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“I’ve never had a mistress in my life, Mona.” He scoops me up into his arms, carrying me over to the bed.
“Then, what did you have?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” How could that be? I mean, he’s so damn handsome and powerful.
“Nothing,” he repeats. "My entire life, I have maintained a singular focus. To take over the Cattaneo empire. To accomplish that, I couldn't become like my father. I had to keep my finger on the pulse of everything going on around me.”
“Tell me.” I want so badly for him to open up to me. To show me that side of him that peeks out every now and then when it’s only him and me. A side, I want all to myself. I’m greedy for it.
And I won't stop until I have it.
13
MATTEO
“You want to know all my secrets, little rabbit?”
“Yes.” I can’t deny her. I've passed all that. I don’t even care anymore if her brother sent her to destroy me. So be it. They could try, but in the end, Mona is still going to be mine. She’s been in my bed, my home, for weeks. Now she has my child inside of her.
“Then, you’ll have to be my wife.” Her tongue comes out, wetting her bottom lip. “Say what you want, Mona.” I can tell when she is trying to hold back. “You don’t have to ever hold your tongue here.” Not that she often does, but I need her words.
“Is this because of the baby?”
“No,” I say without hesitation. I shift, taking her with me, so that she’s straddling me in bed. “I even told that doctor you were going to be my wife, so to treat you accordingly, before I knew about the baby.” A smile tugs at her lips.
"She wondered why I was so worried about you discovering that I was pregnant. She said you’d be happy.”
“Very.” I brush her hair away from her face. I can’t help but wonder if we had a little girl, would she have that same coloring?
“Do you really want to marry me?” I reach into my pocket—another task I tackled this morning when I got out of bed with Mona. If I hadn’t needed to take care of things that concerned her, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. “Matteo.”
She lets out a small gasp when I slide the ring onto her finger. The emerald reminded me of her eyes, surrounded by diamonds. When I saw it, I knew it was meant for her. Within the first few days of her being here, I had to order her clothing. I might have stumbled into looking at rings even as I denied what was happening between us. Deep down inside, I knew she was my forever. That there was no way on earth I was letting her go.
"Now can you tell me your secrets?” A playful expression takes over her face. This is how I want her. It reminds me of that first night with her. It had all been so easy. It was right.
“When my mother died, she took part of my father with her. He was never the same after.” It was difficult to watch him change over time. To see him become a shell of the man he once was.
“You loved him.”
“I did. I do.” One day, I’ll take her to meet him. “I sent him back to Italy. He was drowning himself in alcohol and strings of mistresses.” I couldn’t bear to see him that way anymore. Plus, I needed to salvage the empire he had built.
“Mistresses?” Her nose scrunches.
“It’s what he called them. He was faithful to my mother. He told me that in one of his drunken late-night confessions, when it was only the two of us. He’d go on about my mother all night. Then he’d talk about the guilt of the women he took to bed after she passed.”
“Then why did he do it?”
“He said the alcohol made it easier. That he’d turn off the lights and pretend.” I always noticed that the women bore a striking resemblance to my mother. Hell, he admitted once that he still said her name in bed. “A woman destroyed him.”
“Oh, Matteo.” She runs her hands up my chest to rest on my shoulders.
“I told myself I’d never let that happen. Growing up, I saw the lure of women to the men all around me. It was always their weakness. So I avoided it. I never gave in to the idea of having one for myself.” Her eyes widen.
“As in, ever?”
“Ever.” I confirm what she is thinking. I'm sure she finds it hard to believe. I found my release in other ways. Fighting was one way, and I see the same in Nikolai. “Then, there you were.” I sink my fingers into her hair. “I knew you were the one, but I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself yet. I was angry with myself for having the very weakness I swore I never would.” I lay it all out there for her because it’s the truth.
