Chapter 9

9

MATTEO

" A re you going to get up anytime, boss?" Sergio asks. I groan, my head pounding. Was I hit by a fucking bus? No, Mona O'Haire was the one who hit me. Even when I sleep, she's there, driving me insane.

"Fuck off." My whole body hurts.

"I assume you don't want an update on Mona, then?" I open my eyes to see the high ceiling in my office. I must have fallen asleep on the couch here. I sit up, making my headache worse. Three days of hell. That's what I've been in, and I did the one thing I told myself I never would. I drowned myself in alcohol. It was the only way I could find sleep. Never in my life have I been turned this upside down.

I went over to my desk, popped something for this headache, and chased it down with water before motioning for Sergio to spit it out.

"You can't keep this up."

"I didn't ask for your opinion. Now, out with it." I usually spend most of my time in my condo in the city, but since Mona, I've been staying out on the estate more often. Well, that was the case until a few days ago. I knew staying at the condo was just another way for me to keep her out of sight. To keep her hidden. To not give in to the urges I have for her.

"She's been keeping to the bedroom."

Days ago, I wanted to keep her locked in it. Now I'm frustrated that she refuses to leave it. I run my hand down my face. "Is she eating?" I am keeping track of everything.

"Not really. Emma lured her out of the room by telling her she'd talk to you about letting her call her sister."

"Her sister." I vividly recall the younger girl who clung to Mona's arm that day. She'd worn glasses, and her hair was not as fiery as Mona's. "We can't set up a call."

"I know."

Things are more than a little contentious right now between the O'Haires and me. I have no loyalty to them. None of the heads of families are going to call me over them. The situation with them will escalate eventually. If not soon, then I'll pull the trigger on it myself.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah." Sergio is attempting to suppress a smirk.

"What?" His evasiveness is starting to piss me off.

"She took all her stuff and moved it to another room."

I grab my phone off my desk to check for myself. It's fucking dead. I grab the bottle of scotch off the table and chuck it as hard as I can against the wall. It explodes. She wanted space, so I gave it to her. That's over.

Now she's gone too far. My little rabbit has no idea how nice I've been.

"We're leaving."

"Might want to clean yourself up first," Sergio suggests.

I take a breath, nodding before I head to do exactly that. In the meantime, I try to come up with another plan. I can't go on like this anymore. Mona is mine. She'll be my wife and mother to my children. They wanted to marry her off, so be it. They'll get what they want. Well, the marriage part anyway.

I'm sure Mona didn't really have a choice in what she did. She probably went along with whatever her family asked her to do. It's all she knows. Still, it's hard to believe when I stare into her eyes. There is so much innocence there. It drew me in. She was the first woman that ever called to me. I had never experienced such temptation in my life before. I prided myself on it. I wasn't weak like so many others.

"Are you leaving?" Nikolai asks when I exit my bedroom. He's been staying here for the past few weeks. There is something going on with him. He denies it, but I know him better than he thinks I do.

"I need to get back." He nods.

"All right."

"I heard you've been at the club on the south side almost every night." The same one where I'd met Mona.

"Is that a problem?" Nikolai asks.

"No." It would be if he'd been getting drunk and acting like a fool, but they say he's only hanging around. That he's even broken up a few fights, which is a new thing for him. Reports from my other men say it seems like he's watching the place. "You need to tell me anything?"

"Not that I want to talk about."

"Then, I'll leave you to it." He's being honest. I'll take that for now. He also hasn't gotten into another brawl.

Emma is waiting when I enter the house. "Which room?"

"We need to talk." She steps in front of me.

"Not now."

"Yes, now." I can tell she's pissed. "It's about Mona."

"I know it is."

"Strippers?"

"Jesus Christ." This shit again?

"Matteo," Emma snaps at me. Her tone almost takes me back to my adolescent days. "I don't question your decisions. I have always thought of you as a good man, but you're going to destroy that girl."

The irony. Mona has done just that to me. "I'm going to fix it."

"You have to be here to do that."

"She wanted space."

Emma rolls her eyes. "Don't be dense."

Sergio coughs to cover his laughter.

"She didn't want space." How the fuck am I supposed to know this? Everyone, including Mona, is acting as though I have experience in this department.

"What room?"

"Which room is the farthest from yours?" If I wasn't irritated about her leaving our bedroom to begin with, I might laugh. Instead, I head up the stairs to find her. When I go to turn the knob, it's locked.

