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“And you haven’t been able to carry out your plan because of me,” I whisper, staring at the tattoo he got for his parents. He was so adamant about taking over Angelo’s port when he married me, but my own problems have overshadowed avenging his parents’ deaths.
Placing a finger under my chin, Teo lifts my face so I’m staring deep into his eyes. “Don’t do that. Your mother is the priority right now. Nothing will change what happened to my parents, but I can help you not have the same fate with your mother. My revenge will come, but for now it can wait until she’s back, safe and sound.”
A tear runs down my cheek, but Teo swipes it with his thumb before bringing his mouth down to mine and giving me a long, sweet kiss. I don’t know how we ended up the way we are this quickly, but I know with Teo by my side, my mom and I will be reunited.
36
MATTEO
After showering and getting ready to go into the city, I head out to the kitchen where Lux, Isabella, and Enzo are sitting around the island eating breakfast. “Have you given it to her yet?” I ask Enzo, who I caught in the middle of taking a bite of a blueberry scone.
He pulls the pastry from his mouth and furrows his brows. The crumbs hanging off the corner of his mouth really complete the expression. “Have I given who, what?”
“The phone, Enzo. Have you given Lux her phone back yet?”
Lux whips her head toward Enzo. “You have my phone?” she asks before stealing a glance at me. “I’m finally getting my phone back?” She hops off her stool and rounds the island, stopping in front of Enzo with her hand held out. “Can I see it, please? Maybe my mom messaged me. I need to check.”
Enzo glances between Lux and me. Giving him a nod, he pulls the little black phone out from his pocket and hands it to her.
“We’ve made sure to keep it on and charged the entire timewe’ve had it. I didn’t want you missing anything important,” I say.
“And did I miss anything important?” Lux asks, her face deep in her phone as she goes through it.
“No. Although your boss called and left you a voicemail, asking when you’d be back. Said something about how you should’ve been back by now. I texted her letting her know you quit.” She didn’t like that Lux left her hanging, but I don’t give a fuck.
“Okay,” Lux says as she continues scanning her phone. Once she’s determined she missed nothing important, she glances up at me with a defeated look on her face. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I even tried pinging her last location again and it doesn’t even register anything anymore.”
“I’m so sorry, Lux. My brothers will find her, though. I know they will. And I’ll do anything I can do to help, too,” Isabella says as she rubs Lux’s back.
A tidal wave of emotions overtakes me for a few seconds at the sight of my sister comforting my wife. I want to be the one to comfort her. The only one.
Holy fuck. I’m jealous of my own damn sister.
I love that my sister and wife get along, and it’s irrational for me to want to be the only one who gets to comfort Lux, but I can’t help the way I feel. That’s how I’m wired. What’s mine is mine. I’m not going to act on it, but I can sure as hell silently seethe about it.
The disappointment is clear on Lux’s face as her eyes gloss over, but before she sheds a tear, she forces them away and puts on her brave face that fools everyone but me.I have to do something about this.
“Enzo, let’s go,” I call out. I need to have a little conversation with Mancini. We’ve wasted too much time. We need to find her mother.
37
LUXTYN
After Teo gives me a sweet kiss goodbye, he and Enzo head for the city, leaving Izzy and me here with Rocco, who seems to have made himself scarce.
“I’m so sorry about last night,” Izzy says as we continue with our pastries and coffee at the kitchen island. “I find myself saying that to you a lot. Especially in the last twenty-four hours.”
“That idea was as much mine as it was yours,” I say. I don’t want her to feel bad. Yes, she had the idea to go to the strip club, but I went along with it, so I’m just as responsible. “Did Eddie end up getting in trouble for letting us sneak out?”
Izzy purses her lips and lets out a long whistle. “Oh yeah. Luckily for him he was just demoted, though. I still can’t believe after all of the times I’ve snuck away from my guards, last night was the night I got caught. Granted, I’ve never snuck out to a place where my brothers would be.”
“Demoted is lucky?” I ask.
“For sure. The Teo I know would’ve shot him point blank in the head.” She tilts her head as she considers that statement. “Actually, since you and I were involved, he probably would’ve tortured him first, and then killed him. Draw out the process just to prove a point.”
My eyes widen at the visual in my head of my husband murdering someone because of me. “Um, so why doesn’t he now?”
“Oh, girl, because of you, duh. My brother’s usually wound up a lot more. Not much keeps him from losing it, but with you,” she says with a point of her finger. “With you he seems to have calmed down a little bit. He hasn’t been so quick to snap. He’sslightlymore rational. No woman has ever had that effect on him. It’s actually impressive.”
