Earlier that day.
“Where to now?
Should we drop by Elefaro’s?” Cesare lounged lazily in the front passenger seat.
“I heard he’s already huddled in a corner, shaking in terror, waiting for your visit.
Looks like he finally realizes how badly he fucked up.
At least that’s something.
No need to beat the lesson into his skull.” “No.
I’m free for the rest of the night.” Matteo stopped the car beside a five-story building—unremarkable, identical to dozens of others in the district, except for the vine that climbed part of the right-hand wall.
“Get out.
Call Chiesa; he’ll pick you up.” “Again?” Cesare’s brows snapped together.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.
Don’t tell me you’ve come back to that girl.” Cesare shifted his gaze to look out the window.
Maybe he was wrong.
Maybe Diana Mariani didn’t live in this neighborhood after all.
Then again… he seemed to recall her friend’s apartment being somewhere around here.
“You realize this is getting out of hand, right?” Cesare said.
“You have a mountain of shit to deal with.
You can’t keep stalking her every damn evening.” “I’m pretty sure I told you to get the hell out of my car,” Matteo replied, rolling his window down a fraction to light a cigarette.
Cesare closed his eyes and rubbed his eyelids before trying again.
“If I’m not mistaken, your father wanted you to take her to a couple of dinners.
Just enough for her to cling to your arm and put on a show of being madly in love.
The first dinner is next week.
There’s no reason for you to be seeing her constantly.” Matteo turned his head slowly.
The warning in his dark eyes was unmistakable: this conversation is over.
Yet Cesare didn’t open the door, let alone step out of the car.
He sat in silence for a moment, his eyelids drooping as he stared straight ahead.
The hard lines of his face tightened, and the air inside the vehicle grew heavy with tension.
“Diana Mariani is hot.
Beyond hot.
I saw it with my own eyes yesterday.” “Shut up,” Matteo snapped, his voice sharp and ruthless.
He clearly didn’t appreciate Cesare bringing her up.
“Jesus, I’m not saying I’m going after her.
If anything, I’m telling you to stay away too.
Want some variety?
Pick an easier girl.
A girl like Mariani is going to be way too much trouble.
She’s…
just too much.” “You’re reading way too deep into this,” Matteo said, exhaling a slow plume of smoke.
“Maybe she’s piqued my interest for now.
We’ll play couple for as long as my father needs us to, and that’s it.” “Right.
Of course,” Cesare replied with a touch of irony.
He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped when the front door of the building next to them swung open.
Diana Mariani stepped out onto the street.
Cesare recognized her instantly, though she looked entirely different from yesterday.
She was wearing an evening dress.
And she…
god.
If Cesare didn’t know Matteo had claimed her, he would have surrendered to the temptation himself.
She was smoking hot—possessing an irresistible, intoxicating allure that was impossible to fight.
An absolute hourglass of a figure: long, sleek legs, a full bust, a tiny waist, and a curve to her hips that demanded your full attention.
Cesare forced himself to avert his eyes.
If Matteo caught him staring, he’d end up missing a few teeth.
Matteo had spotted her, too, and now nothing else in the world existed for him.
The sharp contours of his face hardened, his dark gaze locking onto her as a dangerous, guttural question tore from his throat: “What the fuck is she dressed like that for?” *** I pressed my back hard against the stone wall behind the ledge where Matteo had hoisted me, feeling the rough masonry bite through the thin fabric of my dress.
It scraped and stung against my skin, but even that physical pain was nothing compared to the sheer terror surging through me at his words.
My heart hammered wildly against my ribs before dropping like a stone.
“Please, don’t…” The words didn’t just carry a plea—they bled pure panic and raw fear.
I tried to twist sideways, desperately hoping that if he realized how badly I didn’t want this, he’d lift his hand and let me pull away.
But he didn’t back off.
Instead, his other hand shot out, clamping around my waist to yank me back into place, forcing me to sit upright against the wall.
Before I could draw another breath, his hand slid upward, weaving into my hair and tangling tightly in the strands to lock my head in place.
He leaned in.
Our eyes met, and every inch of my body felt the cool night air instantly turn heavy and suffused with heat.
It wrapped around me, pressing down like a thick, suffocating weight.
“What is it about me that bothers you so damn much?” Matteo placed his palm against my cheek, the pad of his thumb dragging heavily across my lower lip.
I didn’t even dare to move; his voice was dripping with something dark and unsettling.
“So much that you’re practically shaking.” “You scare me,” I whispered, my lips barely moving.
“And what exactly have I done to make you so afraid of me?” He rested his forehead against mine.
What might have seemed like a gentle touch from anyone else felt like a trap.
He was reminding me that he held all the power—even if I tried to pull back, I couldn’t.
He still had me locked in place.
“You came out of nowhere.
You forced me into this fake relationship, and then you made it clear you’re just using me.
Even though…
I keep telling you, you’re wrong.
There is no one who cares about me.
You tied me up, you stalked me, you put your hand up my dress right out in the street, and now…” I had no idea how I managed to get all of that out in a single breath.
Nor did I understand why I was even bothering to say it.
Did he really need me to state the obvious to understand why I was terrified of him?