Page 118 of Matteo

I’m still reeling from shock about what he offered Cari, and why. Every sentence gives me whiplash. I’ll be here for him, listening, but I’m not so sure revisiting everything his father has done is helping. The hurt is still there, buried just beneath the surface, and every memory seems to rip it open all over again.

“You don't have to tell me all at once,” I say, not wanting to put him through what clearly is trauma, recalling such a troubled past.

“It helps. I hardly ever talk about it, but with you it seems natural. It’s like I’m letting it all out and it helps. You help.”

I sit up at that, then lean forward and press my lips against his for the longest time.

“Thank you,” he murmurs.

“For?”

“For being you.”

I lie on my side and gawk at him. “You said he fell out with Zach,” I prompt.

His jaw clenches, and I see a muscle tick. “Zach was the only one who really cared about him, but he offered Maya fifty thousand dollars to go away and to leave Zach alone.”

The scale of it is overwhelming. Every story seems tangled up with another betrayal, another secret, another person hurt by the same man.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Why does he break up relationships?”

“Because they don't fit what he expects.”

I try to process that. I won't fit. Me, working for Matteo. Me, a foster care child. Me, an ex-hacker.

I'm starting to see Paul Knight in a different light. He's always struck me as being cold, but I expected that, given his wealth and position. Yet, what he did to his family, to his wife, and to Matteo's mother, what he did to both sets of brothers is unforgivable.

“I know what you're thinking.” Matteo cups my face. “But you don’t need to worry about the old man. You fit, with me. I don’t care what he thinks, because you're ... you're the best part of my day, Elizabeth. The part I look forward to.”

His reassurance fills me with relief, and joy, but now that I have an idea about Matteo's childhood, and the family dynamics he's dealing with, I understand it all so clearly.

“So, you, Rio and Enzo are brothers, and so are Jett, Dex and Zach?”

He nods.

“But ... you all look ... like brothers.”

“Because we are.”

“No, I mean, you don’t look like half-brothers, and Rio and Dex ... they look so alike.”

“Weird, huh?”

“Fascinating.”

“All you need to know about my father is that he’s a selfish bastard.”

I reach out and take his hand, lacing my fingers through it. “You don’t have to carry everything on your own,” I tell him. “You can offload on me, and talk about anything that's on your mind.” I pause, then ask another question that’s been on my mind. “Why is your mom back in Italy now?”

“She went back once we were all old enough, to live here. She wanted to look after her parents because they were getting old. We’d go back often, to see Nonna and Nonno, but they passed away years ago, and Mama decided to stay there. She said we were old enough to look after ourselves. We talk every few days, and one of us goes every month or so, so it’s not like we’re distant or anything.”

A yawn interrupts him, and his eyes drift closed for a second before reopening. The tension that's been riding him all evening seems to have eased, his words becoming slower and softer.

I think about asking another question. There are still so many things I want to know about him, about his brothers, about the family that shaped him into who he is, but tonight he's given me more than enough.

I curl closer and rest my head against his chest. His arm tightens around me automatically, as though he can't help himself. I lie there, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, and thinking about everything he's told me.

Chapter 28