4. Matteo

Chapter 4

Matteo

F or long seconds, she didn't respond, just stared at me as if what I'd told her hadn't clicked, like she didn't understand the words I'd just said.

Finally, she took a step back and then another one. I let her retreat, although there was no place for her to go. I wouldn't let her leave, even if there had been a way she could run.

I waited several days after killing her brother and father and buried them in shallow graves on the outskirts of Desolation to come here, to look her in the face and tell her myself she would now be mine.

Having their blood on my hands didn't bother me. In fact, I felt stronger because of it.

Taking out, torturing them, watching the life fade from their eyes, and hearing the last breath they took was therapeutic… cathartic.

I contemplated not telling Liliana I was the one who tortured and killed her family. They'd just never come back, never bother her again.

But I couldn't deny the sick satisfaction in wanting to be the one to tell her I took care of her problem. It probably wasn't the way she ever imagined, although I knew it wouldn't come as a surprise. I was a coldhearted bastard… and her father and brother were pieces of shit.

She knew the outcome of Desolation, of being one of its citizens and rotting from the inside out.

She eyed the front door but was smart enough not to make a run for it. It wouldn't have mattered, anyway. Even if I didn't have Luca waiting right on the other side, I'd track Liliana, hunt her down like the predator I was.

Thrump-thrump. Thrump-thrump.

I drummed my fingers on the armrests repeatedly, watching her, knowing what her next moves would be and anticipating how I'd counteract them.

"Might as well relax," I said low, deep. "You know you can't run from me, so you might as well be at ease." She snorted, and I smirked.

"Be at ease? Around a man like you?" She exhaled shakily, her shoulders sagging slightly, but the tenseness and awareness still wrapped around her.

She was smart. Liliana knew not to let her guard down when a monster was right on her doorstep.

And that monster was me. But what she didn't know was I'd never hurt her.

In fact, the strongest part of me wanted to protect her, save her, even if I should have stayed away because I was the biggest danger of all.

Her bruise was healing, but I didn't mention that. She noticed where my focus was, trained on the side of her face by her eye. She looked away and lifted her hand, her fingertips touching the fading mark.

I wanted to kill those bastards all over again, to smell the coppery scent of their blood fill the warehouse, to feel the warmth of it spray across my arms and neck as I gave them their final death blow.

I was a sick motherfucker, but it was the only way I'd been able to survive, the only chance anyone had in a shithole like this.

The little wince that covered her face when she slid her fingers along the mark had me clenching my jaw.

I wanted to dig up those douchebags. My fingers itched to take a knife and go to work, chipping away—piece by piece—their worthless hides. I'd feed them to my dogs, but my Tibetan Mastiffs deserved quality, not the scum that Derek and Logan were.

Fuck those bastards.

Whatever she saw on my face had her tensing. I knew she would have retreated even more if the counter wasn't blocking her. I forced myself to relax as much as I could. I didn't need her any more terrified of me than she already was.

But even if she feared me, it wouldn't change the outcome of this situation… or her future with me.

And what future was that, exactly? What the fuck do you want with this girl?

I rubbed a hand over my face and leaned forward once more, watching her, pissed at myself because I couldn't even answer that question.

I didn't know what my intentions were aside from I needed her like fire needed oxygen. I wanted to be inside of her, to feel every inch of her. I wanted Liliana to look up at me with those enormous eyes, so wide and hesitant as I pushed into her tight pussy, as I felt her squeeze around me and heard her cry of shock.

And she would cry out because she was a virgin… because I was too big for her. Because I was too big for her to take comfortably at first.

Something dark and calm settled in me, and I slowly stood, keeping my gaze on her as I moved forward. She reached behind and gripped the edge of the counter, using it to stabilize her because her little body was shaking.

I was a fucking bastard, but the sooner she realized I had no soft edges to me, the stronger she'd be in this situation. And that's what I needed her to be. I couldn't handle her being weak. I didn't want her to break after this was all said and done.

And this was temporary. She was a means to an end. An itch to be scratched. Once my desire for her, this obsessive need to consume her faded, I'd go back to being the soulless, unfeeling fucker that I was.

I was a foot from where she stood. I took a moment to just inhale the scent of adrenaline pouring off of her. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as her fear spiked.

God, she was so fucking hot as her fear consumed her, yet she stared at me right in the eyes and refused to back down.

My cock thickened, and the urge to reach down and stroke myself like a dirty bastard rode me hard. But there would be plenty of time to show her how depraved I was.

"I killed your worthless brother and father," I said, low, deep, and in an even tone.

