and I realized she must have been a babysitter. Did that mean Cardo and Chiara were here?
“What…” I was so confused. I still didn’t know where we were, and I was starting to lose my damn mind. I followed Mateo down the short hallway and glanced around the room he’d walked into. A modern kitchen, complete with all the appliances you could ever dream of. “Where are we?”
“My place,” Mateo said easily, pulling open the refrigerator. He grabbed a bottle of water and downed it in one then walked around the kitchen, messing with different things and setting up a coffee pot.
Had I disappeared into a new universe?
“I…don’t understand.”
Mateo huffed, leaning against the counter opposite me. “What don’t you understand, Luna?” He crossed his arms causing his shirt to tighten across his chest. He was sex personified, standing with his legs crossed at his ankles, his hair a stylish mess.
“I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Let me break it down for you.” He lifted his hand in front of him and extended a finger. “You stole from the Beretta Mafia—for what reason I still don’t know.” He stared at me pointedly then lifted a second finger. “Said Mafia boss was about to chop one of your hands off. That’s what he does when you take something that’s his.” I swallowed. Lorenzo had pulled his knife out and it had been so close to my arm when Mateo had told him to stop. “The only way to stop it was to claim you,” he told me, bringing up a third finger. “But here’s the thing.” He pushed off the counter, dropping his hands at his sides. “I couldn’t just say you were a friend, or a girlfriend.” He tsked. “Nope. That wouldn’t have been enough to keep the hand attached to your wrist.” I couldn’t look away as he sauntered toward me.
“But—”
“So, I said what I had to say. I told him you were my fiancée.” He rounded the counter that separated us. “And Lorenzo? He doesn’t take being lied to lightly.” I grasped onto the counter as he stopped a foot away from me, so close, but so far away. “Which means, what I said to him has to be the truth.”
“But what if…” I licked my lips, trying to formulate a plan. “What if we went back to him and said we decided not to get married after what happened?”
“No.” He placed his thumb and finger on my chin, staring into my eyes. “This isn’t just your ass on the line now, Luna. It’s mine too.” My shaky hand reached out, and I hooked my finger between the gap of two buttons on his shirt. “We go back on what we said? I’m out. And if I’m out, I can’t provide for the kids.” He stilled. “Now do you get it?”
“I…” My chest heaved, and I tried not to get distracted by his heady musk scent. “I get it.” I fisted his shirt, needing something to center me and the realization. We had no choice, not if we both wanted to survive.
“We get married,” he started, not moving closer to me. “The quicker the better. It’ll prove to Lorenzo that he can trust us.” He paused, the silence stretching between us.
I still had so many questions. So much I didn’t understand. Like… “You’re in the mafia?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Lorenzo helped me when no one else would. I was sixteen with a baby at home that my mom didn’t give a fuck about.” I hated the sad look in his eyes as he spoke. “I had no choice but to drop out of school. And Lorenzo was there to help me. He’s my family.”
I wished I had someone like that to help me. But then…I blinked. I did have someone like that. Mateo was that to me. He’d stepped in when no one else would, and he didn’t even know why.
“They owed someone money,” I whispered. He tilted his head to the side, but didn’t say anything as I tried to find the rest of the words. “For as long as I could remember, I’ve been cleaning up their messes.” I stared at the painting on the wall behind Mateo, too scared to look into his eyes as I opened up to him. I’d never told anyone what I was about to confess. I’d never trusted anyone like I did Mateo in that moment.
“They’d run up bills with the local dealer. Then they’d come knocking.” I snorted. “Of course,