“Matteo, stop.”
If he carried on, he was going to kill him. Rushing forward, I touched his shoulder, and he turned to me with a snarl that made me almost fall back.
“Sophia?”
“Stop now,” I said again. “That’s enough.”
“I’ll decide when it’s enough.” In the darkness, his eyes found my cheek and narrowed. Anger spiralled off of him, thick and almost wet.
Fisting Zane’s blue polo shirt, he lifted Zane’s prone body off the floor. “Did you do that to her face?”
Zane couldn’t answer, but he gargled something.
“You marked her. Fucking touched what wasn’t yours. You disrespected her?” Matteo's voice was getting lower and lower as he let himself be taken by the anger. “Touch her again, and I’ll kill you.”
He surged forward, using his head as a weapon. The sound of Zane’s nose breaking was loud in the silence.
“Now we are done.” Wiping the blood from his face, Matteo jumped up. “Get in the car, Sophia.”
I scurried away. My hair and makeup were ruined, and my dress was a muddy, tattered mess.
“Car. Now,” he said again, and I folded myself into it. Hugging myself, I bit my lip, chewing on it as he pulled away and onto the quiet street.
“Thanks for coming to get me.”
Matteo didn’t answer me. His eyes barely darted in my direction, but his hands tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
I let out a sigh. He was angry at me. I got that. I’d been stupid, but did he have to give me the silent treatment?
“How did you get to me so quickly?” I asked when several more seconds had passed in silence.
“I was in the area visiting a friend.”
I frowned. “I didn’t know you knew anyone around—oh.” I blushed. “You were on a date as well.”
He swerved to the right and killed the engine. “Was that what this was for you, Sophia? A date? What the hell were you thinking?” His eyes narrowed to my lips. “And stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Biting your lips.” Raggedly, he let out a breath. “He could have hurt you, Sophia.”
Without meaning to, I touched my cheek. “I’m okay.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed. Catching my wrist, he pulled my hand down. His fingers brushed over a rapidly forming bruise, and I winced.
“He could have hurt you worse,” he mumbled, “I can’t believe you would be that stupid. I mean, did you even know that guy?”
“Zane.”
He frowned. “What?”
“His name is Zane.”
“That’s a douchebag’s name. He’s lucky his name isn’t dead. I thought your brother—"
“My brother doesn’t know.” I looked away quickly.
He let out a shaky breath. “You what…” Tugging at his hair, he made it stand on end. “You snuck out? Do your parents…” He trailed off with a shake of his head. “Do you know how dangerous that is, Sophia? What did you do, meet the guy today, and then drive off with him without even—"
