Page 58 of Bellini Born
It looked like we’d both walked away from that encounter a little worse for wear.
“Now that we’ve cleared that up,” Matteo began, “how about we circle back to the live cat ‘Santa’ brought Bianca?”
I blew out a heavy breath. “Yeah, sorry about that. She’s been having nightmares—“
“I know.” He hung his head. It was clear to see that his daughter’s emotional distress weighed heavily on him.
“While doing some research on how best to support her, I came across an article that promoted the benefits of having a cat as an emotional support animal. I thought it might be worth a try.”
Matteo stared at me for so long that I began to squirm.
“Look, if I’ve overstepped—“
He held up a hand, effectively cutting me off. Scooping up Serafina, he shuffled on his knees toward where I sat.
“Summer.” His voice broke as he whispered my name. “First, you literally save her life, and now this? I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you.”
“Well, you did kinda fork out a boatload of cash to pay off my debts,” I teased.
“It’s not enough. Hell, I could sign over my entire empire, and it wouldn’t be enough. I don’t know what I would have done if—if—“ His words trailed off as his chest heaved.
“Hey,” I said softly, letting him bury his face in my chest. “You don’t have to worry about any of that. She’s right here. She’s safe.”
Matteo lifted his head, giving me a view of his glassy eyes. “Because ofyou.”
There was no point in dwelling on the past, but it was understandable that he had residual trauma from the day I had to pull Bianca out of the pool, unconscious and not breathing. I’d be more worried if he remained completely unaffected.
I allowed myself the luxury of letting my fingers carve a path through his thick hair. “Matteo?”
His eyes slid closed, and he hummed. “Hmm?”
A corner of my lips twitched before I asked, “Do you need me to buy you an emotional support cat too?”
That sexy man’s head tipped back, and laughter spilled freely from his lips. Serafina stared up at her dad and began to giggle, clapping her tiny hands.
When his gaze dropped to meet mine, Matteo shook his head. “I think I can survive without the cat, just so long as I have my emotional support Summer nearby.”
I pursed my lips, sucking in a hissing breath. “Ooh. I hear those are awfully hard to come by.”
“Tell me about it,” he huffed out. “You wouldn’tbelievethe lengths I had to go to in order to secure one.”
Playfully rolling my eyes, I leaned in closer. “Right, because you’re not the type of man who always gets what he wants.”
A wolfish grin curved on his face. “Okay, maybe I am.”
“Maybe?” I arched an eyebrow.
“Definitely am,” he conceded, dropping his head to my breasts once more and wrapping his free arm around my waist to pull me closer. “Mmm. Yep, I feel so much better already.”
My eyes lifted to the ceiling, but I couldn’t contain my smile. The world might fear him, but here at home, he was simply a man who loved his daughters more than anything in this world and—for reasons I couldn’t understand—had set his sights on me.
“I said I was going to make dinner.”
Matteo fixed me with a glare when I began to ease off the stool at the kitchen island, and like I was hardwired to obey, I sat my ass back down. Some might call it overbearing that he’d outright demanded that I not lift a finger after last night’s extracurriculars, but secretly, I loved it. The mafia boss cared that much about little old me? What kind of reality was I living in?
Folding both arms over his broad chest, he retorted, “AndI saidI’ve got it handled.”
I rolled my eyes, eliciting a growl from the man standing opposite me.
