Chapter Eight
Sofia
The air in the warehouse hangs thick with the scent of dust and decay. There is also an air of despair but I figure that is coming from the man pacing a few feet from me with a bottle of whiskey swinging in one hand and a gun firmly gripped in the other.
God, it’s just my luck that I would marry into a family with a maniac.
I strain against the ropes, whimpering behind the gag when they bite into my wrists, the coarse material chafing my skin.
It’s useless to even try—the ropes are too tight and the knots too secure.
Each futile tug brings a fresh wave of panic, and the silence of the warehouse only works to amplify the frantic beating of my heart.
Calm down, Sofia. Slow deep breaths.
Across from me, Bruno rambles under his breath, seemingly lost in his own world.
For a moment, I allow myself to feel sorry for the guy, but the ropes digging into my skin snap me out of it.
If I feel sorry for anyone, it’s me. I’m the one bound and gagged to a chair in an empty warehouse, miles away from home.
I don’t know what I would do if I thought my birthright was given to someone else, but I don’t imagine I would kidnap an innocent bystander and keep them tied to a chair for hours.
A cold tendril of fear wraps around my chest as I try not to imagine what Bruno has in store for me. I close my eyes and bring up the image of my family. My sisters are going to be heartbroken when they find my body, and my parents… Will mourning me finally bring them closer?
And Christ, Matteo.
I should have told him I loved him when I had a chance. That text, I shouldn’t have hesitated to send it. Now he might never know that I have developed feelings for him. No, not just feelings. Love. Deep, consuming love. Will this hurt him?
Tesoro mio. His treasure, he calls me.
And I call him mine. My husband. My love. The man who comes home to me every night, who listens when I talk about my designs, who holds me like I’m precious.
What will losing me do to him?
I've seen the darkness flash in his eyes when he gets aroused or irritated, but it's often controlled. I shudder to think what would happen if it were unleashed.
“I bet they’re running through town like chickens searching for you," a voice cuts into my thoughts.
I open my eyes to find that Bruno has moved closer, waving the gun like it's an extension of his arm.
There is an evil gleam in his eyes when he leans forward and, using the hand with the whiskey bottle, tugs down my gag. “They will never find you in time!”
“Please, Bruno. I don’t want to get hurt–”
"Then you should have thought twice before you married that thieving bastard!"
“The marriage was arranged by my father,” I argue. “You know that—”
“Oh shut the fuck up!” he rages, waving his arms around. I wince, half terrified that he’ll accidentally shoot me before he gets around to doing it on purpose. He's drunk and unsteady on his feet. And clearly not in his right mind either. "I've seen the way you look at him."
His words bring me pause. “What?”
“That’s the thing about being the invisible brother. You see everything,” he storms, stopping in front of me. “I’ve seen the way you look at that bastard. Like the stars and moon revolve around his head—it’s disgusting.”
I wince when he spits on the floor, but his words give me something to think about, and I find myself wondering if Matteo has seen it too.
Does he know?
God, I should have sent that text. If only so he’s comforted by my death.
“Matteo will never forgive you if you hurt me,” I say, meeting Bruno’s eyes directly. It’s probably a terrible idea to taunt a madman, but it’s clear begging won’t do me any good either. “He’ll find you and make you pay for so much as harming a hair on my head.”
He laughs, a loud, ugly sound that echoes through the warehouse. "If he's so great, I would like to see him try."
Just then, a crash tears through the silence as something breaks through one of the warehouse front windows.
Bruno spins toward the noise with his gun raised just as another crash sounds in the opposite direction.
The warehouse’s back door explodes inward, and a figure, silhouetted against the fading light, bursts into the room.
I only get a second to recognize Matteo before the world explodes around me. Gunshots rip through the air, cracking sharply against the concrete walls. Someone yells, deep and guttural. Maybe it’s Bruno…maybe it’s me.
I flinch and turn away, every muscle in my body coiling in terror. I close my eyes tightly at the sound of gunshots, but it fades as fast as it started. There is a moment of silence before I feel warm, familiar hands touching my face and shoulders.
“Sofia,” the gruff voice has me opening my eyes to meet beautiful dark ones. There is a murderous look on Matteo’s face. Crouched in front of me, I see something else underneath the anger. Fear. Panic. “Sei ferita, tesoro mio? Tell me if you’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” I whisper, nuzzling his hand when he cups my chin. “He didn’t hurt me. The ropes…”
“Fuck, right,” he growls, rounding the chair. He curses when the ropes fall away and gently takes my wrists to inspect the extent of the injury. My heart tugs in my chest when he brings my reddened wrists to his lips. When he lifts those eyes to mine, they’re dark. Dangerous.
My arms are around him the second he frees my wrists, pushing into him and kissing him like my life depends on it. I don't care that we have an audience. Seconds ago, I wasn't sure I would get to see his handsome face…to kiss him.
Matteo kisses me with just as much fervor, and when we break apart, I am panting. My heart races with need for a man I never wanted to marry, but now, he’s my entire life.
“Matteo?”
I turn around and, for the first time, take in the people in the warehouse with us.
All of Matteo's brothers are here, along with a dozen other men I have never met before, two of whom are holding Bruno. There is a red stain on his shoulder, but he’s still alive, if the pained and murderous look he's giving Matteo is anything to go by.
"What do we do with him?"
Matteo doesn’t say a word. Instead, he trades looks with Nicolo, who nods in turn.
The understanding between them is clear—this will be handled.
