Page 23 of Matteo

Matteo bit his lip and sighed.

“I mean it,” I snapped.

This man and his brothers were thick as thieves. I still hadn’t forgotten when my sister was kidnapped. They were dead set against me calling the police then too.

“I won’t say anything unless I can help it, okay?” He finally replied.

Rolling my eyes, I stared straight ahead. Pulling my purse closer to me, I remembered that I still had the vials of coke. I just wanted to do a small line the second I got into my apartment. I had no idea how I was going to tell my mother and father that I needed to stay with them.

“I can’t stay with my parents,” I took a deep breath and finally opened the purse, and getting my cell phone.

“What?”

Matteo’s eyes flickered towards me and away from the road, we careened towards a slick black Porshe. He slammed on the brakes, jolting my body forward. My instincts kicked in and I threw my hand out towards the dashboard as if reaching for stability. Relief flooded through my being when I realized we weren’t dead.

“I just realized I don’t want to be at my parent’s house,” I shrugged.

Scrolling through my contacts, I started to look for a few people I could stay with. My fingers hovered above a few names.

Allen.

James.

All exes that had wanted more from me than I couldn’t give at the time.

“Rain, you’re in some shit now. Until we figure out exactly what happened…” Matteo’s voice was heavy and full of concern.

Taking a breath, my eyes swung over to him. “We know what happened. Someone killed Cassie and all her bodyguards.”

“But we don’t know why, and we don’t know who it was.”

“Or what,” I added quietly.

“Huh?”

Realizing that I’d said that out loud, I clammed up. “Nothing.”

Matteo quirked a brow and we said nothing the rest of the way to my apartment. Matteo pulled directly next to my car that had been left sitting when Cassie had picked me up.

It was just supposed to be a night of partying, I thought.

Fumbling around inside the purse, I found my keys at the very bottom of the clutch. They felt heavy in my hands as I unlocked the door. I could feel Matteo’s presence behind me, so I stopped him before he crossed over the threshold.

“I’m a big girl,” my voice came out sounding huskier than it needed to.

He grinned. “I’m aware.”

Rolling my eyes. “I just meant your job stops here, Agent Zacchara. I don’t need protection. I’m not going to stop my life just because someone did something awful.”

He uttered a heavy sigh. “Rain, this is the death of your best friend, not some person on the street that you didn’t know.You’re honestly, probably still in shock. I would be if I witnessed something like that.”

“Yeah well, I’m fine.”

The black suede stiletto heels I was still wearing from last night echoed against the tile floor. I quickly turned away from him and his concerned stare. Heading up the stairs, I checked my apartment out the second I was at the top of the landing. My eyes frantically roamed over everything, trying to see if there was anything out of place.

The crystals were still lined up perfectly on my windowsill, shimmering in the sunlight. My mail was still sitting undisturbed by the small door. Nothing had been disturbed as far as I could see.

Matteo walked past me, scanning my living room as well. I knew he was probably good at taking in details and finally, his gaze returned to me. I dropped my clutch and keys on top of the mail.

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