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“I know. And I’m sorry about last night. I don’t think I ever actually said those words to you. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Cocking a brow, he looks at me as if he doesn’t believe that last bit. “Oh, you had no idea I’d be upset about you stripping?”
I roll my eyes. “Okay, fine. So I knew if you caught me that you’d be upset, but I was pissed at you, so I didn’t really care about that at that moment. I just wanted to help find my mom and it felt like you were keeping me from doing that.” My voice gets soft because I did just want to help find my mom. “It felt unfair.”
Matteo’s face softens as if he finally understands where I’m coming from. It’s crazy how quickly it’s changed from this being his world and me just living in it, to what it is now. I’m not an expert, but this feels like a real relationship. A real marriage. Talking through things. Understanding one another. Yes, we had a hiccup with the strip club last night, but that also led to the most amazing sex of my entire life. And I want to sayhe felt the same way. It’s like we’ve had a breakthrough in thisbusiness transaction.
Brushing a strand of hair behind my ear, he says, “It wasn’t my intention to make you feel that way. I was trying to protect you. Being around those men is unsafe, and I won’t risk anything when it comes to you.”
“I know, and now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I realize it was an impulsive move.” I chuckle to myself. “I mean I didn’t even get any information out of those Silvestri guys. My plan was . . . not very well thought out.”
“It definitely was not. But fortunately for you, mine was.”
My eyes light up. “Did you find my mom? Do they have her? Where is she?” My questions come out in rapid fire. Not a beat separating them.
“Woah, woah, woah. Hold on. No, I have not found her yet, but I’m almost certain Silvestri didn’t take her.”
My brows crinkle. “What does that mean? If they don’t have her, then who does? What did Mauricio say?”
“The stripper was doing her thing and Mauricio was drunk. She got him talking about what he does and asked him if he ever kidnaps people. Pretending like it was some turn-on for her. He confirmed that he does, but he hasn’t done so in a while. I signaled to her to keep going and when she asked if he’s ever had to kidnap a woman before, he had a look of confusion on his face and asked her what woman he would need to kidnap.”
“Oh . . . okay. And you believe him?”
Nodding slowly, he says, “I do. But it’s not adding up.” He stares off in space over my head. “Nothing about this is adding up.”
I let out a long sigh. “So now what?” I ask, feeling helpless. I don’t know what to do, and I’m losing faith that we’ll ever find her. And that’s killing me.
“Hey,” he says, pulling my attention back to him. “I’m going to call your father and see if he has any leads, okay? I’m going to work with him on finding her. I have to go into the city, but Enzo and Isabella are on their way here from the penthouse. Enzo needs to come with me, but there’s plenty of security here already. I figured you and Isabella can hang out, even though I’m beginning to think you’re a bad influence on each other.”
That tugs a small laugh out of me, which I think was his intention. Reaching up, I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and bring him down to me, placing a light peck on his lips. “Thank you, Teo. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Not until we have you and your mother reunited, whichwillhappen.” Teo’s optimistic attitude is the only thing holding me together. The only thing keeping me grounded and from losing my mind. He’ll never understand how much that means to me.
With a small nod, I trace my fingers along his chest tattoos, then notice small writing right above his heart. It’s almost as if the tattoo artist had to find it a home among the other intricate ink. The words sayMotherandFatherin beautiful calligraphy and are stacked on top of each other with a date from three years ago separating the two.
I’ve been so worried about my mom that I haven’t talked to Teo about his parents.What the hell is wrong with me?It’s something I’ve been wondering about ever since he dropped that information at Angelo’s house the other night.
He must see the question written all over my face because he says, “Go ahead. Ask me.”
I bring my gaze up to meet his as I struggle to ask. “Y-your parents. What happened to them?” I whisper, nervous to hear his answer.
Teo swallows deeply before responding. “They were killed by Giuseppe Silvestri.” His words slice through me as I let out a gasp.
“He asked my father to partner with him, so he could have access to his port. Silvestri was already using your father’s port, but having access to more ports gives him more income and power.”
Teo swallows deeply once more, and his eyes go sullen. “When my father denied him access, Silvestri decided to make an example by having them both killed. He had some guys dump their bodies about a half a mile outside our security gates.”
Teo’s jaw clenches repeatedly as he struggles with reliving the nightmare of his parents’ murders. Cupping his cheek, I brush my thumb along his jawline, and he relaxes.
“I’m so sorry, Teo. You don’t have to tell me any more.”
“No, I want to. I need to get this out.” He clears his throat as I bring my hand back down to his chest. “Enzo and I were the ones that found them. We were on our way back to the house. Those bastards left my parents lying on the ground with bullet holes right in the center of their heads and a note that said,This is what happens when I’m denied what I want.I knew immediately it was from Silvestri because the cocky son of a bitch had his family crest on the note. He wanted me to know, so that I wouldn’t make the same mistake my father did.”
The unshed tears stinging my eyes threaten to spill over at the pain in Teo’s voice.
His eyes darken and his expression hardens. “So the reason I want to control your father’s port is because I want to dismantle Silvestri’s main source of income. I want to take it all away from him until the Silvestri name means nothing anymore. And then when that happens, I’m going to fucking kill him. I want him to go down knowing there will be nothingleft of his name. Nothing of his family. His legacy will be void at that point.”
His menacing tone should scare me, but it doesn’t. Knowing he’ll kill someone should scare me, but it doesn’t.
