Page 188 of The Art of Ruin

“No, I can’t stay. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Did Adi send you?”

Matteo shakes his head. “God no. He would kick my ass if he knew I was here.”

“Oh.”

I cross my arms, unreasonably disappointed that Adi is giving me the space I asked for and knowing how ridiculous that is. “I’m fine.”

“Really? Because Adi is a mess. He’s barely eating, he won’t come into work, he isn’t sleeping, and he fucking misses you.”

“I miss him too.” I hate knowing the man I love is hurting.

“Then come home, where you belong.”

“He lied, Matteo.”

He pushes his hands into his coat pockets and nods. “He did. But he did it because he was trying to protect you. He never wanted to hurt you in any way. He was fighting for his family and sometimes we fight dirty when someone comes for us.”

“But I’m not family.” That hurts to say, but it’s true.

“Firstly, fuck that. You’re absolutely family. Secondly, he was fighting for ISM too. Jasper made false allegations about ISM to the FBI. He got a friend of his who’s a judge to sign off on a raid. He terrorized our staff and tried to ruin our reputation. He fucked with us first, and nobody fucks with us.”

I can feel the blood drain from my face as a wave of dizziness hits me.

“Oh shit, sit down.” Matteo guides me to a chair and helps me sit before he disappears and comes back with a glass of water. “Here, drink this.”

I take it and drink the cool water as I get control of my thoughts. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

Matteo cocks his head as he looks at me. “Let me ask you something? How do you feel now you know?”

“Awful. I let that man into your lives. He never would have come after you if it wasn’t for me.”

“Exactly. Adi never wanted you to feel that way. He loves you, Casey. You’ve been through enough and he never wanted to add to your burden.”

“Oh, God. I blamed him and he was trying to protect me.”

“Listen, I’m not saying he wasn’t a fucking moron because he was. He made mistakes, but they came from love, not manipulation. You make my brother happier than I’ve ever seen him, and you love my niece like she’s your own.”

A sob erupts, and Matteo hugs me gently as I cry, rubbing my back.

When I pull myself together, I know I have a lot of soul-searching to do. I thought I was the victim again, but that’s not true. “Thank you for telling me, Matteo.”

“Just think about what I said and, for fuck’s sake, don’t tell Adi I was here.”

“I won’t. I have some thinking to do, but maybe if he came over tomorrow, we could talk.”

Matteo winks. “You got it, gorgeous girl. I’ll work my magic.”

I close the door, leaning my head against it. Maybe our story isn’t over.

A day later, there’s a knock at Bri’s apartment door just after seven. I freeze immediately, my heart beating wildly. Because some stupid part of me already knows who it is. I’ve been on tenterhooks all day wondering if Matteo had done what he said.

Bri glances up from the couch. “You expecting someone?”

“Maybe.”

But my pulse is already racing.