Page 31 of Ink

Ihad barely caught my breath from our lovemaking when Matteo’s phone rang. “Shit, gotta take this.”

I pulled the sheet over my breasts after he twisted around to grab his phone from the bedside table. “Ink.”

I only caught a few low words from the other end of the call, and then Matteo hissed, “Shit.”

He listened for another moment. “Thanks,cugino. At least this solves one of my woman’s problems.”

I perked up at that, scrambling to my knees while I waited for Matteo to finish his call. After he said his goodbyes, I asked, “What did you find out?”

“The reason your uncle stole from you…tried to hurt you.” He scraped his palms over his face with a deep sigh. “It’s because he’s got a gambling problem.”

“Oh.” I didn’t understand why he seemed so bothered by the news when it certainly wasn’t any worse than what we’d already learned about Uncle Alec. “Is it really bad?”

“Depends on how you look at it,” he grumbled, shaking his head. “You know how I told you that my family is Mafia?”

I giggled and nodded. “Um, yeah. Those orgasms you gave me didn’t completely wipe out all of my brain cells, and it’s not something I’m likely to forget.”

“They’re the ones he owes the money to.”

“Ahh, I get it now.” I shuffled closer and wrapped my arms around him. “Nothing my uncle did is your fault. Or your family’s. It’s all on him.”

“I’m lucky you’re so damn sweet.” He brushed a kiss against my temple.

I tipped my head back to smile at him. “And I’m lucky that you’re…you.”

He captured my mouth in a deep kiss that left me wanting more when he finally ripped his mouth from mine. “You have no idea how much I want to spread you out on this mattress and take you again.”

“Do I get a vote?” I wagged my brows. “Because I like the sound of that.”

“Sorry,dolcezza.I hate to leave you when you’ve just learned that your bastard of an uncle owes money to my family, and that’s why he’s pulled all of this shit.” He stroked his thumb against my cheekbone. “But I need to take care of something urgent. If it could wait…”

“Then you wouldn’t go,” I finished for him with a soft smile. “I know that.”

“Like I said, you’re too damn sweet.”

I winked at him. “You can make it up to me later.”

Lying back on the mattress, I curled against Matteo’s pillow while I watched him get ready. It was a show I would’ve gladly paid for, even more so when he was taking his clothes off instead of putting them back on his gorgeous, tattooed body.

When he was done, he gave me another kiss before he walked out of the room.

He left his extra leather vest for me, like he’d done every day since we met. I tugged it over my outfit with a smile before heading downstairs to see who was around.

It was impossible to feel lonely around here because there was always someone to hang out with. Not that Matteo had left my side often.

Another thing I loved about staying at the clubhouse was that nobody minded if I used the big kitchen. And there always seemed to be someone there who enthusiastically volunteered to eat whatever I made.

Today, I found a trio of pregnant women at one of the tables when I walked into the kitchen. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think there was something in the water around here.”

“In the water?” Violet asked, her brows drawing together.

Thea pointed at her still flat belly. “Yeah, to get knocked up.”

Courtney snorted. “If Ink is anything like his club brothers, he doesn’t need water to make that happen.”

My cheeks filled with heat as I hurried over to the pantry to peek inside.

“I’m going to take that as a yes…Ink is very much like the rest of the guys around here after they’ve claimed us,” Violet teased.