Page 160 of Vicious Intentions
Unfortunately for me, Matteo doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave this morning. My breath hitches instinctively when he reaches for me, his fingers sliding into my hair. I should pull away. I should tell him to stop. But I don’t. Not when something so small makes my heart stumble so violently.
“This short hair is growing on me,” he murmurs.
“Don’t get used to it,” I shoot back. “I’m thinking of shaving it all off.”
His lips curve again, a soft sparkle back in his eyes.”Then I’m sure I’ll learn to love that too.”
My pulse races loudly in my ears, as neither of us speaks, content to simply stare into each other’s eyes. Matteo’s my sworn enemy, but sometimes, the enemy looks at me as if I were his salvation. After another long, pregnant pause, he leans in,pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. My eyes betray me, closing on instinct as I savor the fleeting warmth of his lips on my skin.
“I’ll be home late tonight,” he says.
“Why?” The question slips out before I can stop it.
“Do you really want to know?” he asks, surprised.
“Shouldn’t a wife know where her husband spends his time? Especially on a Saturday night?”
His gaze sharpens, as if offended by my insinuation. Still, his honest reply takes me aback.
“We’ve learned that Outfit soldiers slipped into New York last night. We lost track of them, but I’m certain they’ve already made contact with your brother and sister.”
Marcello. Stella.
They’re still here.
They’re still in New York.
Hope surges through me, and it’s impossible to hide.
“You’re smiling,” he says sullenly, his gaze fixed on my lips.
“Shouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t think you fully understand what I just explained to you. The implications of having your father’s men sneak into my city are not to be taken lightly.”
“I know exactly what it means. It means Marcello and Stella are that much closer to rescuing me.”
“Is that how you feel? That you need rescuing? From me?”
My throat tightens at how his dark eyes have lost their light, but I push through it.
“I just want to go home.”
Though he looks hurt to hear me say such things, I don’t take it back. He inhales slowly, misery passing over his face, then stands and walks out without another word.
I push myself off the bed and lean back against the headboard. I should enjoy making Matteo suffer, but instead, all I feel is guilt for causing him pain. He’s the one who kidnappedme, and yet I’m the one who feels guilty every time I hurt his feelings.
Ugh.
I really need to get out of here sooner rather than later. Matteo is slowly chipping away at my resolve, and I don’t like it. Not one bit. Not when he is so cavalier about inflicting all kinds of misery on me and everyone I love.
Three days ago, someone left a newspaper on my nightstand. Inside was an article tearing my family apart for the whole world to see. Everyone now knows that my mother isn’t just married to my father, but is also in a relationship with my other two dads. That all four of them have been in a polyamorous relationship for over twenty-five years. And because of it, children my father Vincent once claimed as his own were never his to begin with.
Learning that Dominic is my biological father didn’t change anything for me. It never could. I love all three of them the same. They’re all my dads, whether by blood or not. And like my mother and siblings, I have loved them equally.
However, the world doesn’t see it that way. To them, this scandal changes everything. What was once an implacable family, the pride of all Chicago, is now a joke. If even a passing stranger on the street thinks this way, I can only imagine the hardship my family must be facing when it comes to the Outfit.
My parents have loved each other since they were kids and managed to keep it a secret for decades. Their exposure now feels far too convenient, coming just as the Outfit prepares to go to war with theCosa Nostra.
