Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“Damn, Sweetness, I didn’t know buying you flowers would affect you this way. Listen,” he says, cradling my face in his hands. “I don’t know if you’ve been on the terrace at the condo yet, but it’s huge, and if you want, we can turn the whole thing into an outdoor garden, hot tub be damned. Just say you’ll move in with me, and I’ll make it happen.”
I bark out a watery laugh. “Oh my God, you’re so crazy. Why are you so hell-bent on me living with you?”
It’s meant as a joke, only Matteo’s features turn serious, not taking it as one.
“Because the alternative is living without you.”
I swallow thickly and nod in understanding because as scary as it is to imagine taking this next step with Matteo, the thought of not being with him is even more terrifying.
“Okay,” I tell him. “I’ll live with you.”
His brows shoot up to his forehead. “Are you serious? Because if you’re just saying that to fuck with me, it’s not funny.”
“I’m serious,” I tell him, yanking him closer by wrapping my legs around his waist. “I want to eat with you and sleep with you, and I want to live with you.”
His mouth fuses with mine, his strong yet soft lips caressing mine as he leans in, his arms caging me in … and then the door opens.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” my brother hisses. “Is this going to become a thing? Me walking in on you two?”
I hide behind Matteo, embarrassed at having been caught again, but Matteo only laughs.
“Maybe if you knocked, you’d stop walking in on people.”
“And maybe if you guys took it to a fucking room, people would stop walking in on you.”
“Um, we are in a room,” Matteo deadpans, making me stifle a laugh. “And the last time we were in a room, you walked in on us, so I don’t think that would matter. Besides, we were just celebrating. Your sister is moving in with me.”
Lorenzo’s brow furrows. “Isn’t she already living with you?”
“As my roommate,” Matteo explains. “But she just agreed to officially move in with me. So, you won’t have to worry. We’ll be taking it to our room quite often.”
“New rule.” Lorenzo glares. “I don’t want to hear about you taking my sister anywhere.”
“How about we take this to lunch?” I push Matteo back and hop off the desk. “I’m starved, and I saw there’s a Greek place right across the street—my favorite.”
Matteo groans. “You’re lucky I love you because I am sick of eating Greek food.”
We get to the restaurant and order and then find a table outside since they’re covered and have fans, helping to cool the hot day down. Matteo, of course, sits next to me, his hand going to my thigh.
“I like this skirt on you,” he murmurs, leaning in and nibbling on my bottom lip.
“Rule number one,” Lorenzo whines, reminding us that we’re not alone.
“Sorry,” I tell him. “We’ll try harder.”
“No, we won’t,” Matteo says. “You’re just acting like a whiny bitch because Hillary fucked you over.”
“Matteo!” I hiss.
“What? It’s the truth. You need to get back out there,” he tells Lorenzo. “You going to the fight this weekend? There will be women everywhere. Find one and fuck that bitch out of your system once and for all.”
I gasp at Matteo, ready to tell him that’s not how it works, when another thought occurs to me. “Your fight is this weekend?”
He glances down at me. “Yeah. You knew I had a fight coming up. Hence all the training I’ve been doing.”
“I know. But I didn’t know it was this weekend. How does it work? Where is it? Do I need to buy tickets?”
Lorenzo chuckles, but Matteo frowns.
“No, you’re not going.”
I rear back. “What? Why can’t I go?”
“Because I already told you no before,” Matteo says as if his word is final.
“I want an actual reason,” I say. “I’m a grown woman, and you’re treating me like a child.”
The waitress drops off our food, but neither Matteo nor I make a move to eat.
“Because the last fight ended with a fire,” Matteo finally says.
“Well, a false fire,” Lorenzo points out, making Matteo glare. “What? The Underground didn’t catch fire,” he says to me. “It was a distraction to get everyone out. Then, while the girls went home, we went to the warehouse because there was another fire. But again, it was only a distraction so that psycho Anthony could try to kidnap Dominick’s son.”
I heard about this. While Brielle and I were shopping, she gave me a bit of a backstory so I would understand why we had guards. She also told me about her past, which had me wanting to cry for her. I couldn’t imagine someone forcing me to have an abortion. She comes across so put together, but I can tell there’s a part of her that will forever be broken because of what she went through.