Page 31 of Vicious Temptation

“No…Zara, I do not. He’s just…He’s a friend.”

I know she’s saying it for the girl, but hearing her call me a friend lands differently. Less than an hour ago, I was the stranger she still wasn’t sure she trusted.

Now, apparently, I’m something else.

The man at the door finally speaks, scoffing under his breath. “How about a formal introduction to this friend of yours with the interesting taste in clothing?”

I already don’t like this prick.

“Thiago, this is Matteo, and this curious little one is Zara. Family.”

“Hi, Remi’s friend who she kisses at work.”

“Zara!”

“I saw you!” she squeals, puckering her lips and making exaggerated kissing noises. “He is your boyfriend, isn’t he?”

Remi laughs as she scoops her up and carries her toward the counter like luggage, Zara giggling the entire way.

I start to follow them, expecting Matteo to do the same, but he steps into the doorway instead, planting himself directly in my path. I don’t recognize him from the files. Remi says he’s family, but if he isn’t directly tied to a Cain in the system or The Six, there’d be no reason for Helios to have him on its radar.

That doesn’t mean I dismiss him.

I meet the steel in his eyes. “Something wrong?”

“I don’t know, friend. You tell me.” His gaze drags over me from head to toe. “Never seen you before. Doesn’t look like you’re from around here either.”

“I’m not.”

He nods once, like that confirms everything. “How do you know Remi?”

I hold his stare, refusing to give him an inch. “That depends. How much of an answer are you looking for?”

His mouth sets into a hard line. “Enough to know whether you’re a problem.”

“That’s funny. I was thinking the same thing about you.”

His expression darkens, confirming what I already suspected. The tailored clothes and expensive shoes might make him look polished, but I’ve spent enough time around dangerous men to recognize when there’s more underneath. Matteo is young, but there’s nothing inexperienced about the way he holds himself. He watches me without shifting his weight or breaking eye contact, completely at ease with the tension building between us.

Then his attention cuts toward Remi again. And that ugly feeling in my gut makes another appearance.

Whatever their relationship is, they’re close. And I realize, I don’t fucking like it.

“Then let’s make this simple. You hurt her…” he trails off, but he doesn’t need to finish.

I tilt my head slightly, meeting him without backing down. “If I had any intention of hurting her, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. And Remi strikes me as the kind of woman who can hold her own.”

“Damn right.”

I slide my hands into my pockets as a chuckle slips free. Neither of us says another word until Zara’s laughter carries in from the other room, completely at odds with the tension between us.

Matteo watches me for another second, then steps aside just enough to let me pass.

“Nice shirt,” he says as I walk by.

I huff out a laugh but keep moving.

Remi’s eyes find mine as I approach. Zara sits on the counter beside her, legs swinging as she works on a red lollipop.