“It’s not.”
She snorts. “Yeah, it is. You do know you can go out there and take his hand, don’t you? You could be the one dancing with him if you wanted.”
“Well, I don’t want to. Matteo disgusts me. Nothing more needs to be said.”
Serafina stares at me for a moment before she stands up. “Whatever you say. Enjoy being alone, Adelina.” She walks away.
Ading-dingsound makes me jump, and I turn to see Dario clanging his glass together. Once he has everyone’s attention, he begins to speak. “I hope you all are enjoying this evening. I wanted to congratulate my sister on her marriage. Matteo, you’re a lucky man. Adelina is a wonderful person.” He shoots me a look, and I duck my head, shame taking over me. “I wish you luck in your marriage.”
Matteo nods and turns to address the crowd. “I appreciate that, Dario. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Adelina,” I lift my head, “I feel honored to be your husband.” His friends whoop and holler. “Now, I say we take this night further and retire to our room for the evening. What do you say?” The crowd gets raucous, and everyone starts whistling and cheering us.
Damn him. He put me on the spot, so I can’t find a way out of this.
I stand up tall and say, “I’d love to.”
Matteo smiles darkly while the guests whistle louder. He approaches and takes my hand, guiding me away from the table. I can’t rip my hand away. People need to see us as a happy couple, lest rumors spread that there’s conflict between us.
I follow Matteo as we leave the reception hall and head outside. “Where are we going?”
“Like I said. To our bridal suit. It’s our wedding night, after all.” He slips a leg over his bike. “Now, get on. I, for one, am excited to go where no man has gone before.”
I groan. “You’re disgusting.”
“I’m getting used to hearing that by now.” He pats the seat behind him. “Get on. We’re married now, Adelina. There’s no getting out of this.”
And I know he’s right. All I want to do is run away, but instead, I force myself to get on his bike and wrap my hands around his waist.
Matteo starts the engine and drives, taking us to our bridal suite.
CHAPTER 8
Matteo
Originally, I had a room booked at one of the most expensive hotels in the city for our wedding night, but now, I feel like putting Adelina in her place. I hated seeing her dance with Carlo tonight. Even though he’s harmless, I still hated it. Adelina is mine, and I want her to know that.
So instead of taking her to the hotel suite, I decide to take her to the club’s meeting house. She’ll hate me for this, but she already hates me, so it can’t get much worse than it already is. She needs to learn that she’s a part of my world now. I won’t sugarcoat things for her.
If she wants to play with fire, then I’m going to hand her the damn matches.
Adelina grips my waist tighter as we drive through the city to the meeting house. Most of my guys are still back at the party, so there shouldn’t be much commotion there.
I pull into the courtyard and turn the bike off. “We’re here,” I say, taking off my helmet.
Adelina tenses behind me. “Where are we?” She looks around, her nose scrunched in displeasure. “This doesn’t look like a hotel.”
“Because it’s not.” I slide off the bike and extend my hand to her. “It’s a special place to me.”
She takes her helmet off and ignores my outstretched hand as she pushes herself off the bike. “You didn’t answer my question. Where are we?”
“At my club’s meeting house.”
She pauses. Then, “What?!”
“What?”
“Why did you take me here? I thought we were going to a nice hotel for the night.”
“We were. Then I changed my mind.”