Page 10 of Mafia’s Final Play

“No, you haven’t let me out of the house since you brought me home from the hospital. I don’t believe you’re taking me somewhere on a trip now.” She sat down on the couch carefully, afraid that any wrong move would, she wasn’t sure, break the spell? Maybe it might make him laugh loudly and call her stupid like the bullies used to do when she was in school and they’d pretend to be her friend long enough to pull some practical joke on her.

Her heart would shrivel up into a dried-out walnut if he did that to her. It had been hard enough to put up with his guard-enforced imprisonment, but to think that now when she’d learned to trust him, to love him, he’d make her the butt of his joke?

She didn’t think that was possible. She thought he loved her, but this was a really terrible joke. She looked away from him, out of the glass wall to the light-blue sky that made her feel calm. She took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. “This isn’t funny, Matteo, and I really don’t appreciate it.”

“What?” He stood over her, his hand in his hair before he bent down to kneel in front of her. “Baby, I’m going to take you away from here for a little while. I don’t know how long, but you might even be able to take walks there. Get some fresh air. Anton’s getting everything sorted and if he can manage it, we’re catching a flight today. So, please, go pack some clothes.”

He chuckled quietly before he leaned in to kiss her. “I wouldn’t be that cruel to you, Marie, never, not in a million years. You mean too much to me.”

“Do I?” She felt her heart thud back to life as blood surged through it like a startled bunny rabbit, and tried to catch her breath when he nodded. “You’re really taking me out of here?”

That wasn’t what she wanted to ask though. She wanted to ask him more about what she really meant to him, wanted to ask him if he cared about her, but knew that it wasn’t the time for that. She was almost free of this place.

“Yes, Marie. Now come on, let’s get packed. I don’t know how much time we have before Anton will be here. He’s going with us.” That last part was called out over his shoulder as he walked back to their bedroom.

“I don’t care if you bring along the entire New York Jets football team, Matteo, we’re leaving here.” She stood up after him and raced past him to the bedroom. She almost knocked him over she was in such a rush. “Let’s get packing.”

She had three bags when she got finished, which was far more clothes than she’d had a year ago at the same time. She also had shoes, cosmetics, toiletries, jewelry, and other things that she didn’t have before. Matteo had given her all of that, but he’d given her far more, which was why she hadn’t called the police and demanded her freedom.

He’d given her love, a reason to live, even if they were both too broken to talk it out, to say it out loud. She’d had enough sessions with her counselor to know that she had trust issues and that she needed more counseling. But she’d also had enough of Matteo’s affection, the care he showed to her, to know that even keeping her locked away was a sign of how much he cared about her.

He hadn’t said much about his aunt, but Trina had explained quite a lot about the woman that had raised Matteo. She could imagine the life he’d lived. It wasn’t any easier for him to show love than it was for her.

“You ready?” he called out as he came out of the shower, a towel knotted low on his hips.

“I am. But, um, that’s pretty tempting.” She waved at the towel knotted loosely around his hips. “Are you sure we don’t have time?”

“I don’t know, I told Anton not to contact me on any devices. We might.” He backed her up against the bed until she couldn’t back up anymore and went down.

Matteo moved in between her knees as she wrapped her arms around his waist and stuck her finger into the edge of the towel to pull it apart. The soft black cloth fell to the floor with a quiet sound, but she didn’t hear it. She was too busy pressing soft kisses to his lower abdomen and inhaling his scent.

Unfortunately, that was the moment the guard knocked at the door.

“Fuck, Anton’s here.” Matteo slowly pulled away his eyes sealed to Marie’s with heat tempered by regret. “Later, we’ll finish this later.”

“Oh, we will, baby.” Marie grinned and got up to rearrange her clothes. “I’ll let him in. You get dressed.”

“Thanks.”

She walked down to open the door and let the large man into the apartment. “Want a drink?”

“No, thanks, Marie.” He shuffled in the doorway, his eyes down on the floor. “Is Matteo home?”

“Yeah, he’ll be out in a minute. I hear we’re going on an adventure?”

“That we are. You all packed?” His only movement was to shove his hands in his pockets.

Marie grinned when she realized he wasn’t the asshole she’d taken him for the few times she’d met him in the past. She’d thought he was gruff to the point of rudeness, but it finally dawned on her that the man was painfully shy around her. She smothered a laugh of delight and stepped back a few more feet.

“Yeah, we’re all packed up and ready to go. I can’t wait to leave these walls behind and get some fresh air. Where are we going? He told me to pack warm clothes, and it’s still warm in most places.” She leaned against the wall, nonchalant and careful to try to put the man at ease.

He actually shuffled his foot on the carpet before he looked up quickly, then right back down. “I guess you are ready for some fresh air. About where we’re going. It’s a place up in Montana. Up in the mountains. It can be pretty cold at night up there, but not so bad during the day. Um…”

He’d stopped to take a deep breath and Marie figured he was trying to think of something to say. Matteo saved him from having to talk to Marie by coming out of the bedroom with several pieces of their luggage. “Hi, Anton, what do you know?”

“Flight’s in two hours, private plane, paid for with cash. I’ve rented a car, so we’ll have transport once we get there.”

“Good, good.”