25. Matti
Matti
O NE WEEK LATER
Siena pops the last piece of cantaloupe into her mouth, trying not to choke as she laughs. I don’t give her a chance to recover. Wrapping an arm around her waist and tackling her onto the bed, the tray rattles beside us, and she squeals.
For the past week, life has been nothing but fucking, napping, and eating, tangled up in the sheets and each other, locked away in this penthouse like the rest of the world doesn’t exist. Like a perfect honeymoon with my beautiful wife.
I keep my phone within reach, just in case Vin or Tommy need me.
But aside from Vin’s occasional updates—how he’s moving like a shadow to build the army we need, Tommy’s progress with Giovanna—there’s been nothing.
No reason for me to break the spell. Vin and I agreed we should all lie low, that I should keep Siena out of sight until the war is ours to start.
And I’m happy to comply. I’ll take any excuse to stay buried inside her, losing myself in the only peace I’ve ever known.
Siena shifts upright, snags a pancake from the tray, and leans back against the headboard. I bite back a grin as she casually pushes aside the silk restraints tied there and settle my head in her lap, inhaling the faint scent of sex and her skin.
“Matti?” She strokes my hair, her touch featherlight.
I toss a grape into my mouth, chewing lazily. “Yes, kitten?”
“I was thinking about going back to work,” she says, tentatively.
“No.” It’s not even a possibility.
Her eyes darken and spark at the challenge. “What do you mean, ‘no’? You’re not my boss, Matti. You don’t get to decide what I do.”
“Really.” I stand up, pulling her up with me as I push the breakfast cart into the living room.
“Yes, really.” She follows me down the hall and plants herself on the couch, tearing off a piece of pancake like she’s seconds from launching it at my head. “I can’t just sit here and be your personal fuck toy forever.”
I arch a brow, trying not to smile. I love it when she gets mad at me. “Why not? You seemed to enjoy it this past week.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“Very.”
She glares at me, grabs another piece of pancake, and chucks it at me. I catch it midair and pop it into my mouth.
“Why do you have to be so damn controlling?”
“It’s not about control. It’s about common sense,” I point out. “You’re a target right now. That little nonprofit of yours is vulnerable. You saw what happened to the lawyer’s office, and that was only a block away. ”
Siena exhales sharply. “Matti, I miss working. I miss my friends. I have to do something.”
I crawl over the couch, pinning her with my weight, pressing my lips to her throat. She told Amelia she needed a week off, but what she doesn’t know is that I told Amelia to find a replacement for her. She won’t be back.
“Don’t worry, kitten. I’ll keep you busy.” My mouth grazes the shell of her ear. “When you start having my babies, you won’t have time for anything but us.”
She swats at me, rolling her eyes. “If and when I have kids, Matti—heavy on the if —I’ll still want to work.”
I frown. “You’re not working, Siena.”
She reaches around me, lifting a domed lid off the tray. She stiffens.
“Um, Matti…”
Instead of food, a manila envelope sits on the silver platter. Inside, nestled together like a quiet threat, are Emily’s phone and a purple flash drive. I give Siena a wink as I grab my laptop off the table and head back into the bedroom with the envelope.
“I have some work to do, kitten,” I say, keeping my voice even, controlled.
Because if there’s anything in here that could destroy the peace I’ve created for her, I need to see it first.
**
About a half hour later, I come out of the bedroom and set the laptop on the table. There was a ton of information, but as far as I can tell, there were no texts, emails, notes, or pictures that gave away anything that would upset Siena .
Sitting down, I pull the phone and flash drive from the envelope and hold them out to her.
“Okay, kitten. Everything’s ready for you.”
“What? Why the fuck didn’t you just give it to me?” Siena sits forward on the couch, perching on the edge with a wince. She bites her bottom lip, cringing, and glances at me.
“Are you okay?” I ask. We’ve been fucking constantly, and she is covered in my marks. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s sore.
Color rushes to her cheeks. “It’s the… thing.” She shifts, clearing her throat. “This one’s kind of… big.”
I blink, then smirk when it clicks. “The butt plug? They need to be incrementally larger, so you’re ready for me, kitten.”
Siena turns a darker shade of red. “I know. It’s just…”
My grin sharpens as I kneel in front of her, setting the envelope aside. I tilt her chin up, dragging my tongue across her bottom lip.
“Your pussy’s wet for me, isn’t it?”
“That’s not the point! Why are you going through Emily’s phone before giving it to me?”
I chuckle, brushing my lips along her jaw. “The point is that I wanted to make sure Valentina didn’t leave any surprises. You never know what she’s up to.”
Siena hesitates, debating whether to fight me on it. When she doesn’t answer, I push her knees open, dropping the envelope and kissing her deeply. I press my weight against her, knowing it will push the butt plug in a little deeper.
She gasps, hands flattening against my chest. “Matti!”
Sitting back, I grab the envelope again and pull her up. “Come on. Let’s look through it together. ”
She follows, still flustered, as I dump the contents onto the desk and settle in beside her.
For the next hour, Siena laughs and cries as she sifts through old messages, photos, and notes she and Emily shared. I listen as she tells me stories, my arm around her, grounding her when the weight of it all becomes too much.
