Chapter 49

**Matteo**

I ran my hands through my hair, as I cursed under my breath. What the fuck had I done this time? When I saw the picture and recognized Mario Bruno, I just saw red in front of my eyes. I accused Lily of lying to me, and now she stormed out of the room.

“What the fuck was that?”, Luciano yelled at me. I bowed my head and shook it. I really didn’t need him to tell me that I fucked up.

“Just don’t, Luciano.”, I said defeated. He walked up to me and grabbed my collar. He started shaking me.

“No! You don’t get to give up! Go to her and beg her to forgive you! Now! She knows too much, asshole!”, he yelled in my face. He dragged me out of the office up to my bedroom. I was gearing up mentally to get her to stay, but somehow, she was gone already. Her stuff was gone. Luciano was on the phone to someone, no doubt it was Ennio.

“Fuck!”, I heard him shout out of frustration as he kicked the bed. “Ennio, Renzo, and Nino are out running errands. And security just saw her leave the premises in a cab.”, he spit at me. I slump to the floor, feeling sorry for myself despite me being the asshole.

“You better get her back on our side. Bruno would love to get his hands on her, and then we are screwed!”, Luciano was pissed, I could see his hands balled into fist by his sides. He was right. I got myself together and went down to the gym. I needed to punch something to get my act together.

“Luciano told me what happened.”, Ennio said, when he came by later. Of course, he would have told Ennio. Luciano knew very well that Ennio was the only one who could talk sense into me at any time.

I was punching the same bag for at least an hour now, sweating profusely. It just felt good to imagine myself in the bag and just tear into it for being such a dick to Lily. Ennio didn’t say anything, he just held out the towel, which I took from him reluctantly to wipe the sweat from my face.

“You know that bag will not help you in any way, right?”, Ennio grinned at his own lame attempt to joke. I forced a small, fake smile.

“Why did you accuse her?”, he asked seriously. I shrugged, walking to the fridge to get a bottle of water. “Did she really have this picture of Mario Bruno and her mother?”, he asked. I nodded.

“She did. She said it was in her mom’s stuff, and she had no idea who the man was. It’s just that with her telling us that Tommaso murdered Noah, and then this picture, I just struggled to believe that she really doesn’t know anything. I mean, it’s a lot of coincidences by now. Brunos wanting to use her, her mom doing the laundering for the Brunos, that picture, Noah, her mom embezzling the money… Who says she really doesn’t know anything?”, I said. Ennio nodded in understanding.

“But did you really have to accuse her like you did?”, Ennio asked me. I shrugged.

“What else could I have done?”, I asked. Ennio chuckled.

“I don’t know, maybe asked her in a friendly way?”, he answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I should have done that. I knew that now. Then again, I also didn’t really know how else to do it.

“You know you will need to suck up big time, right?”, Ennio stated, not really needing an answer. “Besides the fact that we need her, I know you want her in a different way. She’s changed you for the better, brother.”, he said, clapping me on my shoulder. I didn’t know how to answer.

“You allow her to talk back to you, to disagree. I see a kind, caring side of you that I haven’t seen ever. Don’t lose her over this.”, Ennio said softly.

“Just how do I get her to forgive me for this?”, I asked.

“Beg, suck up, apologize, and pray that it will be enough.”, he smirked. “Rather you than me!”, he shouted with a laugh as he walked out again, slapping me on the back as he did so. I guess it is time to lick my wounds, swallow my ego, and go crawling back to Lily.

I wasn’t completely stupid. When I had taken charge of the remodeling of Lily’s apartment after first trashing it, I had cameras and microphones installed. I know it’s disputable, but I need to be sure that she will be safe there. Lily had mentioned several times that she really wanted to go back, because she needed her own space. I figured that if she ever did, which I didn’t want to, I would want to be absolutely sure that the Brunos stayed away from her. I had even gone as far as promoting some of our warriors to bodyguards. Renzo, Luciano, and Nino were not going to be sufficient anymore in numbers, and besides she knew them. I assigned two new guys to watch her from a distance wherever she would go.

For these reasons, I knew where she was. Safely in her apartment, and alone. Therefore, it would be a good time for me to start begging, without any possible viewers. I sneaked up to her floor. I knew I shouldn’t have duplicated her keys, but I liked being able to enter whenever needed.

Suddenly, I was looking at her door. I felt nervous. I wasn’t too familiar with this feeling because I usually was focused, but never nervous. I know what the reaction of the others was going to be, normally. But today, with Lily, I had no idea. And now the palms of my hands felt slightly clammy, and I was feeling hotter than normal. And I felt sick to my stomach.

I rang the doorbell and waited for her to open. If she would open in the first place, that is. I heard footsteps on the other side approaching the door.

“Hi Emma!”, Lily said cheerily when she opened the door. Only to stop in her tracks the second she saw it was me standing there. Her facial expression went from happy to sour within a few seconds, and I never thought it would hurt to be the reason for that.

“Matteo.”, she hissed, moving to close the door again. Luckily for me, I had foreseen that, so I stopped the door from closing by placing my foot inside.

“Lily, please. I need to apologize to you for my behavior.”, I began begging her. Lily scrunched her nose like she smelled something disgusting.

“You’ve said enough, Matteo.”, Lily spewed out to me. Okay, so this was what it was going to be like.

“Please, let me apologize. I should never have done that, and I want to make it up to you.”, I pleaded.

“I don’t know whether there is something you could say now that could help your case, Matteo.”, she said. Fair enough.

“I do want to hear what he has to say.”, I heard behind me, so I turned around to see who was interrupting us. “Yeah, while we have pizza.”, the other woman said. I guess these were her best friends.

“Guys, I don’t want to hear him.”, Lily replied to them. One of them smirked.

“So, put earplugs in then. We’ll make him sweat during the interrogation, and then we’ll decide where we stand on this. Mafia boss or not, I’m sure we’ll get him to squirm”, she said, grinning way too widely for my liking.

“Fine.”, Lily said, and she stomped away from the door, leaving it open for the three of us to enter.

Norah and Emma, as they just introduced themselves, already made themselves comfortable on the couch together with Lily, eating their pizza, while I was standing in front of them very awkwardly. I waited for them to be ready to start because I guessed that it was only fair considering that I needed to apologize. After they were properly installed, pizza and wine were served, Norah started.

“So, mister mafia boss, what the fuck were you thinking?”, she asked rudely. I wasn’t used to being addressed like this, and I struggled to keep my calm, but I knew I had to. Everything depended on me keeping calm.

“I wasn’t thinking.”, I answered, trying to sound as sincerely as I could, “I acted on instinct.”

“Elaborate.”, Emma ordered. I inhaled sharply. Did I really want to spill my guts to these women? Did I have a choice? Did I want Lily to be in my life? I wasn’t used to admitting it, but I did want her in my life. I liked the past days when she stayed with me. I liked talking to her about nothing special. I liked being able to hug her. I liked her. More than liked, but I struggled to admit that to anyone else but myself at this point.