Chapter One Hundred and Four
Matteo allowed the feelings he’d been suppressing since her stunt with Michele rise to the surface: the anger, the frustration, the fear. “I brought you to an event in which I have one hundred percent control. Look around you, Gen. I am the only one in this room with a gun and up until this evening, I’ve never had to wield it. I own every security guard, every waiter, every trash boy. I know the guest list because I fucking made it. Marco is watching through every camera. Forty of my men are scouting the perimeter while snipers are on every rooftop within firing distance.” Gen took a step back. He took one forward. “Every deal that is made, every bid that is cast, every suggestion of an alliance goes through me. The only danger to you in this room is getting a bad oyster.”
Gen had been slowly retreating during his speech until they were now up against the table area. She only stopped when she backed into a chair. Her eyes left his for a moment while she tried to regain her balance before they returned.
“You are safe here, with me,” Matteo continued. “What you did?” He laughed through his nose. He gripped her upper arm and pulled her away from the chair to press her against his body which was coiled tight from the anger he’d buried deep. “You went to have a private meeting with the second most powerful Don in the city. A Don who currently has it in his mind that he can take me out. Guess what’s the best way to do that, Weakness? You were surrounded by two dozen of his men, late at night, without a tracker, the only protection being Frankie and all without me knowing,” he growled, his grip on her tightened reflexively. “Look around. Go on.” Gen did as he said and gave a disinterested glance around the room. “This life is filled with a lot of glamor but beneath that shit it’s more filthy and dangerous than I’ll ever let you know. You walked right into a trap: a trap that would have ended with your death if I hadn’t gotten off that plane six hours before I was meant to.” His other hand wrapped around her free arm in a desperate way to make her understand. “You had a fucking gun pressed to the back of your head, Genevieve, and the worst part is that you don’t seem to care.”
“Beatrice was in trouble,” Gen argued, though her voice had lost that edge of anger from earlier.
“Someone is always in trouble, Weakness. That’s what this life is about. There are risks that sometimes overwhelm the reward.” He drug his lip through his teeth and widened his stance. “You are my reward and if I have to tie you to my bed to keep you safe, I’ll fucking do it. If you want to walk around this city and not be shadowed by me every step of the way, you’ll never do something so unbelievably stupid again. I have every faith you can handle yourself in this setting… but up against a man who will do anything for power when the only weapon at your disposal can be overtaken by four men?” Matteo shook his head. “When you become my wife, you will be worth five hundred of my men. They know it, every criminal leader in the country will know it. Michele knew I was out of town when he called the meeting. He knew Frankie wouldn’t let one of his own die. He knew you would follow whatever my second-in-command asked of you. You got so unbelievably lucky, Gen. You got a miracle rather than a bullet.” He lowered his eyes so they were level with each other. “We only get one of those. Do you fucking hear me? Have you learned your fucking lesson or do I need to resort to a different method to drive the point home?”
“I’m still fucking mad at you about all of this,” she said, gesturing around angrily.
Matteo released his hold on her arms and crossed his over his chest. “Fine. I’m still pretty pissed myself. Probably will be until you apologize and thank me for saving your fucking life.”
Gen’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t be serious.”
Matteo shrugged. “Bea thanked me.”
Gen’s mouth dropped to the floor. “Excuse me? I did the right thing!”
“I never said you didn’t. I said it was stupid and you shouldn’t have done it. I never said it was the wrong thing to do.”
“You’re maddening.”
“Right back at you.”
Gen literally stomped her foot making his eyes widen and a smile pull at his lips. “Fine. I’m sorry,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’m sorry I thought I could save someone’s life. I’m sorry I didn’t just sit back and wait and hope she didn’t die. I’m sorry I listened to Frankie. I’m sorry I didn’t want the same thing that happened to me, to happen to her. Happy?”
“Almost,” he said, his smile growing. He raised one hand and motioned for her to keep going.
Gen huffed, tightened her arms around her chest and looked away. “Thanks for saving my life.”
“Again. Thank you for saving my life again.”
“You fucking…”
Matteo kissed her. Her answering kiss was savage as she bit his lips and flicked her tongue against his teeth. He groaned at her assault and bent her over backwards to delve as far as he could. He pulled back but kept her bent over as she fought for breath.
“I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark,” he whispered. “Maybe it wasn’t the best decision.” Her narrowed eyes were an argumentative confirmation in and of itself. “I’ll never keep anything from you again.”
Matteo straightened, bringing her up with him. A few men standing nearby whistled and clapped while the women on their arms blushed crimson.
“Nice show, Accardi, can we sit down at our table now?” Francesco Esposito requested with a wave at the table they’d been squabbling in front of.
Gen buried her head in Matteo’s chest in embarrassment.
“Scusa Francesco, ti stai divertendo la serata?” Matteo asked.
Francesco’s dark eyes roamed Gen’s bare back earning a look of warning from Matteo. “Non ci aspettavamo intrattenimento. Finora è stato il momento clou della serata. La ragazza è in vendita?” Francesco asked.
