I let the thought unfinished as I pulled into the underground car park at the club. But I didn’t get out of the car. I couldn’t until I got myself under control.
I’d called this meeting, but that didn’t mean I was happy to be going there because…
Well, because I didn’t want to walk in there with my thoughts all jumbled.
If she had lost a baby, our baby, because of stress or something I had said, then I was the asshole.
Which seemed on par with my personality around her.
The whole hot and cold thing was getting tiring even for me, but I couldn’t help myself.
Hopefully, tonight would make things clearer to me. I’d go in there, and they would have answers for me.
Taking a deep breath, I exited, but I didn’t bother locking the car door. No one would touch it. They wouldn’t dare. Here I was king. It was just at home that I didn’t demand the same level of respect.
Walking through the club proper, I pushed my way into the much quieter back room, a cloud of cigar smoke enveloping me as all eyes turned toward me.
“Matteo,” someone called out, and I lifted my hand in a silent greeting before taking my seat at the head of the table.
Seven pairs of eyes swiveled to meet mine. And the atmosphere in the room shifted from almost light-hearted to heavy.
I sighed. “Thanks for coming.” They were the only pleasantries they were going to get from me. “What do you have for me?”
“Where do you want us to start?” A chuckle rumbled through the table.
Another sigh. “Best start with the good stuff first.”
At least that way I could concentrate on that and not what was going on back home.
The man opposite me at the long table took a breath and then went off about something about our hold on the docks. There had been more than usual raids on our warehouses, and it was starting to affect profits.
I barely heard them. This definitely wasn’t good news.
“But we have friends in government. Well, you are about to. It’s been expressed that if you bring up your wedding to Francesca, her father would be more than happy to clean this mess up for you.”
My head snapped up. “My wedding—” Shaking the shock out of my voice, I told myself to calm down. I had known this was going to happen. I’d even agreed to the match, and it wasn’t like Franny wasn’t the ideal bride for me.
Contractual marriages had been going on in our world from thebeginning. Matches weren’t meant to be about love. They were about power and alliances.
I knew this. So why did my thoughts instantly go back to Sophia and her damn doe eyes and wobbly chin?
“Unless you have changed your mind.”
“I haven’t,” I snapped. “Arrange a meeting and…”
“We just thought because of Sophia coming back into your life that plans might have changed.”
My head swiveled around to glare at the man who had spoken. “What do you mean by that?”
There was more anger in my voice than I meant to show.
“Nothing boss.” He held out his hands like he was about to ward off a blow, and it was only then that I realized that my hands had clenched into fists on the table top. I forced myself to release the tension.
Taking out my anger here wouldn’t do any good.
“Tell me.”
“It’s just,” another said, “look.” He sucked in a breath, almost like he was gathering his courage around him. “Most of us have been with you for a long time. Since the beginning. We know how distraught you were when Sophia disappeared.”