I pull out my knife and pop it, letting myself right in. I find Mona lying on the bed, her eyes closed. I stand there and stare at her for a long moment. How have I managed to stay away from her?

It doesn't matter now. I go to the closet, seeing all of her things hanging up. She put them away. The little brat. I start grabbing everything. At some point, Mona wakes up. I don't look at her. Not yet. I'm too goddamn mad at the sight of her things not in my space. I need to focus on getting them back to where they belong. I know if I look into her eyes, I'll be distracted. The same way I always am when she turns those emerald jewels my way.

"What are you doing?" I can see her out of the corner of my eyes, sitting up in bed.

"You know what I'm doing." I take the first load of clothing out of the room and head straight down the long hallway to the opposite side of the estate. I don't stop until I'm back in my closet, dropping everything onto the floor to return for the next load. When I get the rest, I'll put them away.

When I make it back to the bedroom, she's standing in the doorway as if she can block me, her hands on her hips. She looks pissed. Well, that makes two of us. Are her cheeks fuller?

"You stop it right now." She presses against my chest.

"You're going back to our bedroom."

"That's your bedroom."

"It's our bedroom." I bend down and scoop her into my arms. She lets out a small scream.

"Put me down." She wiggles her adorable ass in my face. I give it a smack. "Matteo!" Mona gasps. I kick my bedroom door shut behind me, not stopping until I put her down on the bed. "You'll have to tie me to it." I lift a brow. I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. "That's not what I mean!" She throws her hands up. "You can keep watching. I'll move again."

"Then I'll move you back." Her shoulders drop, and so does her head. All that red hair comes tumbling forward to hide her from me. "Don't cry." She doesn't respond. "Rabbit." I try again, gritting my teeth. "Mona."

"You can't order me not to cry." The cracking of her voice almost brings me to my knees.

"I can't seem to order you to do fucking anything," I admit. Never in my life have I had someone defy me as much as she has. I mean besides Emma, but she goes about it in a more indirect way. Mona does it outright.

"You always get what you want?" she mutters while still hiding from me.

"If I got what I wanted, your little ass wouldn't have run that first night."

"It doesn't matter."

"Stop saying that!" I bark, making her jump. I take a deep breath. She is the last person I want to be scared of me. Another new fucking thing for me. "The strip club. Is that the problem? Why don't you want me touching you?"

"Where have you been?" She snaps her head up. There's my girl. I love her innocence, but I also love her fire when you go too far for her liking. "I've been stuck in this house for no reason while you're out doing whatever."

"You wanted your space," I remind her. This woman is maddening.

"So you go what? Stay with the strippers while you still sneak in here and do what you want to me?" Mona's cheeks start to pinken. The sight goes straight to my dick, which has been hard since I saw her laid out in bed. My mouth waters to get back on her.

"I don't stay with strippers. I was at my condo." She rolls those green eyes at me.

"I know what the..."—she makes air quotes with her fingers—"condo is for." This I finally got. Yes, many men in our lives have multiple homes for their women. I'm in the business of knowing where and who everyone is.

"I don't keep women."

"Just strippers." Damn, she's pissed about that. She's jealous. That means she cares. That shouldn't make me happy, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't. I want her to be that way when it comes to me. I'll fucking take it.

"You don't want to know the truth about that." Her eyes fill with tears instantly, and I know I can't order her to make them stop. "I was there to kill Vincent. I'm guessing he got some glitter on me."

"What?"

"He touched you." Even saying those words has me wanting to pummel Vincent's face in.

"Touched me?" Her nose scrunches. I place one hand on the bed, getting closer to her.

"I was going to slit his throat. Is that what you want to hear, little rabbit? That I waited till he finally left from under his father's protection and tracked him down like a dog to one of his many strip clubs to kill him."

"He didn't really touch me."

"I find that hard to believe. I stayed in the city to avoid touching you, but enough is enough." I grab her leg, pulling her down to me on the bed.

"Matteo." I close my eyes again, savoring the sound of my name on her lips.

"Say I can taste you," I order.

"We shouldn't." She licks her lips.

"You want me to just take it, little rabbit?" I slip my hands under her dress. "That want you want?" Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, telling me all I need to know before I bury my face between her thighs and find my taste of heaven.

It's the only one I'll ever worship. God knows I shouldn't, but I'm Matteo Cattaneo; I can do anything I want.