Page 48 of The Mobster's Nanny

“How was the rest of the meeting?” I say finally, when my restless mind nudges me to speak, and Matteo shrugs.

“Nothing worthy of mentioning. We decided to look more into this Giovanni and figure out what the Escarras plan to do next.”

“I see,” I murmur, leaning on the counter and swirling the glass in my fingers while my own thoughts repeat the pattern, swirling in my head like leaves on the wind. Shit. If only I wasn’t so stupid, if only I didn’t waste time… “I’m sorry, Matteo, I’m—it’s all my fault.”

“What?” I hear a frown in his voice as he turns to face me. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what.” I huff with a note of self-reprimand and glance at him from the corner of my eyes, taking a sip of my wine. The sweet taste makes it easier for my feelings to pour out. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even have to worry about all this. The Escarras wouldn’t get so close to you, and Giovanni wouldn’t have a reason to declare war.”

“I’m pretty sure they’d find a reason anyway.” Matteo quirks an eyebrow, but he doesn’t get the point.

“But if I didn’t trust them so blindly, if I knew the truth…” I breathe out and shake my head, taking a big gulp of wine. “God, I wasted so much time! I could’ve gone against them, I could’ve at least tried to stop them instead of chasing you like their fucking dog.”

A wave of heated anger runs through my veins, and I have to put the glass down before I squeeze it too hard. No matter how many times I think about it, every time I get so overwhelmed with rage and desire to get back at Giovanni. He talked to me about revenge and justice, lied into my eyes, used me for months while hiding his true sins behind the fake nobility and willingness to help. What an asshole!

I put my elbow on the counter, covering my eyes with my palm to try and calm down the waves of rage inside of me, when I feel a touch on my shoulder and hear Matteo sigh.

“Don’t hold it against yourself. Let it go.” He squeezes my shoulder before sliding his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “If none of this happened, we wouldn’t have met each other, and I…god, I don’t even want to think about it.”

Matteo runs his thumb along the line of my cheek, and I feel my heart responding to the touch, the heat of anger shifting into one of longing and desire. I turn my head to look him in the eyes, and he smiles a little as if he’s glad just to see my face again.

“Everything else has brought us to this moment—and it makes it all worth it, Liss.” He lays a hand on my cheek and I instinctively lean into it, pushing myself into the warmth of his gentle touch. “So stop blaming yourself for what you had no control over. You didn’t know the truth—but now, you have it. And you have me. Isn’t it good enough?”

I chuckle, closing my eyes—ah, what a question—and whisper, “Of course it is. It’s better than anything I’ve ever had.”

And as I say it, I feel the words settle in my heart as well. I’ve made mistakes, I allowed anger and greed to guide me, I was fooled multiple times—but if that’s the price I had to pay for being here, in this house, with Romeo soundly sleeping in his bed and Matteo gently holding me, then I’d go down this path all over again.

“God, I love you so much,” Matteo whispers all of a sudden, and I feel the touch of his lips on the corner of my eye. It’s so soft, so delicate, that my heart immediately swells with affection, beating harder and faster—just for him.

I open my eyes to look into the warm depth of his dark gaze and raise my hand to cup his cheek. “I love you too.”

His eyes momentarily widen, deeper feelings pouring into his gaze, before a smile tugs at the corner of his lips. Matteo leans forward, pressing his forehead to mine, and runs both his hands down my cheeks, lingering on my neck with the tips of his fingers.

“Promise that you’ll stay,” he whispers into my lips, and I lick them, feeling warmth spreading from the inside.

“Tonight?”

“Forever.”

Oh. I swallow and pull back just enough to look him in the eyes, tracing his features with my gaze. He is so deep in my heart already. How could I ever say no?

“I promise,” I murmur with a smile, sliding my hands behind his head, entwining my arms around his neck to pull him closer. “This is my home now.”

And the bright smile that immediately lights up his eyes is all the response that I need.

Without another word, Matteo moves forward, catching my lips in a kiss, and I respond to it without a second thought, closing my eyes and leaning back against the counter. He doesn’t hold back, deepening the kiss right away, claiming my lips all over again, and it sends a jolt of pleasure through my body.

I moan softly into his lips and run my hands down his shoulders, squeezing his arms with a primal urge to feel his whole body. The strength of his muscles, the pure power of his body, turns me on like a can of gasoline, and when he interrupts the kiss to trace his lips down my neck, I push my head back and moan his name into the silence of the kitchen.

Matteo, Matteo, Matteo.

I can’t think about anything else when his hands slide under my shirt, his lips reach my collar, and I tremble from the desire to have myself spread and powerless against him. I bite my lip, blindly leaning on the counter as Matteo pulls my body closer and makes me arch, and in a moment of weakness my arm slides further down the counter…

The loud clinking of the wine glass startles us both, and we instinctively pull closer to each other before the source of the sound becomes clear. I can’t help but breathe out in relief when I see the puddle of red wine spread across the white marble of the counter, and both Matteo and I chuckle, watching the glass roll away from us before coming to a stop by the bottle.

“Damn, I thought someone decided to break into our house,” Matteo mutters, leaning closer and nuzzling the curve of my neck. “I was ready to grab the gun from under the table.”

“What?” I giggle, rubbing his back. “Do you have a gun here?”

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