For a solid few seconds, she didn't react, but then slowly she changed, her body absorbing what I'd just said. Although, she didn't freak out, not at first. Her breathing slowed, her pupils contracted, and her shoulders sagged slightly. She looked… relieved.

I couldn't stop myself as I reached out and snagged a piece of her long hair, rubbing it between my thumb and forefinger. The strand was like silk, and I gave it a little tug, then a little harder until her head canted to the side from the force.

"I strung them up like wild animals I'd just taken down in the woods." I kept stroking her hair, and she let me, either too shocked or fearful to react. "I tore them open slowly and made sure they suffered." My focus went to her healing bruise once more. I leaned down and ran the tip of my nose up the column of her throat, scenting her.

God, she smells incredible. She smells like all the good in this world I'll never permanently have.

"And I enjoyed every fucking moment of it, Liliana." Her neck muffled my words. I pulled back and looked down at her, this woman so tiny compared to me.

That seemed to snap her out of whatever calmness she felt because her breathing picked up once more, her pupils dilated, and she made a sound akin to a wounded animal thinking it was about to be slaughtered.

"You…" she paused, swallowing hard. "They're dead?" Her mouth was slightly open, her jaw slack.

"Deader than dead, baby." I slowly grinned. "I relished every second."

"All over what they owed?" Her voice was soft but monotone, as if she wasn't quite conscious of this conversation while she tried to comprehend it, work through it.

"Oh, sweetheart," I brought that strand of hair I still had a hold of to my nose and inhaled again before rubbing it over my lips. "I would have killed them for looking at me wrong, but that's not why I ended them." I let go of her hair and touched the side of her face. She surprised the hell out of me by not shrinking back. "I killed them because of this." I gently touched the bruise. "I saw this mark, knew one of them had done it—probably not the first time, baby—and I had to fucking make them pay."

She blinked rapidly then shook her head. It was clear my actions and motive confused the fuck out of her. I couldn't blame her because I felt the same way.

"You killed them… for me?"

She didn't wait for me to answer as she placed her hands on my chest and pushed me back but not before I felt a zing of electricity slam into me with that small touch.

"Why?" she whispered and closed her eyes. "Why me?" She kept shaking her head as if to clear it. I wanted to tell her this wasn't a dream. This was her own personal nightmare.

I had no fucking clue how to answer that because I didn't know why the hell I was doing any of this, either.

"Because I saw you, I wanted you, and I'll do whatever the fuck I want to have you, Liliana."

The air thickened, time stilled, and I knew she was about to run. What I didn't expect was her kneeing me in the fucking balls. It was only because of my surprise that she got the upper hand on me.

I groaned and cupped myself as I stumbled back. She darted by me, and I growled low, pissed that she'd one-upped me, even if it was only this one time.

"Fuck you," she screamed out and ran right for the front door. I would have chuckled at what would greet her on the other side if not for the fire and ache currently settled right in my groin from her kick.

I watched as she flung the door open and was about to run full speed. But Luca's massive form was right in her way, and she hadn't paid attention before making her daring escape. She slammed so hard into his back that her little body flung backward hard enough she fell to the floor right inside the house. I heard the crack of her head hitting the hardwood, followed by her groaning and rolling over.

I straightened, a spike of discomfort lancing up the center of my body as if I'd been the one to hit the ground. I clenched my jaw and tipped my head toward Luca. He stepped inside, shutting the door and was about to bend down to pick Liliana up.

"Don't fucking touch her," I snapped, and he lifted an eyebrow at me. It was the only expression on his face as he slowly straightened and stepped back.

She was groaning louder as she tried to sit up, but I smelled the blood before I saw it on her fingers and smeared on the floor.

"Fuck," I cursed and crouched in front of her. She tried to push me away, but it was clear the hit to her head had disoriented her. "Get Baxter on the phone and have him come to my place," I said to Luca without looking at him, wanting our personal physician onsite to look her over.

"Get the hell away from me." She tried to sound strong, this little slip of a girl, but her words slurred together, and this feeling of uncertainty—of worry—settled in me because she was hurt.

Liliana tried to push me away, but her attempts were feeble, and I lifted her easily in my arms, cursing internally. "For such a small thing," I said against her ear, "you have quite the kick in you, sweetheart. Clearly, you've kneed plenty of men in the balls before."

She mumbled something, and I could tell she was going to pass out, but I worried about a concussion. I hauled ass to the car and barked at Luca to get the fuck going. For the entire trip to my place, I held Liliana like she was mine.