intention of sealing the deal with a kiss, but if this was the last person that my lips would ever touch, then I was going to take what I could when it was required.
I lifted my hand, placing my palm on his cheek. His muscles twitched at my touch, but I didn’t take notice of it. I simply lifted up a little higher on my tiptoes so that I could be level with him, and slowly connected our lips.
I was soft. Gentle. Not wanting to push my luck too much. But as I went to pull away, his arm banded around my waist and he held me to him. He deepened the kiss, swiping his tongue against my bottom lip, his control snapping as he took everything he wanted from me.
His growing erection pressed against me, spurring me on, so I tangled my tongue with his, hoping that what we had wouldn’t end here. There was no denying the chemistry between us, and I was sure he’d give into it now. We wore matching rings, had signed a legal document stating we were now lawful partners, what more had to happen to solidify us being together?
But as he pulled away, separating every piece of him that was touching me, his eyes were shuttered. He was closing down, but I couldn’t let him. Something good had to come out of this. Right?
The man who had pronounced us stepped forward, talking in hushed words with Mateo. I lifted my hand, pressing my fingers to my lips, committing the kiss to memory as I waited for Mateo to look back at me.
He didn’t though. He grasped my hand and walked me outside to the SUV. We said our goodbyes to Aida and Lorenzo then went home. I tried to speak to him several times, but he used Cardo and Chiara as a buffer. We spent hours talking to them about us getting married and explaining that I would be living here permanently.
I kept everything trapped inside, knowing that as soon as they were asleep, we’d be able to talk properly. We could figure out what we were going to be—if we were going to be anything. Maybe it would all be a front, a real marriage of convenience. A marriage that would serve a purpose but have no depth behind.
I slipped out of the dress as Mateo put the kids to bed, and hung it in the bathroom, ready for Mateo to take back to Aida tomorrow, then I lined my shoes up in the closet. I’d never wear them again, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t keep them. They were a gift, one that I would look at and instantly remember the day.
Footsteps creaked across the hallway, so I stepped outside the bathroom attached to our bedroom. For three nights we’d slept in the same bed, not touching, not doing anything but knowing what our fate to come was.
But now we’d made the final step.
Would he want to do more than seal it was a kiss? My breathing picked up as I saw him leaning against the bedroom door. His eyes were narrowed on me, his lips twisted up on one side. I stood frozen to the spot as he observed me. “I’m sleeping on the sofa,” he announced, pushing up off the door frame. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Wh—”
He spun around, not giving me the chance to say or do anything.
He walked away like I didn’t matter.
He turned his back on me.
He left me alone.
Alone.
It was how I’d always been. Something that I’d gotten used it.
So why did it feel so gut wrenching when he did it?
CHAPTER 13
MATEO
Romeo was sitting across from me, clicking the top of a pen off and on. Off and on. Off and on. It was driving me fuckin’ crazy, and I had a feeling he knew it was.
“So, what happens if someone asks point blank if we’re in the Mafia?” Rafael asked, his pen ready to write down notes.
I closed my eyes, rubbing at my temples, feeling a damn headache coming on. I felt like a third-grade teacher trying to make the kids understand basic math. “It depends who’s asking.”
“Of course you tell them,” Romeo grunted, completely disregarding what I’d said.
I snapped my eyes open, gritting my teeth. He smirked at me. Bastard. “No,” I told him, trying to keep my cool. I’d been locked in this room with Romeo, Rafael, and Mario for what felt like days, but in reality, was only a few