stop, safe in the knowledge the door will close behind us, and no one will drive into us.
“Oh my god, Matteo, he treats you so fucking awful.” In the short amount of time I saw Vitale, he acted like Matteo wasn’t even in the same room.
He throws his hand up, a bit like he’s over trying to understand his own father’s cruel motivations. “He definitely didn’t like that I was born a Beta. He’s never accepted me as his son. Publicly ridiculed my mother and me for years, but that doesn’t change the fact of who he is to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“And I’m telling you, it no longer upsets me. If anything, I use it as a motivator.” Matteo looks out the window, and I start driving again.
“I understand that.”
“Family is more than blood. I wouldn’t die for Vitale, but I would for my pack.”
“Is your mom still alive?”
He grunts, shaking his head, a sudden well of his emotion keeping me quiet. “No. I’m glad she’s not, though. Vitale is a cruel, cruel man and my mother experienced that first hand.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She would have loved you, you know?”
“What happened? Of course, you don’t need to tell me,” I rush out.
“She died of cancer nearly ten years ago. And, yeah, I blame him for that too.”
Our conversation lulls as I reverse into the parking space. But it doesn’t feel intentional, like he doesn’t want me to know or he’s hiding anything; it’s just a natural place for that discussion to end. It helps me realize I’m looking forward to taking our time as we share secrets. Our marriage might have been rushed, but getting to know each other doesn’t have to be.
Matteo hops out of the car and makes it obvious, his brown eyes pinning me to my seat, that I have to wait for him to open my door.
“Thank you,” I gush, enjoying this sweet attention of his.
“Always.”
“Bella, Edward, come.” I lean in the car and take back control of my dogs. Because I booked them, they are my responsibility.
Even though I’ve made some pretty big decisions today, I’m more tentative and less trusting since meeting them. But I have a growing belief that Pack De Luca will work hard to prove themselves. For the time being, until I have enough money and a better idea as to who my family sold me to, I’m not about to ignore the opportunity in front of me. Of course, it helps that Matteo, Valentine, and Dante are so scent compatible, they make my tummy twist. Learning to lean in to that is going to take time, but I don’t think it’s something I need to run from anymore.
Popping the trunk, I grab my bags and the gun case I bought at the shooting range after I decided I wanted to keep the gun as my own. Unless, of course, I change my mind and the ones I ordered from Protection feel better. At the same time, I know even if they do, I’m not giving Dante his back. For the simple fact he gave it to me.
There’s a part of me that thrills at maybe having a place I can call home, while my Omega side gushes at having somewhere safe to hide gifts from sneaky, good-looking Alphas.
Matteo holds the elevator doors open. “If you’re staying, I’ll set up your access. So you can come and go as you please.”
“Okay.”
The ride up seems to take longer than it should, and the time makes nerves sizzle in all directions—excitement, trepidation, worry—as I willingly go back to them, with my eyes wide open this time.
When the doors slide open, my knees wobble under the weight of the twins’ scents—Amaretto and espresso—in so much balance and synchronization, it’s nearly impossible to tell where one stops and the other starts. Not that it matters, because the message is the same. Their combined scent accosts me, screaming this is what I need to focus on the most. I need to let everything else go and lean in to the fact these men picked me because we’re as compatible as can be.
Matteo’s scent is different. It’s not as overpowering, but it is as necessary as a sprinkle of salt on fries or cinnamon on a warm donut.
The hours away cleared my thoughts, but it also let me desensitize from them completely. The fresh air let me sort through fact from fiction. It gave me the opportunity to make sure I wasn’t getting lost in a romanticized idea of finding my pack, as opposed to actually finding my pack.
The way their scents have my thoughts swimming and my body aching is a pretty clear indicator of the truth; now I just have to trust the concept, which is another matter entirely.
On trembling knees, I make my way into the penthouse, stopping when I catch sight of the twins standing shoulder to shoulder. Valentine is dressed in a dramatic black suit with a ridiculously oversized bunch of white lilies in his arms, while Dante wears only a pair of sweats, his chest glossy with perspiration, his eyes black with longing.
“Thank fuck, wife. We’ve been waiting for you a long time.” Dante curls his finger, dragging me to him like he’s got the power of telekinesis.
“I was only gone for the day.” I laugh as I freeze in my tracks, breaking his mental hold.
“Way too long in my book,” he purrs as he starts prowling closer. The look in his eyes has all the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, my flight response activating.
I drop my bags and run.
It’s a terrible idea to turn your back on an Alpha. It’s one of the first things you’re taught as an Omega. But I know when he catches me, he won’t intentionally harm me.
Behind me, I can hear Valentine yelling at his brother to stop, Matteo barking demands at the dogs to stay, and Dante’s breathing as he races after me…and it all feels like a serenade.
I also see the small things he did before I arrived back. It’s like he knew exactly how I would react and respond. He anticipated my moves before I even dared to think of returning because that is Dante. Lights are on, furniture shifted ever so subtly, and all the doors are closed, except one. I race through it, shutting it behind me to get a head start on the stairs. I’m so glad I wore my workout gear and the new shoes someone bought for me.
I miss a step and stumble halfway up the stairwell, but the door crashing open behind me makes my feet fly faster.