AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I watch as the brothers work together to get the food on the table. I’m expecting it to be awkward, but within a few minutes, that feeling melts away and leaves something else behind. Something I’m not willing to analyze.
No good can come from the feeling of warmth in the middle of my chest which seems to grow the longer I spend around the triplets. Nothing good at all.
It would be so easy to fall for them, but I need to keep in mind these men have practically declared my family to be their enemy. I’ve heard chatter from my brothers about deals they’re making to position themselves to gain more power in the city.
Not that there isn’t enough to go around, but what is their end game?
Will they find a way to use me to get it?
It’s better to keep my guard up around them, but every time one of them makes me laugh, including Mateo with his dry humor and stoic expression, I feel a little bit more of it crumble at my feet.
Nothing good at all can come of this. Why don’t I seem to care?
CHAPTER 6
MATEO
I arrive at my warehouse early, part of me dreading the meeting I’m about to have, even though it’s necessary to achieve the goals I have for my family. I shouldn’t have allowed my brothers to talk me into having Viola over to our home last night for dinner. She’s a distraction I can’t have in my life right now, no matter how welcome I seem to find it.
She is going to make what I want to achieve difficult. Massimo thinks he has been hiding it from me this entire time, but I know he’s wanted her from the start. I can’t fault him for it. Viola is a beautiful woman on the outside.
Last night I discovered she’s beautiful on the inside too. She has much more to offer than I originally thought. It’s fucking with me and last night I could feel her chipping away at the walls I’ve erected around my heart.
I know people out there build those kinds of walls because of some sort of betrayal, one which leaves them believing there’s no such thing as love. I’ve never been in love; I’ve never allowed myself to feel that much for another person. I don’t push the idea of a relationship away because I don’t believe it’s possible.
I do it because my family comes first. My brothers and the drive I have to get us to the top is more important than anything else. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone I bring into my life, and I have my doubts a woman would handle the demands of what I want to achieve.
I saw the way Viola lit up while talking to Massimo and Marco. She was a breath of fresh air in our home. She was sweet with my youngest brother and playful with my middle brother. She gave them exactly what they needed and mirrored their personalities.
I sat back and watched the show, part of me wishing I could be part of it. I knew I couldn’t. I can’t lose focus—it needs to be on the business.
Still, somehow Viola Guidice has wormed her way deeper inside of me than any other woman. The idea of using her, which is how this all began, doesn’t sit right with me anymore and I’ve only been buried inside of her one time.
What the fuck kind of voodoo does she have over me, over us?
It’s both scary and exhilarating.
My heart was racing last night when she looked me in the eye, the challenge there clear, before she turned to Marco with an arched eyebrow. “You mentioned when you demanded my presence here that you’ve been watching me?” Marco had the wherewithal to look sheepish as he nodded, and I steeled myself to be thrown under the bus. It was my directive after all. She let out a humming sound as her gaze swept across myself and my brothers. “How long have you been watching me? What did you learn about me?”
“On the outside it looks like the life you’re leading is one which would be expected of a mafia princess,” Marco responded smoothly and shamelessly. He wiggled his eyebrows, his voice turning sly, “I admit I’m curious about the lingerie you buy from all those high-end stores you love to shop in.”
Viola blushed a light pink, but she didn’t shy away from my brother’s intense stare. “I’m sure you would love for me to model them for you,” she teased with a wink.
Her bravado had a smile threatening to curl along my lips as Massimo chuckled and Marco grinned like the cat who ate the canary. There wasn’t any strain between us, the energy flowing as if Viola had simply been missing from our circle our whole lives.
Viola waved her hand dismissively. “What can I say? I like pretty things. There’s no reason for me to deprive myself.”
“No, there isn’t,” my voice was deep and rich as the words rolled from my mouth without me thinking about them first.
Viola blinked at me before smiling in a way which felt like a punch to the gut. My brothers looked at me out of the corners of their eyes, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the woman at our table. Nor could I shake the feeling of something coming together, of completion.
I forced myself to crawl back into the darkest and coldest parts of myself, not giving her much more the rest of the night. She is danger personified, for so many fucking reasons, but I still felt like a moth to her flame.
My brothers, it seemed, didn’t feel the need to protect themselves from the temptress and she lapped up their attention. I couldn’t help but compare her to our sister, Bella. Bella was one to demand attention and act like a brat when it wasn’t granted. Viola simply basked in the attention, happy to get it, but not necessarily needing it to thrive.
It amazed me how women born of similar circumstances could turn out differently. It confirmed that Viola is different, unique. Worthwhile.
By the time she left, it felt like I was buzzing with excitement, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Maybe it was possibility. I don’t know, but I excused myself the moment the door closed behind the woman who captured my attention because I didn’t want to listen to my brothers rehash the evening. Living through it once was enough to make me feel off kilter.
