I knewtechnicallyZach was supposed to get the seat across Maria, next to Trevor… But there was no way in hell I sitting across Matteo. So I stole Zach’s seat – at least diagonally from his brother.
Zach was about to sit next to me, when suddenly, Matteo appeared between us. His hand settled on his younger brother’s shoulder. “Why don’t you sit with Maria? I’ll take this one.”
Zach gave his usual easygoing smile. “Thanks, man.”
Within a moment, Zach was on the other side of the table, throwing his arm around Maria and giving her a kiss on the cheek. He turned to me as Matteo lowered into theseatnextto me, and mouthedsorry. Though his smirk told me he was not sorry at all.
The table was a loud mess of chatter – Natalia laughing into Trevor’s chest, Tony making a toast that was half heartfelt and half nonsense, Maria glowing beside Zach, and Kali throwing in dry comments about Zane that made Gìo nearly choke on his drink. And yet, beside me, it felt like the air was thinner.
“Francesca…” Matteo’s voice was low, velvet and rough all at once.
“Matteo,” I said through my teeth, turning to face Matteo.
“You seem tense,Donna. Want me to help with that?”
“So, now you want to talk to me?”
“So, you noticed when I didn’t.” His mouth curved, slow, infuriating.
I scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He leaned in a fraction, enough that I could smell the clean spice of his cologne, feel the heat rolling off him like he carried the sun inside his body. “If I wanted to flatter myself,princesa, I’d remind you how hard you blushed the last time I got this close.”
I rolled my eyes, willing the warmth creeping up my neck to disappear. “What do you want, Matteo?”
His gaze dipped to my lips for a split second before dragging back up to meet my eyes. “You’re upset.”
I bit back on my teeth. “I have no reason to be. You have made yourselfveryclear this morning.”
His hand wrapped around my upper arm, pulling me back so I couldn’t ignore him.
“Maybe I needed to step away earlier. For my own sake.”
“Excuse me?”
“I thought a little distance between us might cool me off.” He smirked faintly, a dangerous tilt of his mouth. “Clearly, it didn’t work.”
My pulse escalated, but I hid it. “You’re unbelievable. You disappear when it suits you, then show up expecting me to just… What? Be grateful you’re speaking to me?”
He tipped his head toward mine, whiskey brown eyes glinting under the low light. “I missed your fire.”
The table erupted in laughter over some joke Tony made, and I forced myself to join in, even though my skin still buzzed where Matteo’s arm brushed my back. He hadn’t won – not tonight. But the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth told me he thought otherwise.
I turned back toward the table, pretending to hang on to every word the others were saying. My laughter joined the theirs, too light, too easy – but Matteo’s presence still pressed into my skin, impossible to ignore.
His arm stretched along the back of my chair, casual in appearance, but his warmth skimmed the top of my shoulder, a claim no one else seemed to notice. My brothers were all the way on the opposite end – too busy having fun to see what was happening right under their noses.
I sat straighter, refusing to lean even an inch closer.
Then, Matteo’s warm, minty breath brushed against my ear, low enough that only I could hear.
“You know, Francesca… I’ve never let anyone use me before. Not for business… Not for favors… And definitely not for my body.”
My hand froze halfway to my glass.
“Least of all to fall asleep on me,” he added, the words a soft burn against my skin. Matteo’s tone was steady, teasing, but beneath it was something sharper, something true.
Heat rushed straight to my cheeks. I stared him right in those dark eyes of his, doing everything in my power to hide the fact that my pulse had just betrayed me.
