Could I live with that?
I wasn’t sure.
Maybe it was in our nature to bring misery and death to everyone around us. Maybe that was why it was best for us to stay among ourselves. Hadn’t Aria said something along those lines a long time ago?
Aria. I’d finally see her again. That was the good news I was clinging to right now. She’d get me through this. She always did.
Matteo’s grip on my wrist was painful. His eyes held a clear message, now that he’d caught me, he would never let me get away again.
* * *
Everything seemed to happen behind a fog. I was pushed into the back of a car and Matteo slipped into the back seat beside me then we drove off with squealing tires. I watched the place I’d called home for the last two months disappear. I pressed my forehead against the cold window. I hardly dared to blink. Every time I closed my eyes, crimson flashed behind my eyelids. Sid was dead because of me.
I could hear Matteo talking to someone on the phone in the background but I couldn’t focus. Everything was over. He’d take me back to my father now, and I had no doubt that I couldn’t expect any kind of mercy. I had betrayed not only the Outfit but also New York, had made my father and Matteo lose face. I would be punished. I glanced at Matteo who was glaring at the back of the front seat. I quickly fastened my bra again and put it back in place. Of course Matteo noticed.
I could tell he was furious. I wondered what kind of punishment he had in mind for me. I’d been on the run for six months. He couldn’t possibly want me for any other reason than revenge. I knew the rules. I wasn’t worthy of marriage anymore. Matteo probably already had a new fiancée and once he’d dealt with me, he’d move on with his life. If he’d wanted to kill me, he would have done so already. That didn’t mean Father wouldn’t do it the moment I set foot on Chicago ground.
We pulled up in front of an airport hotel, and Matteo turned to me, his eyes holding a clear warning. “We’ll spend the next few hours until our flight here. If you try to ask anyone for help, this will end in a bloodbath, understood?”
I nodded. Then Matteo pulled me out of the car with him and led me inside. Nobody paid us any attention as we headed toward the elevators and rode up to the fourth floor.
Matteo led me through the long hallway until we arrived in front of a simple white door.
Stan and the other Outfit man stopped too. “She should come into our room with Carmine and me. She’s still part of the Outfit,” Stan said, his eyes sliding over my body. I knew what he and the other guy would do to me if I came into a room with them.
“She’s mine. I won’t let her out of my eyes again. Now fuck off. Gianna and I have matters to discuss,” Matteo growled. He slid the keycard into the slot and opened the door.
Stan and Carmine exchanged a look but didn’t protest. Then Stan sent me a cruel smile. “Teach her some manners.”
Matteo dragged me into the room, kicked the door shut and fixed me with a terrifying expression. “Oh, I will.”
CHAPTER NINE
Gianna
Matteo flung me onto the bed. Then he was on top of me. He pressed my arms into the mattress above my head, his knees beside my thighs. His eyes were almost black with fury. Did he want me to beg for mercy? Ask him for forgiveness? Then he had a long wait coming.
“You let someone have what’s mine,” he growled, his eyes scorching my body with their possessiveness. He leaned down as if he was going to kiss me. Our noses almost brushed but he only scowled. “Your father gave me his permission to do with you as I please. He doesn’t care if you live or die. He doesn’t care what I do to you. I think he’d even approve of me punishing you harshly.”
I wasn’t surprised. Father had already barely tolerated me before I’d brought shame to our family by running away. Now he probably hated me like the devil. I almost wanted Matteo to hurt me. I deserved it for getting Sid killed. I knew Matteo would have no trouble hurting me. I’d seen what he was capable of. Maybe physical pain would finally drown out the anguish I felt deep inside.
Matteo
Gianna didn’t say a fucking thing as if she couldn’t care less what I did to her.
I tightened my hold on her wrists to see if she would finally show some of that fire I was used to from her, but despite a small wince she didn’t react.
I hated what she’d done to her hair. It was light brown, no longer the fiery red I loved. At least, she hadn’t cut it off.
My eyes were drawn to the sliver of naked stomach that peeked out where her shirt had ridden up. The thought that someone else had touched her there, had touched her everywhere made me want to tear everything down.
She was supposed to be mine. Mine alone.
For a moment, the fury was so blinding I wanted to hurt her, wanted to show her that she belonged to me, wanted to fuck her so hard
