What the fuck?
“Are you serious?” I ask.
“Serious as can be. You’re my daughter, too, you know.”
My jaw tightens, and without saying another word, I turn around and walk back to the door.
“The offer is on the table, just so you know. I’m willing to pay for all of her expenses … as long as you do what I ask of you.”
What he’s asking of me is to throw myself into a marriage with a man he deems acceptable. This isn’t a proposal. It’s blackmail, and my heart is being pawned off tosave my mother. But if it’s the only way I can save her, I have to try. She means more to me than my freedom.
Present
I swallow after telling him my story, and I avert my gaze in order to deal with the squeezing palpitations snaking around my heart. “When my father told me to marry someone before he would help my mother, it felt like it was all a big joke to him, but there was nothing else I could do, no one else I could turn to. One of my friends knew Lucio, and she connected me with him. We dated for a while, and it didn’t end up in anything except arguments, but I did borrow money from him to help pay for my mother’s medical expenses.”
I glance at Matteo. “I couldn’t lose my mother. You have to understand.”
Matteo gulps, visibly shaken by my story.
“I had a lousy job as a cashier, so I could never pay him back. Lucio knew too, yet he gave me the money anyway. I thought it was from the good of his heart, but he had ill intentions, and I should’ve realized sooner. Apparently, one of his guys had talked to my mother and found out that my father was rich.”
I squeeze the blanket beneath my fingers. “He was extorting me. And when I told him I couldn’t pay it back, he threatened to kill me. The only way to survive was for me totell him that my father would give him all the money he wanted as long as I found a husband. And Lucio inserted himself like the perfect boyfriend, forcing me to marry him so he could get his hands on my father’s wealth. And then you showed up …”
I bite my lip. “He won’t stop. He’ll never stop until he has me because he wants his money back, and then some.”
The panic begins to take hold of my body again as I shiver violently. Matteo grabs me and pulls me closer to him, squeezing me so tightly I can barely breathe.
“I’m sorry, Tesoro. If only I had known. If only I’d found you sooner. I would have helped you, no questions asked.”
More tears run down my cheeks, and the panic slowly begins to subside. Somehow, someway, Matteo always manages to calm me down. It’s as if being near him grounds me and makes me feel safe.
“You have to believe me, I say. “He willneverstop.”
“I know, Tesoro. I just …” He sighs.
Suddenly, the door bursts open without even so much as a knock, and I scramble to grab the blanket and wrap it around my body before anyone sees me naked, while Matteo simply pulls up his underwear and sweatpants.
Franco barges in and stares at us for a good two seconds. “I’m so sorry, sir.”
“Goddammit, ever heard of knocking, Franco?” Matteo grumbles.
“I had to be quick. Lucio and his men are right outsidethe house.”
Matteo jolts up from the bed, and we both scream at thesame time. “What?”
MATTEO
“Oh God,he’s here, as in right now?” Stella asks, the panic lacing her voice.
I throw the blanket off me, ignoring Franco’s judgmental glares as I swiftly put on a shirt and some shoes. I know I told him I would never fuck her, but here we are. It’s done, and I don’t regret it for a single second. And now that bastard Lucio came to ruin the party.
“How did he find us?” I growl.
“I don’t know,” Franco says. “One of our men noticed a car coming up the driveway and then multiple, all without license plates, and the colors and brand correspond to the ones in Lucio’s possession.”
“Fuck,” I growl.
While Franco isn’t looking, Stella swiftly puts on a pair of panties and one of my bathrobes.
