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“Mom, Teo’s not like that.”
“But. . .” she continues, holding up her finger. I keep my mouth shut, not realizing she wasn’t done speaking. “I knowyou’re an adult, so I’m not going to tell you what to do. I just want to be here for you. So tell me what I’ve missed out on.”
I spend the next fifteen minutes catching my mom up on everything that’s happened. The contract, the marriage, how Teo and I started off hating each other, and how it somehow turned into something else.
“Do you love him?” she asks.
The question lingers in the air between us for a few moments as I try to figure out how to answer it. Glancing down, I fidget with the hem of my pajama bottoms before returning my gaze up to my mom who gives me a knowing look. Regardless of what she thinks, I answer her the best way I know how. “We haven’t known each other for long, and I know it’s going to sound nuts, but I do. I really do.”
Brushing my hair back behind my ear, my mom cups my cheek, focusing on me. “Sometimes it doesn’t take long for us to develop deep feelings for another person, sweetie. Especially when we’re put into dire situations that force us together.”
“You don’t think I sound crazy?”
She pulls back from me and laughs. “Oh, no. You definitely sound crazy. But I’m here to support you in any way you need me to.”
“Okay, Mom.” I chuckle as I roll my eyes and change the subject. “Are you hungry? Maybe we should go get some food to eat.”
“I could go for some coffee,” she says, and we climb off the bed.
“Oh, these people have french presses and grind their own coffee beans here. Just wait until you try it. The coffee is far stronger than the stuff we’re used to. You’ll think you’ve been drinking dirty water your entire life.”
“I do remember the coffee being better when I lived in thecity,” she laughs out as she follows me through the already open bedroom door and down the hallway to the kitchen.
It’s not long after I make each of us a cup of coffee that Teo comes strolling into the kitchen, dressed in a dark-blue suit and a white button-up that’s top buttons are undone, showcasing that beautiful olive skin like he always does. Only he can make a different version of the same outfit look better and better every day.
He halts in his step as he rakes his eyes over me in my new silk pajama set I got when we went shopping the other day.
“Teo,” I breathe out, realizing just how much I missed him last night. How I hated not waking up in his warm arms. It’s insane to think I’ve developed these feelings for him so quickly, but I can’t deny it.
My mom must notice the shift in the room because she hops off the stool at the island and picks up her coffee cup. “I think I’m going to make myself disappear for a little bit. You know how I’ve always enjoyed my morning coffee outside.”
“Mom,” I scold, snapping my attention to hers. “It’s way too soon for a disappearance joke.”
“Oh, sweetie, I promise I didn’t mean anything by that. I didn’t even realize.” She holds up her hand to her chest as if she’s flabbergasted herself.
“Keep making jokes like that and you’ll get along great with Enzo,” I mutter before pointing down the hallway. “If you go down that hall, you’ll run straight into the living room. You can access the back deck from there.”
Once my mom leaves the kitchen, Teo walks toward me, and I feel like there’s a barrier between us. Like there’s an elephant in the room that I’m not privy to.
He leans his back against the counter as I spin on the stool to face him, and folds his arms across his broad chest, tightening his suit jacket around his shoulders. “I guess we should talk, huh?”
51
MATTEO
Ihated not sleeping next to Lux last night, but I knew she needed to be with her mother, so I respected her wishes. That’s not to say I didn’t sneak into the spare bedroom during the night to check on her. It might’ve been the worst decision I could’ve possibly made, as all I wanted to do after seeing her lying there was take her back into our room, wrap my arms around her, hold her tight, and never let go.
Leaving their bedroom door open was the only thing that kept me sane, but when I went to check on them this morning, I could hear them talking.
He’s in the Mafia, Lux.
I don’t want to see you go down a dangerous path like I did.
Char’s words seared through me like a heated knife lit by the flames of hell. I didn’t stay a second longer, wanting to give Lux and her mother some privacy, but also needing time to cool off. Someone coming between us, especially someone so important to Lux, was pushing me to the point of insanity.
As I rest my back against the counter, I turn my head tolook at Lux, anddamn. She’s still absolutely stunning, even with the cuts that fucker Fausto left on the side of her face. When she explained to Doc how she got her injuries last night, all I could see was red and I nearly had to leave to go find someone or something to take my anger out on. The only thing that grounded me was Lux’s hand on my thigh and the look she gave me that told me she needed me there for support.
“I missed you last night,” she says with a smile as she slides off the stool and wraps her arms around me.
