Page 1 of Matteo

Chapter 1

MATTEO

The kitchen smells of seared steak and garlic butter. I’m starving, and all I want to do is eat.

We’re in Rio’s penthouse. Rio and Raquel wanted to have a celebratory dinner for Zach and Maya after their recent vacation. Celebratory, I guess, because of all the drama that happened before that.

Dex and Rio have the cooking covered. They’ve been trying to outdo one another while I stand around, watching. My contribution so far has been to throw together a quick salad.

Zach’s being helpful, constantly keeping the women's wine glasses topped up. The other guys, not me or Enzo, have been ribbing him when Maya’s not within earshot.

They look happy, and tanned, and can’t keep their hands off each other whenever they get the chance. They’ve recently returned from a week-long vacation in Puerto Rico. I shouldn't be staring at them, but I can't help it. I don’t know Zach too well, but he looks stupidly, giddily, happy. He’s always been the quieter one, like me and Enzo.

Rio's the only loudmouth in our set of brothers. Enzo and I prefer to drift into the background, though lately, as we've all been hanging out together more, we’re all getting to know one another. It feels like the family's growing. It's nice. Nice to feel a part of a bigger whole.

Jett paces around, ear to his cell phone. Enzo’s on his phone, too, sitting on a bar stool, quietly doing his thing. I'm leaning against a wall, on standby, watching.

Laughter ripples around the room. Rio has a huge open plan area with a big kitchen, so that the women, sitting on the couches over in the living room with glasses of wine in their hands, can easily see us guys getting the food ready.

Rio has a long table beside the kitchen, big enough to accommodate all of us, overlooking the pool. The old man, who never misses an opportunity to remind us where we stand in the pecking order, gave Jett and Rio the penthouses complete with rooftop pools and gardens.

Mama would love this. She always did worry about the other boys. Aurora’s boys, she calls them. It must be strange for her to refer to the wife she never knew existed by her first name.

It broke her when she discovered that the man she loved, the man she believed was loyal and faithful, the father of her three sons, already had a wife and family all the way in America. All those times he told her he was away “on business,” disappearing for months at a time, she finally understood why.

And why he never married her.

When she learned that his wife, the mother of the American Knights, had taken her own life because she couldn't cope with the old man's deception, Mama cried for days, as though she'd lost someone dear to her.

We were his dirty secret.

Jett, Dex, Zach and their mother were a family, until they discovered that their father was hiding so much. He had a mistress. I wince at the label but I suppose that’s how they must have seen Mama.

Mama loved the old man, and so did we, before any of us knew he was a cheat. Our relationship with him is complicated. I guess it is for all of us, including the American Knights, because we’ve discussed it more now that we’re hanging out together.

Each of us has problems with him.

For me, I keep my distance. He made me the head of tech at Knight Enterprises. I’m lucky and privileged to have landed this position at such a young age, but I’ve also worked hard to prove myself. The old man guides us, but there is no fatherly love, and not much respect.

We tolerate him, and the dinners he holds so frequently.

But I don’t respect him as a man.

I don’t see him as a father, and because of him and what he did to Mama, I guard my heart fiercely. I avoid emotional risk and I’m careful with romantic entanglements. I don’t want to be vulnerable or open up to someone who could hurt me, the way Mama was hurt.

I have fun, but nothing that lasts for too long.

But sometimes, watching these guys, it makes me wonder, and something stirs inside me when I see Jett look at Cari, hold her hand and stroke it gently. He’s such an alpha man, but he melts when he’s around her. Same way Rio does when he’s with Raquel, and Dex when he’s with Dani.

They seem different, lighter and happier now that they’re with their girlfriends. This time it seems more long-lasting. Stronger.

Same thing’s happened to Zach with Maya. She’s from his past and she suddenly came back into his life and now they look like they’ve been together forever.

Standing on the sidelines is beginning to feel a little isolating. It hasn’t bothered me much before, because I’ve always preferred to watch what’s going on rather than be the center of attraction, but now I’m starting to feel like the odd one out. Thankfully, Enzo’s still single.

I feel an urge to go and visit Mama. Get away from constantly being around these loved up boys. I miss her and I wish she'd move back here.

Our roots are here now, mine, Rio's and Enzo's, because this is where the business is. We were born and lived in Italy before we turned into teenagers. The old man moved us all here once the secret came out. He wanted us all here in the US, but he kept us apart from the other boys. Mama stayed until we were old enough and independent, then she returned to her beloved Italy. She went to take care of our aging grandparents, but they’ve now passed, and we all wish she’d come back here.