DANTE’S POV
Every D’angelo born son had an element of madness in them, but Matteo? Matteo was a bastard in every meaning of the term. Illegitimate son to his father, never had the love of a mother, I mean none of us did but the only kind of love he ever received were from the strippers that clung to him at night. He was repulsed by anything that had to do with falling in love, so when he looked me dead in the eyes and said
“Gianna says hi, she misses you” I knew he was setting a bait but I wasn’t going to be stupid enough to step into it. I could see Helena had stopped at the mention of Gianna’s name and I never wanted that name to come up not while I was engaged to Helena I had broken her heart the first time thinking I could have a chance with the girl I fell in love with as a teenager but I had been delusional enough thinking I was part of Gianna’s plans. She had a big dream and I was just a small fraction of it.
After Helena was out of earshot, satisfied with the reaction he had gotten, Matteo rolled his suitcase further into the living room and collapsing on one of his sofas and running his hands through his hair while I put my pants back on
“So which one’s my room?” he sat cross legged, swiping on his phone before sparing me a brief glance.
“You’re not staying here”
He chuckled “Oh yes, I am and till I’m bored of Algreen Cove and decide to fly west maybe”
I looked at him “You can stay with Paulo”
“Paulo is married and besides he’s a bit of a bore too romantic, too righteous and not a single flare for adventure, but you on the other hand my dear cousin, I still have a chance to ruin whatever this is you got going on and come on, we used to have a lot of fun together”
Matteo was chasing a life that I was no longer interested in, the clubbing nights, partying like nothing else existed, the women, the money, crime and blood and everything that ran my dopamine high and spilling.
I walked to the mini bar at the corner and poured two glasses of whiskey, it was early in the morning and way too early to be rinsing my system with liquor, but I didn’t care. My entire body still buzzed with energy from last night and I knew deep down that the only way to expel that energy will be to fuck Helena one last time but if that wasn’t going to happen, I would let Matteo reel me into his world.
“Well, if you’re going to stay here you have to earn your place. I’m not going to have you around idle and causing a nuisance” I handed the other glass to him and watch him down in before I had the words out of my mouth
“Well do you have a list or something I’ll have them dead before dawn”
My mouth fell open, I was the ruthless one but sometimes Matteo could be off the charts. His soulless eyes stared back at me, a tint of hope and expectations brewing in them like he really wanted to pull out a list of men I wanted dead before sun down.
“I forgot what a menace you are but no!” I made sure my voice was hardened enough so Matteo could understand, but there was always a certain glossiness in his eyes that showed you he wasn’t listening to shit you were saying.
“No blood, no death and none of that shit from you in fact you’re not allowed to have a gun”
He rolled his eyes “Right ”
“You’re in charge of shipment and not the drugs” I had to add the last part because I could see the excitement light up in his eyes which slowly turned to a frown.
“I don’t know why you’re so hell bent on making me good person, I already accepted I was the devil and I used to look up to you but you’ve grown soft” he said the last words so casually one might have thought that he was just talking for the sake of it, but the words resonated with me.
You’ve grown soft?
I hadn’t grown soft, I just burned down a whole store because the owner touched a woman that was engaged to me, I was the king of Algreen Cove and I didn’t grow soft, I just didn’t want all the madness that Matteo harbored anywhere near Helena.
But Matteo was barely listening, he got up from his chair and placing the hood of his hoodie over his head and going through the collection of keys I had for my cars just at the corner of the living room and he picked one.
“Two years ago, I planned a car race with Luca you know Helena’s brother and I gotta ” –
I stopped him before he could go any further “Matteo, Luca is dead ”
I was going to say more but a slow and cruel smile crept up his lips as he held my gaze “Well, well my day just got fucking better because I was going to kill the bastard myself”
Then he threw the second car key he had picked at me “Well you’re up now, we can pick Paulo on the way and I’m not taking no for an answer”
Matteo and I pulled up to the house after the race, the engine’s growl dying down into a quiet hum. The night air was thick with the scent of gasoline and burnt rubber, and Matteo’s energy was still buzzing, his eyes wide and restless like he couldn’t come down from the adrenaline rush. He had that look about him-the one that said he wasn’t done with the night yet and I anticipated the next crazy thing he was going to suggest but to my surprise he said
“Let’s grab a drink, sit outside for a bit,” he suggested, his voice still edged with excitement. Without waiting for me to answer, he was already heading inside to grab the whiskey.
I followed him out to the patio, but my mind was elsewhere-on Helena. She hadn’t come home yet, and that gnawing feeling in my chest grew with every minute, but it was simple I missed her every waking second that I had been away from her. The images from last night still drifted in and out of my head distracting me from the car race and I had lost because of it so maybe Matteo was right, I had grown soft.
She’d texted earlier, said she was having lunch with her mom and sister at the club. That should’ve eased my mind, but it only made me more anxious to the extent that I had considered ditching Matteo at the race and driving down to the tennis club just to make sure she was safe and the likes of Christian weren’t lurking around her and some other sleazebags weren’t ogling her. But I’d forced myself to stay, to keep my cool, because it only proved to Matteo that I had indeed grown soft.
Matteo returned with the whiskey, poured us both a glass. He took a seat across from me, but I barely registered him. I was too lost in my own thoughts, wondering why Helena was taking so damn long to get back home what the hell was she still doing?
Matteo was rambling in my ear but I was barely listening not until he mentioned Helena’s name and my eyes focused on him, wide and sharp.
“I asked what the deal was with Helena” he said again, his gaze sharp, calculating.
“What about her?” I was getting defensive but I couldn’t help it.
Matteo smirked, swirling the whiskey in his glass. He had that look on his face, the one that told me he was up to something. “I mean, what about Gianna?”
Matteo was setting a trap again and I knew better than to play into his game because If I let him get under my skin, he’d pick apart everything-especially my feelings for Helena. And he’d use it against me because he knew a man’s feelings for a woman was a man’s greatest weakness.
I shrugged, keeping my face neutral. “What about Gianna?”
Matteo leaned back in his chair, a smug grin spreading across his face. “I’m just saying, isn’t she the one you’ve always had a thing for? What’s Helena, a distraction? Explain to me like you would to a five year old”
He was fishing, and I wasn’t stupid. I couldn’t let him see that I was beginning to really care about her
“It’s nothing,” I said, my voice casual, even though my heart was hammering in my chest. A lie. A damn lie. I paused for a heartbeat, trying to control the way my pulse spiked. Then I continued, my words cutting sharper than I intended. “It’s just a contract marriage. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s the least she could do to pay me for covering her father’s debt-she’s got nothing else to offer.”
The words tasted bitter as they left my mouth, and immediately, I regretted them. But Matteo looked satisfied, leaning back with that smug expression of his, like he’d gotten exactly what he wanted. I was about to change the subject when I heard footsteps coming from the living room.
My stomach twisted as I turned, and there she was. Helena stood there, staring at me, her eyes wide and full of hurt. She had heard everything. Every damn word.
Fuck.