When she quiets, scrolling without comment through the flash drive, I watch her carefully. “You okay, kitten?”
She laughs, sniffling and wiping her face. “Yeah, I just—I don’t know. It’s the first time that thinking about her makes me happy. We made a lot of good memories. It’s nice to just focus on the good times for a change.”
I pull her to me, and she snuggles into my chest. Watching the depth of love she has for her sister play out in front of me is both breathtaking and terrifying.
It makes me realize just how much I want to mean that much to her, to be her family, to be the one she loves with fierce, unwavering devotion.
And for the first time in my life, the idea of belonging to someone doesn’t feel like a weakness.
As long as that someone is her, it feels like the only thing that matters.
A knock on the door slams through the moment, shattering the fragile peace. We freeze. No one knocks on the door unless I’m expecting it. No one can get up here without access to the private elevator.
I’m already moving, reaching under the couch and pulling out my gun. I tuck it into my waistband, checking the surveillance app on my phone.
Fuck. It’s Valentina.
I shoot Siena a glance. The last thing I need is Valentina fucking with her when she’s already vulnerable.
Gun in hand, I open the door .
Before I can speak, Valentina holds her hands up, words spilling out. “I’m not here to do anything fucked up,” she rushes. “I came to tell you something. Honestly.”
I roll my eyes. “Text me. Your job is done. Go home.”
“Did you see it?”
Before I can respond, the elevator dings and the doors open. Eleanor strides out, eyes sharp and full of irritation, two armed guards flanking her.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Dragovari,” she says smoothly. “I was otherwise engaged when Miss Valentina decided to seduce her way past security.”
She flicks her fingers at the guards. One steps forward, grabbing Valentina’s wrists and pulling them behind her back. The other levels a gun at her temple.
Valentina looks more bored than scared. “Unbelievable. I told the guard the truth: I’m doing work for Matti and there are some final details to address. If he couldn’t hear me over my tits, I can’t help that.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, tucking my gun into the back of my waistband. “Say what you came to say.”
She falters. Something like discomfort flashes across her face. “It’s personal.”
“There is no personal with us, Valentina.” I start to shut the door, but she yanks her hand out of the guard’s grasp and grabs my arm.
“No, Matti, wait.” She sounds panicked. “There’s something you need to see.”
I glare at her. “If you’re wasting my time—”
“It’s important, Matti.”
There’s something in her voice I haven’t heard from her before. Something that makes me stop. Though I wouldn’t put it past her to fake sincerity in order to get what she wants, in our current situation with Aurelio, I can’t shut out potentially valuable information.
Eleanor’s eyebrows lift as I wave Valentina inside. “Shall I wait, Mr. Dragovari?”
“No, but they can,” I say, gesturing to the guards.
“Sir…” Eleanor stops with a glance at the guards and lowers her voice. “Mr. Vincenzo Demonio has called several times this morning and stopped by twice. I don’t know if you’ve seen my messages.”
I hadn’t. I was focused on Siena. “Why isn’t he calling my cell?”
“He said he did, sir,” Eleanor says.
That tracks. I’ve barely checked in with my phone for the past week. I nod. “Get him a message to come here. A private message.”
“Mr. Tommaso Demonio was with him as well,” she says.
I raise an eyebrow. I haven’t heard from Tommy in over a month. “Okay. Him, too, then.”
As the door clicks shut behind me, I walk into the living room to find Siena and Valentina facing off like rival cats about to pounce.
My kitten is standing next to the laptop on the table, her expression impenetrable while Valentina is closer to the couches, her usual resting bitch face firmly in place.
I clear my throat. “Siena, I believe you’ve met Valentina. Valentina, my fiancee, Siena.”
I settle into a chair at the table next to Siena as both women turn to look at me in angry shock, but for very different reasons.
I cut Siena a look—sharp, deliberate, daring her to contradict me. She is mine. It’s not up for debate. She can be mad if she wants, but I lost her once, and I won’t lose her again.
The only benefit of Valentina being the first to know is that I can count on her to run her mouth. Once people know she’s mine, they’ll understand that she’s off limits and anyone who fucks with her will have to deal with me.
Anyone.
Valentina moves first, stepping toward the table. “Look, I didn’t come here to fuck with you,” she mutters. “But there’s something you should—there’s a video that—fuck, Matti—”
“What the fuck do you want, Valentina?” Siena snaps, and I sit back silently, filled with pride as I watch my kitten flex her claws.
Something about watching her be so strong with other people while knowing I get to turn her into a begging, whimpering mess later makes my dick hard.
Especially knowing there’s a butt plug in her ass that I will be replacing with my cock sooner than later.
“I came to see if you’d checked the flash drive.” Valentina speaks to me but looks at Siena as she points to the laptop. “May I?”
Siena begrudgingly slides it her way and Valentina goes to work, tapping rapidly on the keyboard. “After I finished with, um, your fiancee’s project, I went back to the flash drive using scanner software to organize the files based on who was in them, and I came across someone unexpected.”
She gives the keyboard a final tap, spins the laptop toward me, and sits back.
The screen flickers to life.
And I freeze.