Chapter 30

Book:Falling For The Mafia Published:2024-6-2

“You terrified her,” I claimed, my voice still raw with leftover ire. “You broke her heart.”
“In order to help her, she needed to know the truth. Do you want her to blame you for her abduction or to love you? There is a threat to her life if she is not with us, and she must realize this. ”
“I’m not the one who kidnapped her,” I yelled back. “You were the one who chose to do that, after all. ”
His thick black brows reached the top of his short black hair. “What if I’d warned you that those who hated your dad were keeping tabs on her? ”
“What would you have done?”
I fingered my own hair. “I would have gone back to her,” I hedged, unable to admit that I would have done anything to keep her safe, including removing her from Nevada’s influence.
Matthew cradled his crossed arms close to his chest. “You probably would have acted the same way that I did. If you didn’t want to make the call, I did. You needn’t worry about feeling bad about it anymore. Over time, she’ll come around and accept your apology. Remind me again why I’m the villain in this scenario. “At the end, his lips twisted ever-so-slightly, but the change was so brief that I could have imagined it.
With a final shake of my head, I let go of my pent-up fury. “You took the action that I would have taken, whether or not I agreed with it. Having people keep an eye on her is something I was not aware of. If you hadn’t done that…”
For some reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to speak aloud about the horrors she might have faced. All because of me.
To remove the grime, I washed my hand and then rubbed it across my face. I apologize to her but I know I made a huge mistake touching her. I really should have avoided it.
“Indeed, you should have done that. You should not have attempted to escape Lasvagas. You did a shabby thing by doing that, Nicola. ”
“I know.” I thought he was going to punch me for that, so it surprised me when he didn’t. Without a word or a trace, I had left. Mathew had no way of knowing that I wasn’t alive. My best friend in the whole wide world was left holding out hope that I had managed to escape the civil war brewing within my own family. The whole time I’d been pretending to be a lowly bartender so I could have Emily’s safe, simple life.
I was an utter moron for even entertaining the thought that that was even a remote possibility. I could never escape the brutality of my life.
I said out loud, “I’ll never deserve her,” but quickly realized my error.
Mathew yelled, “Stop that shit right now.” “Enough of this love-struck melodrama. Nicola, you’re not in some fanciful land. Neither good nor bad guys exist. That dichotomy is unnecessary. We now enter the realm of reality. It’s ugly and complicated, and you need to stop denying or running from the truth. You’re a hard man in a hard world. Behave yourself, already! ”
“That’s how you act, you say? “In response, I fired back. “Scaring helpless women at night into submission by dragging and stealing them? I don’t want to turn out to be that guy, Matthew. You should not think that of me. ”
He didn’t even flinch as I hurled the accusations, but I could tell they hurt.
“And if that’s how you perceive me, then I guess we’re pretty familiar with each other.”
After staring at him for a while, I finally let out a sigh and let go of my wrath.
” Excuse me, Matthew. What an awful thing for me to do. You’re not a horrible guy, that much I know. You did everything you had to do to make sure Emily was okay. I can’t tolerate being around her when she’s sad. I can’t deal with it, and it’s driving me crazy. As a result of this, she actively dislikes me. And she wouldn’t even meet my eyes. ”
It was a soothing geStunre as he slapped me on the shoulder.
“You don’t have her hatred. Just unhappy, that’s all. I caught her eye while she was staring at you. And don’t worry, she can’t hate you even if she tried. It’s only a matter of time until she accepts you. She just needs time alone to come to terms with all that has happened. She attends Stanford University, so she must be quite the bright young lady. It won’t take her long to figure out that we truly are trying to protect her, not damage her.”
It was all I could do to just keep my fingers crossed that he was correct. Imagining Emily recoiling from my contact made me feel sick to my stomach.
For her to avoid shaking my hand, to be afraid of me, had been deeply unjust. If I could, I would do all in my ability to make this better. Although, Mathew was correct at this time. She needed privacy and some time alone to gather her thoughts and regroup.
“‘I need to visit my dad,’ I finally said. Telling him that Emily has arrived is essential. “To be honest, I didn’t want to keep anything from my father. And yet, he still loved me, despite my attempts to escape. If I let him know how much Emily meant to me, he’d help me keep her safe.
“Yes, you should,” Mathew said. And with your leaving, Emily will have some space to relax. Be of good cheer,” he reassured me before I could express my worries. Not again will I accidentally frighten her. Seeing her in tears is also unpleasant for me.