Page 51 of Suit

“What are you doing here?” I ask her as we sit on the couch in the pole room. No one else is in here, and she asked if she could speak to me alone. They should have turned her away at the gate. Whoever let her in is going to get a mouthful from me.

She glances up at the poles and the podiums. “This wasn’t here before.”

“You haven’t been here in years because you cheated on me,” I remind her. “We haven’t been anything for a long time, and we aren’t anything now.”

The last time I let her in, she betrayed me.

And now Elena has been paying for Jade’s sins.

I’d clung to my freedom, not wanting to be vulnerable with a woman again.

But Elena is the perfect woman for me. I never should have pushed her away.

“It was a mistake.” She sighs, running her hand through her dark brown hair.

“Why are you here?” I ask through clenched teeth. I always wondered how I’d feel when I saw her again, but I don’t feel anything. She’s nothing to me.

“I heard you got married and⁠—”

I laugh without humor. “You heard I moved on, got married, and thought you would come here and fuck things up for me?”

“I just wanted to check in on you and see how you are,” she lies. She knows why she is here, and it’s because she’s a jealous, manipulative bitch.

I flash my ring-covered hand. “I’m happy. And, Jade, please don’t come back here again.”

She grabs my wrist as I move to stand up. “We committed to each other too young. Now we’ve both had our fun. We can make this work.”

“You are fooling yourself if you think that’s true. I’ve found an honest, genuine woman who loves the club. She’s everything I didn’t know I wanted or needed. You think I’m going to throw that away for you?”

“Matteo—”

“Now, are you going to see yourself out, or should I ask one of my brothers to handle it?”

She stands, lifting her chin. “You’re making a mistake.”

“No, I’m not.”

As we step outside the pole room, I call to Angel, who is standing at the bar, his eyes on the pole room with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks angry.

I lift my chin at Romeo and point to Jade. He nods and follows behind her.

“Where’s Elena?” I ask Angel.

“She went to her room.”

I nod and rush upstairs, knocking on her door. “Elena?”

No reply.

She might be in the shower. “Princess, I’ve got church, then we can talk about everything.”

I have a lot to say and explain to her.

But first, I have to make a claim at the table.

When all the brothers are present, I speak up, saying something I’ve wanted to for a while now. “I’m claiming Elena as my old lady.”

There’s a beat of silence, and then a lot of cheers. “About fucking time,” Angel states.