Page 66 of Bellini Born
There was definitely something she was hiding, but her quick change in demeanor slammed the door shut on any chance of me prying the answers out of her tonight.
Holding up two fingers to the bartender, she placed our order. “Two vodka cranberries. Heavy on the vodka.”
The burly man behind the bar nodded. But when he turned around and grabbed a bottle of top-shelf vodka, I called out, “Well is just fine!”
Instead of abandoning the high-end liquor that I wasn’t willing to blow most of my monthly stipend on, he poured a generous amount of it into two glasses.
“Excuse me,” I tried in vain to get his attention.
Gabi’s hand landed on my arm. “Leave it.”
“I can’t,” I hissed. “Do you have any idea how much those drinks are gonna cost?”
A splash of cranberry juice was added to each glass before they were placed on the bar top in front of us.
“On the house,” the bartender grunted before leaving us to serve other patrons.
“On the house . . .” I repeated, staring at the drinks.
Gabi grabbed hers and drained the whole thing before coming up for air. “Ah, that’s the good stuff. A few more of those, and I might be able to forgive him for cockblocking me tonight.”
“Who?”
“Oh, come on, Summer. You might be naïve, but you’re not stupid. A man like Matteo can’t be seen to have his woman paying for drinks inhisclub. And he sure as shit can’t have her drinking anything less than the best he has to offer.” She visibly shuddered. “Well vodka.” A gagging noise followed those words.
“I’m not—”
She cut me off by holding up a hand. “You might not be sleeping with him—yet—but he’s claimed you as his, nonetheless. You forget I’ve spent my entire life watching how these men operate. They take what they want. And Matteo Bellini wants you. The minute you set foot inside his home, you were his. That’s why I tried so hard to talk you out of it.”
My mouth opened and closed a few times, but nothing came out.
Was that true? Had I sealed my fate the minute I accepted the nanny job? Or was it even before that, when I’d let my pride take over and had stormed up to those front gates and demanded an audience with Matteo to tell him I couldn’t accept his money?
Honestly, the timing didn’t matter anymore. Because now, he’d vocalized his claim. I knew exactly where he stood. And God help me, I wasn’t the least bit upset about it.
Did he do bad things? Yes, he’d admitted as much. But he was a good man at his core. I’d seen the proof of that.
I was beginning to believe that life could be lived in shades of gray, and that’s where Matteo thrived. Some might paint him as a monster, a killer, but they didn’t know him like I did. They didn’t witness the soft-spoken words of love to his daughters, the gentle press of his lips to their foreheads as he wished them sweet dreams. They weren’t on the receiving end of his gentle caresses after he let that rough side take over.
The rest of the world could keep their perception of him, believing the reputation he’d crafted to garner a mixture of fear and respect. Because I knew the truth of who he really was. And it felt almost like I was in on this big secret—one Matteo only shared with me because I was special to him.
“Can we put a pin in this and enjoy the night?” Gabi asked as she accepted another drink from the bartender.
“Please,” I breathed out, relieved. It was exhausting defending myself and my actions to my best friend. The one who’d been there for me through thick and thin these past four years since moving to Chicago, and I hated arguing with her.
She took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, a silent signal that even though she didn’t agree with how I was choosing to live my life right now, she would always have my back.
Together, we navigated our way through the crush of bodies on the dance floor. Taking a sip of my vodka cranberry, I winced against the burn as the liquor carved a path down my throat, but that discomfort was quickly forgotten when the buzz began to kick in. Soon, my hips were moving in time with the music, the vibrations from the bass settling between my thighs.
Head tossed back and eyes closed, I couldn’t stop a moan from escaping past my parted lips as I imagined Matteo’s hands on my body. His touch was gentle yet possessive in a way that left no doubt that I was his.
My teeth sank into my lower lip as I fought the urge to slip my hand between my legs to ease the ache. In a crowd like this, no one would notice or even care that I was getting myself off. They were all too busy grinding up against each other, their dancing serving as foreplay before they moved to a secondary location to seal the deal.
When I felt the warm press of lips against the side of my neck, my eyes sprang open, and reflex had my elbow swinging back to connect with the ribs of whatever asshole thought they could take liberties and touch me without consent. And not just touch me but kiss me. The fucking nerve!
There was a split second of satisfaction when I heard the grunt sounding from behind me. But it was quickly replaced with remorse on the heels of shock when an all-too-familiar voice rasped, “And here I was thinking you’d be happy to see me,dolcezza.”
My hand came up to cover my gasp as I spun around with wide eyes, coming face-to-face with Matteo. And damn if my knees weren’t in danger of buckling when I drank in how extremely fuckable he looked.
