At the back of my mind, I realize I’m acting wantonly with a stranger, but I can’t seem to stop. It doesn’t help matters when he cups my butt and guides me to rock over his erection. The way he nibbles at my neck, his breathing hot and heavy, only seems to fan the flames.
And then his mouth is back on mine, hot and wet. I whimper when he tangles his tongue with mine. I feel my body tighten with every touch, every kiss, and every moan that sparks between us until it’s all too much.
My core clenches hard, and I sob as I find release, my body pulsating with the need for more. A shudder rolls through me, and he holds me close through it, whispering things into my ear that my brain can barely process.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Matilde,” he rasps, slicking his hands up and down my thighs. “I need to be inside of you. Tell me I can.”
“Yes,” I whisper, reaching for his shirt—
Something crackles between us. We both freeze.
His hand moves to the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt, and a voice sounds through the static, “Capo, we need you at the main entrance.”
Capo.
I look at Luca, expecting him to ignore the walkie-talkie so we can carry on with our little rendezvous, but to my ultimate horror, I watch him unclip it and answer. What he says next doesn’t register in my brain. I watch his mouth move and words come out, his head nodding before the communication ends.
“Sorry, I need to—Matilde?”
I knew he was part of this world. Security for the Rossis—of course, he's connected. But security is one thing.Capois something else entirely.Caporegime. A man who doesn't just guard—heenforces. He kills.
I always knew my father was involved with the mafia. He called them “business partners,” but I wasn’t stupid. I saw the guns and all those meetings he held in his office. All those hush-hush phone calls he took in the middle of the night. The paranoid look in his eyes during the last days of his life. I saw it all.
Four years ago, I hid in a closet, hand over mouth, as I watched a man violently steal my parents from me. I heard the man tell my father that he was being punished for crossing his partners. With tears rolling down my cheeks, I witnessed whatno fourteen-year-old should, and I swore that day—and many after—to never get close to men like that.
And this man…
“I need to go,” I whisper, tears clogging my throat. Christ, I can’t even look at him. If I do, I’ll wonder and ask questions I don’t want answered..
Those hands that touched me—how many people have they hurt? That mouth that felt so glorious against mine—how many lives has it ordered to be ended? This man who makes my heart race… Christ, I let acapotouch me.
“Matilde—”
“Don’t touch me,” I snap, avoiding his hand when he reaches for me. “Please don’t touch me!”
His stunned face is the last thing I see before I stumble away. I don’t realize I’m running until I make it to the reception hall and run into a pair of familiar arms.
“Tilly?”
I lift my eyes and meet my sister’s, feeling my chest clench with pain.
“Hey, what happened? What’s wrong?”
I open my mouth to say something, but only a sob slips out. Arianna seems to notice that we’re drawing attention because she wraps an arm around my shoulder and whisks me outside.
“Home,” I choke out. “Please take me home.”
“What the hell happened?”
“He’s one of them, Ari,” I choke out as more tears fall. “Not just security. He’s thecapo. He’s a killer—just like the man who took Mom and Dan from us.”
“Who? Who are you talking about?”
"Luca," I whisper, lifting my teary eyes to meet my twin’s. "He's the first man I've ever felt attracted to and he's… he’s exactly the kind of man I swore I’d never let myself fall for."
“Oh, Tilly.”
Arianna's arms come around me, and she pulls me into a hug, letting me cry on her shoulder. Unlike me, Arianna doesn't carry this fear. She didn't see what men like that—like Luca—are capable of.
