The cold rage in his face triggers another chilling thought. “Y-you didn’t…do anything to him, did you?”
His nostrils flare and I see the displeasure at my question. “Not that he doesn’t deserve it, but no. Barry is still breathing. But my people are keeping an eye on him. If he ever steps out of line…” He shrugs.
And it’s in that moment that it hits me.
It’s over.
All the running, the looking behind my shoulder. Being terrified out of my mind.
The shitty motels I’ve been sleeping in just so I don’t draw attention to myself.
If Matteo is telling the truth—and now I’m more fully awake, more details filter in, like his rage when his brother pointed the gun at me, and the fact that he broke Gio’s nose—I’m feeling more inclined to believe that his mob bother won’t come after me.
It’s over.
I should be happy. Ecstatic.
I don’t have to flee across the border to Mexico. I can go back home to New York.
But…there’s nothing for me there. Not really. My mom threw me out.
…get used to having a shadow.
I look closer at Matteo.
Does he mean himself, or one of those men who rushed in before? Will he go back to living his life while his goons stop me from even looking at another guy?
And how can I even think of looking at another guy when I’m ass over tea kettle in love with him?
“Angel, what’s the matter? Why are you distressing yourself over what you want?”
“You don’t know what I want.”
A bellow erupts from his throat. “Dammit, Aria! I know I pushed my luck by not coming clean with you this morning, the way I planned. I just wanted one perfect, flawless day with you.”
My breaking heart pauses in its wreckage for one second. “Y-you did?” I blurt before I can stop myself. Then I shake my head. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
He breathes deep and drags shaky fingers through his hair. “Yes, it does. If I had, we wouldn’t be here, fighting when we could be fucking. Please, baby. I need you to give me another chance.”
“A chance to do what exactly?”
He exhales and his whole body moves with it. “To show you how much I love you. To show you that from the moment I heard your voice across that shithole bar, I was yours and you were mine. We were made for each other.”
A sensation is spreading through my belly, billowing up to wrap around my heart. It’s…euphoria. Pure and unstrained and relentless.
But I wrap my arms around my middle to keep it at bay for just a moment longer. I don’t trust it just yet. “I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a m-mobster’s anything.”
“You’re cut out to be whatever you want, angel. You gave the mob the runaround for weeks, you managed to survive despite all the crap thrown at you. You can survive anything.”
“You found me, though.”
Pure arrogance lifts his shoulders in a shrug.“Se, and I’ll always find you. And I’ll make no apologies for that because you’re my fucking world. But if you don’t want to return to New York, I happen to have business for the foreseeable future in this part of the country. Or we can go to Europe and visit all those places you mentioned. Provided we throw in a stop in Sicily, of course.”
My eyes well with tears before I can stop myself. “What’s in Sicily?”
“My Mama. And our wedding. And I suggest we do it before the baby comes or she’ll have my head on a platter.”
I gasp. God, he’s making my head spin. “Thebaby? What baby?”