It bothered me that he was still on the fence about it. Things had changed after Luca was born and my surgery was done, but that article had stuck its poisonous claws in deep. Which was the reason why I wasn’t saying anything about not wanting to do any more movies until Luca was older. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. This was time I’d never get back. And acting was nice, but it didn’t compare to the joy that being a mom brought me. But my footsteps were aligning with Grazia’s. After she started having children, she decided to retire for a while, but she never returned to it because cancer had taken her. But even mom and Scarlett had agreed. I was not Grazia Angeli, and Matteo wasn’t his great grandfather. I was Estella Fausti, and he was Matteo Fausti.
“Not now. Not here. Sometimes people are planted around us to read our lips.”
“Right,” I said, making a zipping motion against my lips. His brother, Maestro, was an excellent lip reader.
Matteo laughed, all raspy and low, and kissed me.
“The best motivator to keep quiet,” I whispered as he led me down the rest of the steps.
I could see Matteo’s car waiting for us in the distance. Or my car. He had bought it as a gift to me for the premiere, along with stunning jewelry. The car, some type of Cadillac that was rare and had to be preordered, was the height of style and class, but was fast as hell. The doors lifted open on the sides, and the inside reminded me of a spaceship, almost. The headlights were like nothing I’d ever seen before. They almost reminded me of an animal, maybe a big cat, about to go on the hunt. That was what the motor sounded like when it came time to life. A low growl.
And my husband driving it through the streets of Rome?
Foreplay.
Before we even got home, I’d be all over that man.
Damnhe was fine.
I sighed to myself, thinking how lucky I was.
Matteo chuckled and walked with my hand in his like he owned the ground beneath his feet.
Just like he owned the heart in my chest.
A few people were in a circle, chatting, below the steps. Nonno, Magpie, Romeo and Juliette, Dario and Carmen, Mom, Niccolo, Matteo’s brothers, his sister and Saverio, and Aunt Lola and Uncle Tito. A car was coming to pick up Aunt Lola and Uncle Tito and take them to the house. I kissed them both again, thanking them for coming. They didn’t get out much by choice. It was late, and I could tell they were both tired.
Aunt Lola pinched my cheeks until the blood rushed to the surface. “We would like to see our Luca. Bring him by tomorrow, ah?”
We kissed again, but as the car pulled up, some of the soldiers rushed away from the group and started pushing someone back. An old, fragile man by the looks of him.
The men were on instant alert, postures rigid, eyes narrowed. Matteo snapped something to the soldiers who were keeping the old man back. One of the soldiers who must have been leading the group came to speak to Matteo. Matteo listened intently and then touched my back.
He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Stay close to my family.” Then he bit my earlobe and made me shiver.
A promise of later.
I was so down for it.
I couldn’t wait to leave.
My entire body felt like it might rocket into the sky if he touched me one more time.
I watched as Nonno and Matteo moved closer to where the man was making a scene. He was so old, though, I couldn’t imagine what the issue could be. Unless we were somehow blocking him? Maybe he needed to be somewhere?
Me, too, mister, me too,I thought. I needed to be either in the car getting my foreplay on, or already tousling in the sheets with my fine-ass husband.
I leaned closer to Aunt Lola, whose eyes were narrowed on the man. “What’s he going on about?”
“He wants to speak to the leader of the Fausti family. He’s demanding it. Says he has something to say to him. Now he’s asking Luca how he belongs. Who is his father? Does he have sons? Grandsons?” It sounded like she cursed underneath her breath. “Old eyes are the worst! He looks so familiar…”
Her prolonged ellipsis was punctuated by a single shot that seemed to send me backwards by the sheer force of the noise alone, but it wasn’t me…
Oh my God!
“Matteo!” I screamed. “Matteo!” I went to run to him, because he was no longer standing, but I was stopped by a solider who stood in front of me.
Armando.