Bruno will face consequences for his actions, but not here.
Not in front of me. Before I can ask what will happen to him, Matteo scoops me into his arms like I weigh nothing.
I grip his shoulder as he carries me out to one of the two black SUVs parked outside the warehouse.
He unlocks the back door and gently places me in the backseat, my eyes widening when he climbs in after me. He shuts the door behind us, and then his hand is on my waist, pulling me onto his lap. He’s hard, his cock pushing against my inner thighs.
“Matteo—”
His mouth slams down on mine, silencing whatever words I was about to say and wiping all rational thoughts from my mind.
He runs his hands up and down my back as he kisses me with the desperation of a drowning man.
His right hand circles to the front, stroking my breasts, squeezing and rubbing over my blouse.
My nipples pebble painfully behind my bra, and I moan into the kiss as a rush of wetness floods my sex.
We’re both panting when we break apart, and I moan when his mouth skates down the side of my neck, licking a path up my throat and biting my earlobe.
My pussy clenches in response, heat rocking my core.
Tesoro mio, he groans, making my heart race as he licks a path up my throat, biting my earlobe. “I need you,” he says hoarsely into my ear. “I need you so fucking much, baby. I can’t help it.”
“You have me,” I whimper, running my hands around his neck to his nape, threading my fingers through his hair. “Take me.”
“I won’t be gentle, baby. I can’t.”
“Then don’t be,” I whisper, leaning in and finding his mouth, reveling in the heat emanating from his body.
His muscles are tight with barely restrained power, and his eyes are bright with danger.
With darkness that rivals the night. "Don’t hold back with me.
” Never with me. “I can handle you, Matteo. All of you!”
His mouth pushes back to mine in a hungry kiss as he reaches between us to undo his pants.
My hands move urgently to undo his shirt, whining into the kiss when I feel his sculpted chest, bronzed under the moonlight.
He’s big… everywhere. My breath catches in my throat when he releases his cock.
I’m trembling when he slides his hand under my skirt and rips my panties off, no doubt bruising my skin, but I feel nothing but the ache between my legs, desperately craving relief that only he can sate.
Matteo flips me onto my back and settles between my thighs. It's a tight squeeze for a man built like he is, but he doesn't seem to care as he shoves my thighs wider apart. I groan when I feel the hard press of his cock against my damp flesh, trembling with need to soothe the beast in him.
In the dark interior of the car, I can’t make out much of those dark eyes, but I can feel them on me. Hungry. Predatory.
"You're a drug," he rasps into the dark, running his hand between my thighs. Up and up… my back arches when he pushes a long finger into me, stretching me, twisting around before pulling out. He adds another and starts to pump them in and out of me, his breath panting right along with mine. It’s sweet torture, the way he touches me, drives me to madness with his fingers until I'm on the brink of falling apart. Then, he cruelly pulls out. I’m trembling, delirious with need when he lines up his cock with my pussy.
“Please.”
I scream when he slams into me.
A raw sound tears from my throat as he buries his thickness inside of me.
He grips my hip, and it's all the warning I get before he fucks me like a beast. He doesn’t hold back, not an ounce of his power as he hammers into me, hard and fast. I can’t do anything but hold onto him as he pounds into me with brutal thrusts, rocking the car, grunting feverishly into my neck as he seeks to stake his claim.
“Mine!”
It echoes in the air. I feel it on my skin. It’s a mating call—one I answer with a call of my own.
“Yours,” I sob, holding on to him as he pins me down and takes me with brute force, wet squelching sounds filling the car.
The deep possessiveness of his actions tugs me closer to orgasm.
It builds at lightning speed, threatening to overwhelm me with its intensity, so I hold on to my husband, digging my nails into his back.
I scream when the orgasm roars through me, scratching at his shoulder and tearing at his shirt as my pussy constricts violently around his cock, so good it borders on pain. I lose control of my body, shaking feverishly under him as he pins me down, taking… possessing… claiming me.
He grinds into me, his movements becoming jerky, and I feel it the moment he finds his release.
His muscles tense, and he stills a second before he floods me with his wet heat.
He bellows like a bull, hips slapping into mine, his entire body shaking as he pushes his seed deeper into my core.
He buries his face into my neck, moaning roughly as his cock jerks inside of me until I've milked him dry.
His thrusts slow before his muscles lose power, and he falls on top of me.
I wrap my arms around his powerful shoulders and hold him through the shudders rolling through his body.
"I was afraid I was going to be too late," he says, his voice ragged against my ear.
“I was ready to tear apart the whole neighborhood. I would have burned it to the ground if something had happened to you.”
Something about the way he speaks tells me that he means every word he is saying and it should scare me.
And it does, a little.
But it also fills me with joy to know that I matter to him enough that I am worth scorching the earth for—however twisted that sounds.
“I’m fine,” I whisper, slipping my fingers into his hair, loving the way it feels between my fingers. “When I was in that warehouse, I only had one regret. It made me sick to my stomach thinking that I would never get to see you or tell you that… I love you.”
I hold my breath, anticipating his reaction. Did I make things awkward with my words? No, I don’t care. Thinking I would never get to say those words broke my heart. I don’t care that Matteo might not feel the same way…
“I love you, Sofia Rossi. Tesoro mio. La mia regina.”
My heart stops and when Matteo pulls back to look down at me, I wish for better lighting so I can see his eyes. I didn’t imagine those words, right?
“You have my ring, my name, my loyalty. You’re the queen of my empire and my heart.”