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He walked down the hallway to his office, and I laughed at the way Don watched him go with his arms still out like he held the baby. He glared after Matteo, before huffing and getting back to his other duties around the house.
"If you want to know a secret, I think the best way for you to make Samara trust you sexually will be for you to put her pleasure before yours. Remind her that sex, or oral or whatever it is, can feel good. She's probably forgotten that after everything. If her last experience was unpleasant, it can fog everything up and make us need a reminder that sex was good before and it can be good again."
Ivory went on with more advice, giving me a treasure trove of things I would use to bring Samara around quicker.
By the time I went into Matteo's office, I felt much better about all the things with Samara.
Except for what I'd come to talk to Matteo about.
???
I plopped into my usual seat in Matteo's office, grinning as the man passed me his daughter. He was so hesitant to give her up, like nothing mattered more than having her in his arms as much as he could. I cooed down at the little girl, Matteo's Little Moon, swaying her back and forth while she stared up at me like she couldn't quite decide what to think of me.
"I know you didn't leave Samara's side to come visit Ivory and the baby, you'd have brought her along for that," Matteo grunted, sitting behind his desk and donning the persona he wore so well, that of a dictator on his throne.
"I would have," I agreed. “Has Ryker found anything?”
Matteo sighed. “You know how he is. He’ll check in as soon as he has something to report, but in the meantime it’s best if we don’t distract him. Connor hasn’t gone back to work, his cell phone was a dead end, and he hasn’t gone back to his shithole apartment. Ryker tried the casinos and the illegal games, but since his well dried up with Murphy, he has no money to gamble in the first place.”
I grunted, and only the precious bundle in my arms stopped me from losing my shit. Connor was far from a criminal mastermind. Some days it surprised me that the man managed to tie his shoes by himself, so how he managed to hide from Ryker of all people was beyond me. "Let’s talk about Murphy then. I don't want to cause any problems for you, but if he comes after Samara, I want him to know exactly what he's risking before he does it." Matteo leaned back in his chair, thinking as he watched me. "Who's the prettiest baby ever?" I asked Luna, finally earning what seemed like a happy gurgle. I didn't speak baby, but I'd take it.
"She likes you," Matteo grunted.
"Of course, she does. I'm her fun Uncle."
Matteo huffed a laugh. "You're her cousin. Second cousin. Some shit like that."
"Shhh," I scolded. "You shouldn't swear in front of Luna." He gave me an unamused look, like the concept of not swearing in front of his daughter was ridiculous. It was. With the crimes all the men Luna would grow up around committed daily, a curse word would be the least of her problems.
"I think you should go to Murphy. Confront him, be upfront. There's no need for it to be ugly in the slightest. His issue is with Connor, not Samara. She is no longer his wife, but yours. He's a businessman, no matter how slimy he is. He'll see that going after Samara is not worth risking the wrath of the Bellandi's. The war that would ensue would cost him more than he could ever dream to weasel out of Connor or Samara if he sold her." I nodded, standing and handing Luna back to Matteo. She grabbed his finger immediately in her little fist, a daddy's girl to the core. Considering he would move the Earth itself for her, I could understand the appeal.
Even as a baby, she seemed to sense it. I wondered if she sensed the same thing in her mother. Since the sweet and innocent Ivory had killed the one and only man who dared to threaten her child.
The mama bear was strong in her.
"You're going straight there?"
"Yeah," I grunted. "Is he still holding court at that Irish pub on Clark?"
Matteo laughed, because the thought would never occur to him to hold fucking visiting hours in a restaurant. He had employees to do that for him, and Tiernan's recent attempts to take over Adrian's operation were mostly laughable. The man wasn't made to be a Boss. "He is. We'll see if he keeps up with that if he assimilates the human trafficking operation to his bookie shit. I swear he's a stain on all of us."
"Most mobsters aren't exactly known for being good people, Matteo," I laughed. "We certainly stretch the limits of the word."
He winced visibly and nodded in thought. "Do yourself a favor and make sure Samara is aware of the girls," he warned. "I never got the impression she concerned herself with the matters of our business, and I know Ivory said Samara seemed pretty in the dark when she pried the last time they had lunch. Ignorance was always bliss; I take it?"
"Yeah. The less she knew, the better. She wasn't my wife, so in the worst case she could be compelled to testify. It was just safer."
"Right, well, she's your wife now," Matteo laughed. "She'll want to know we run girls, though I would probably leave out your preference for them in the past. No woman wants to think of her husband—"
"I got it, thanks," I snarled. "I'll make sure she knows just enough that she isn't blindsided at, say the party coming up at Indulgence. Who knows what she could find out there, really?"
Matteo smirked, all arrogance and amusement as he stood and walked to the door. "Your first event with your wife. How adorable is that?" Matteo asked as I followed him out of the office. The sound of his ribbing continued when he found Donatello loitering in the kitchen with Ivory, but I couldn't care.
Samara would be on my arm as my wife. I never brought women as my dates to events in the past, never cared enough about any of them to make that kind of statement. But given my feelings for Samara, there was nothing but pride because the beautiful woman would be at my side.
Nothing would make me happier than knowing that men would look at her and want to be me, but none would dare to take what was mine.
I'd kill anyone who tried.
