Page 26 of Cavaliere

“Lead the way, boss.” I wave my hand out, sarcasm laced in my tone.

Matteo just arches an eyebrow at me before grabbing my suitcase from me and walking out of the front door without another word.

The few flights of stairs that usually take me less than a minute to get down feel like it’s taking hours. The tension is coming off of this man in waves. I get I might have fucked up a little by leaving without telling him, but he’s not my keeper. I’m not a dog. He can’t just tell me to stay and have a man guard me.

If anyone should be mad here, it’s me. I think I had a right to know from the beginning that I was getting involved with the fucking Mafia of all things.

Just as my foot hits the last step, I can’t take it anymore.

“What is your problem?” I can feel the attitude I’ve been keeping a lock on starting to boil over.

Matteo doesn’t look back as he pushes through the entrance of the building, with me blindly following him out. “Noth–” Matteo starts to grit out before everything blows up in our faces. Gunfire erupts as shot after shot sounds like it’s coming right toward us.

Matteo reacts instantly; his body slams into me, knocking me to the ground, with him landing on top of me like a human shield. Like a knight.

“Are you hit?!” Matteo yells over the gunfire and screams from the innocent people caught in the crossfire.

“No!” I feel Matteo searching for something around the waistband of his pants. Two seconds later, that same hand emerges with a gun.

“Stay down behind this car!” Matteo yells. Just as I feel him start to push off of me, the shooting stops.

“You should have never stopped to help him, you stupid cunt! And then you think you can stab my boy? Your days are numbered, bitch!” a man shouts out from inside a car before peeling off, tires screeching. I couldn’t get a good look at him because of the ski mask covering his face, but that didn’t stop the tremor of fear from rocking through my body.

“I think you left out a few details, tesoro,” Matteo says through his clenched jaw.

Huh, would you look at that? I made his eye twitch again.

“Oops.” I give him an innocent smile as I shrug one shoulder. His face doesn’t move.

I’m so fucked.

Chapter

Nineteen

MATTEO

Idon’t think I have ever met a woman that makes me want to punch a hole in the wall and fuck her at the same time. She’s so infuriating.

I’m tense as fuck as we drive back to my place, white-knuckling the steering wheel the whole way. Neither of us says a word. I don’t know what I even would say that wouldn’t end in me losing my shit, and I don’t want to be that way. Not with her.

“I think maybe it would be best if I stay at Delaney’s while all of this is going on,” Wren says from the passenger seat as I pull into my driveway, breaking the tense silence.

My grip on the steering wheel tightens even more, the leather squeaking slightly. I’m surprised I haven’t ripped the damn thing off. If she had just done what I told her to do in the first place, none of this would have happened. I can’t decide if I’m more pissed off about that or the fact that she left out a huge part of that night.

“What you’re going to do is get in my fucking house and stay in my fucking house,” I say as I cut the ignition. “The only bed you’ll be sleeping in tonight is mine.”

Wren’s eyes flair with defiance as she opens her mouth to what I’m assuming is to spout more bullshit, but I beat her to it.

“Get the fuck out of the car, Wren.”

For a second, I thought she was still going to say something, but her mouth closes as she turns to get out of the car.

“Good girl,” I say under my breath as I get out of the car. Hallelujah, she actually fucking listens. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m getting my suitcase,” Wren responds without looking at me as she yanks her suitcase out of the trunk.

“Stop,” I command, harsher than I needed to. Wren’s head shoots up, meeting my gaze. Her hand lets go of the handle, the suitcase forgotten as it hits the concrete. “You never carry your own bags. I don’t care how big of an argument we are in, or if you never want to see my face again, you never carry them with me.”