But I’m nothing like you, Matteo. I’m not classy, or gorgeous, I’m just me.” She let her hair fall over her face and stood up to leave the room.
“No, you are those things, Marie, and so much more.” He caught her hand and pulled her back to look at him. “You are perfect, and my wife. I couldn’t… I don’t want anyone else but you to be that person to me. Do you understand?”
Her heart knocked around in her chest. This was as close as they’d ever come to talking about emotions, even after all this time. His eyes, always so guarded, were open now, full of a plea that she’d never seen there before. He needed reassurance. She’d have never thought that possible. With a gulp of shock and a deep breath, she smiled down at him and squeezed his hand. “I think so. And I won’t let you down, Matteo. Not if I can help it. I promise that.”
“I know you won’t, Marie. Thank you.”
He let her hand go and she left him to head to the bathroom. Something had just happened that had been one of those moments that she wouldn’t forget. He’d admitted that he needed her, that he cared about her. That was earth-shattering and the smile on her face that wouldn’t go away proved it.
12
A few days later they were in the back of another limo, on the way to a Christmas party one of Matteo’s associates was hosting. Marie was nothing short of stunning in a tasteful but sensual red silk dress, hidden underneath a long leather coat. She wore black heels that made him think all kinds of naughty thoughts, especially with her leg crossed over her knee like that. He was transfixed and didn’t notice when his phone began to buzz in the pocket of his suit jacket.
“What?” he asked when he finally felt the vibration and accepted the call.
“We need you down here at the warehouse, boss. We got a problem.” The voice on the other end of the line was accented with that thick Bronx sound that he’d noticed made Marie cringe. She preferred the southern drawl, and he had to admit, he did since he’d met her.
“Be there in ten.” If Petey was calling him, it was for something big. Petey didn’t call him otherwise. Matteo instructed the driver of the new address to head to and patted Marie’s hand when she glanced over at him in question.
“Just some business, baby. Don’t worry.” He didn’t give her details, she didn’t need to know, even if he knew exactly what was going on. She was so gentle, naïve about so much, and he wanted to keep her that way if he could. She was an Alfonsi, though, he knew that. It had been playing on his mind since they’d come to New York, back to the home grounds of her father.
The car soon pulled into a warehouse that was dark and empty of anything except some old forging molds that couldn’t be moved. It was a front anyway, a place to store products when they needed to. The lights of the car illuminated a trio of men, with another man laid across two wooden boxes off to the side. Matteo tried to hide the man’s face from Marie’s view as he stepped out of the car but he wasn’t sure if he’d managed it or not.
“What’s this?” he asked as he looked down at the man.
“Johnny, boss. That little pissant operation that’s started up over on Maple Avenue caught him out on a run,” Petey, a big man with black hair, black eyes, and a flat nose said to Matteo as he came up to stand in front of Petey.
“Let me see him.” Matteo walked over to the man, checked him over, and nodded. “Call Doctor Smith, get him down here to check him over.”
Matteo doubted the man would make it as far as a hospital, but maybe the doctor would have something to ease his pain until the end came. He was coughing up blood and his spleen was the size of a watermelon. He wasn’t going to make it, Matteo didn’t need a medical degree to know that. Something would have to be done about this little upstart gang over on Maple, and it would have to be done quickly. They obviously had no idea who they’d messed with.
“Why did this happen, Petey?” he asked softly, his gaze on the blood that still oozed from the man’s