“Oh, God,” Gen whispered into his chest. Matteo glanced down at her with a raised brow. Did she understand what he’d said?
“No, lei è mia. Buonasera signore e signori,” Matteo said before sweeping Genevieve away from the crowd.
“You should have just spanked me,” Gen whispered almost to herself.
Matteo laughed. “The point of punishment is to make you think twice before repeating what got you in trouble in the first place. Not make you want to do it again. Speaking of…” Matteo stopped near the stage and turned to face her. She raised a brow. “We have one last phase of your punishment to discuss.”
Gen rolled her eyes. “No. I’ve learned my lesson, Matteo. There’s no need for…”
“I disagree. I have a big need for…” He didn’t finish, he didn’t have to. Her cheeks flamed as she glanced around.
“Here?”
Matteo lowered his head to whisper in her ear. “Your final punishment. You have ten seconds. When those ten seconds are over, I’ll take you where you stand. In front of these people or in a dark corner, it doesn’t matter to me. Ten seconds. Starting now.”
Gen stared up at him as he started counting in his head. She took a step toward him to avoid a twirling couple and placed her hand against his chest. Did she think he was bluffing? He wasn’t. To show her that, he leaned down and barely brushed his lips against hers. On the dance floor, couples spun and laughed, barely sparing them a glance… for now. He reached down to her left thigh and smoothed his hand over the exposed skin there. He could feel her heart rate climb as his hand moved up to where the slit stopped, but he didn’t. Her breathing was shallow and fast as she made eye contact. Her silver blue eyes were heavy with desire, fresh off their fight. Did she really not care if it was right here in front of everyone? He swallowed. Did he?
“Five seconds, Weakness.”
Her eyes widened as if broken from a trance. Her hand dropped and grabbed his wrist. She started hauling him across the room. Matteo kept his pace slow while a grin of triumph pulled at his cheeks. He noticed where she was going, right where he wanted her to: the bathrooms. She pushed against the handicap doors and the family restroom but they were all locked.
“Two seconds,” he whispered behind her, being very generous with how long these seconds lasted.
She huffed and pulled him into the women’s bathroom. The moment her feet passed the threshold, he lifted her up. His mouth latched around hers and captured her moan of surprise. His hands squeezed her ass as he carried her across the marble floor and deposited her on the sink. Her frantic hands went to his belt. His mouth left hers and trailed a mixture of open-mouthed kisses and love bites along her neck and shoulder. He felt her remove his gun and set it on the counter beside them. The moment his pants were undone, he pulled her flush against the edge of the sink, moved her panties to the side and entered her with a grunt of satisfaction.
Gen’s arms wrapped around his neck while she threw her head back. Matteo took the invitation and sucked on the skin of her chest and exposed throat. He placed one hand against the mirror as he started to rock into her. Her moans echoed along the walls of the empty bathroom in a way he wished he could record. Fuck it. He pulled his phone from his pocket, set it on the counter and started a video.
“Matteo,” she moaned, breathless as he thrust into her.
His teeth skimmed her throat and latched onto her ear. “Tell me you won’t do anything so reckless again,” he whispered.
“I won’t,” she breathed.
“Tell me you’ve learned your lesson.”
“Matteo…” she whined. His thrusts slowed. Her nails dug into his shoulders in protest. “I learned my lesson.”
He started his earlier pace and she moaned her approval. Her legs wrapped around his waist, keeping his hips pinned to hers and preventing him from pulling too far out.
“Fuck, Weakness, tell me you love me,” he whispered.
“Matteo, I love you,” she said as her entire body quivered.
“I fucking love you too,” he said before kissing her again.
For a moment he got lost in the feel of being inside her. Her moans drowned out the world, her perfume clogged his nostrils, the warmth of her skin seeped through his clothing. There was only her. Then the door opened. A gaggle of women shrieked in the doorway. Gen cried out and buried herself in his chest again.
Matteo laughed and held her head against his chest. “Pardon…us… ladies,” he said, more out of breath than he’d care to admit. “Miss Sinclair and I are… a bit… preoccupied. Mind closing… the door?”
The women stared at him as if they were stunned into paralysis.
“Oh my God, get out!” Gen yelled though her voice was muffled by the fabric of his tux.
All at once the women seemed to scatter. They tripped over themselves as they rushed from the room. He heard one of them yell they really needed to use the bathroom to which another told her to squat on a nearby plant. Gen eventually pulled her head from the protection of his body and tentatively looked at the door. Then her eyes swiveled to his and sparked anger.
“I wasn’t talking to them, you know,” she grumbled.
Matteo laughed again. “No one is coming back through that door any time soon. Everyone out there will know what we’ve been up to within five minutes and no one will question whether you’re for sale or not for the rest of the night.” Matteo slowly rotated his hips making her eyes flutter closed.
“You planned that, didn’t you?” she asked, opening her eyes to reveal her accusatory glare.
“Perfectly,” he confirmed with a grin. “Now, back to the matter at hand...”