Having Sera Moretti as a fake girlfriend promised to be pure torture. It was a mistake to kiss her, but there was no choice. We needed to make this fake relationship look real.
The moment I tasted her pouty lips, something flared inside me. The urge to push her down on the couch, get between those legs, and taste her was overwhelming. My hand itched to push her panties to the side and bury my face between her legs, using the fabric to heighten the friction.
She was carnality incarnate.
“You can use this room.” I led her to a bedroom next to mine. Walking to the closet, I flung it open and reached for the bedsheets. I was trying to avoid looking at her, all too aware of the bed next to us when I was fighting against the images of me fucking her into the mattress.
Jesus. What the hell happened back there?
“I can manage this.” Sera grabbed the sheets from me. Our fingers touched and separated like we’d been electrocuted.
“There’s an extra toothbrush—”
“Matteo,” she whispered.
I finally looked at her.
“Can I borrow a shirt?”
“Trevor is picking up some things for us,” I said. “He’ll be here soon.”
“Thanks…shoo.” She smiled, pushing me out the door and slamming it shut behind me.
I stood there like an idiot for five minutes. Or it felt like five minutes.
One kiss.
One fucking kiss had scrambled my brain.
I couldn’t even bear to hold her hand again. Doing that would only lead to consequences I wasn’t ready for.
I stalked back to the living room.
My phone had been going off like crazy, so I switched it to silent. Fortunately, my parents, my nosy sister, and my equally nosy aunt were out of the country. Was it weird that Carlotta was both Sera’s aunt and mine?
I checked my missed calls and numerous text messages.
I shot off one to Dom. He was Aunt Carlotta’s son and the current boss of the De Lucci crime family. That made him Sera’s cousin and also mine. I grew lightheaded for a second as I mentally traversed our family tree to make sure Sera and I weren’t blood related. I was sure I already did this, but seeing how this fake dating was getting more physical, I couldn’t help but make certain again.
Dom deserved to know that Luca and I had spoken. As I was deciding who else needed to be informed of the current situation, my phone went off again.
Daniel.
I smiled grimly. Yes, he needed to know.
“She agreed,” I said without much introduction. Ripping off the Band-Aid. My irritation with him was at an all-time high. I was surprised how my allegiances had shifted. I stayed away from Sera so he could make his move, and he decided he wasn’t ready again? Well, fuck that. All bets are off.
“Agreed to what?” he demanded. “What did you do, De Lucci?”
“What I needed to do to keep her safe.”
“I could have someone pick her up. She should have ridden with us in the first place,” Daniel said. “My sister is freaking out because—”
“Because of Luca? Problem solved. Luca and I have an understanding.”
“Understanding of what?” he shouted.
“Sera agreed to be my girlfriend.”
“What the fuck? Gustavo is going to shit a brick. He’s going to nullify the contract.”
“Staying away from Sera isn’t in it.”
“You’re going to renege on your word?”
“The shares he offered didn’t give us the control we needed. We jumped on it too soon.”
“It was better than nothing.”
“Yes, but I’m willing to take a chance and see where my pursuit of Sera goes.”
“Damn you, De Lucci.” Daniel ended the call and an incoming video call immediately followed. I walked into the study and closed the door.
When Daniel’s face came on the screen, a vein bulged at his temple and his face was red and pissed off. I’d rarely seen him this way. “I need to see with my own eyes that you’re not fucking with me. You’re really serious, aren’t you?”
“Gustavo is protective of Sera. You know as much as I do the remaining fifteen percent he refuses to sell to us could go to her. That’s why Santino is dead set on marrying her. That’s the only way he’d be even with us for control. I’m trying to avoid conflict with the rest of the board and the Galluzo mafia.”
“And Sera knows this is fake, right?”
“Of course,” I scoffed. “But we still have to act like it’s real.”
“What do you mean?”
It gave me sadistic pleasure in telling him, “We still have to kiss and make out for people to see.”
Daniel’s face twisted into a sneer. “You touched her.”
The condemnation in his gaze pissed me off. “You don’t get to act concerned when it was your fucking idea in the first place. I backed off, remember? Because you liked Sera. But then you chickened out again when she started feeling receptive. It sickens me how you play with her emotions.”
“Since when did Sera’s feelings matter to you? You barely know her. Your loyalty is to your family and yet you know going too far with this fake relationship could cause problems with the De Luccis.”
“They’ll come to their senses. With as little time as I’ve spent with Sera, I’m beginning to like her more than you.”
“We’ve been friends for a long time, De Lucci. You’re going to throw away our friendship for her?”
“Are you saying she’s not worth it?”
“Damn you! She was mine first,” Daniel gritted.
An emotion punched me in the gut. I didn’t like him saying she belonged to him.
“You can’t make that claim, because I’ve already claimed her in front of Luca.” The satisfaction of saying this to Daniel invigorated the blood pulsing in my veins. “If you dare show an interest in her while she’s my girlfriend, I’ll consider that a disrespect.”
“This is so fucked up.” Daniel raked his fingers through his hair. “That was not our agreement. You were supposed to leave Sera alone after Gustavo gave in.”
“We both made mistakes.” Mine was putting my hands on Sera and kissing her. Being detached about the whole fake-dating thing was going to be a challenge.
One kiss.
One fucking kiss.
I should run the other way. Drop her off at Daniel’s place and let the coward have her.
But Sera deserved more. If she wanted Daniel, my friend had to work for it.
“While Sera and I are in this, in public, it’s going to look real. Even in front of Ivy, it’s going to look real, so you better rein in your interest in her.” I smiled derisively. “You don’t have a problem doing that anyway.”
“Fuck you, De Lucci.” The screen went black.
I was about to turn off my phone when Trevor informed me he dropped off a bag of clothes in front of the door.
And a wry smile twisted my lips. Girlfriend.
That was a first.
Sera
I woke up disoriented. Strange ceiling. Strange windows. Strange bed.
A woodsy, spicy scent assailed my nostrils. One I wanted to bury my nose into. I pulled the neckline to my face to inhale it more.
The T-shirt was unfamiliar, but the owner wasn’t.
Matteo De Lucci’s Harvard tee.
After our kiss on the couch last night, we became guarded around each other. It was as though he was forcing himself to be around me. He was affected by the kiss in some way, but still insisted we go through with our fake relationship.
I recalled the way he cursed and turned away from me last night.
Oh boy.
This was going to get interesting.
I wracked my brain about whether we discussed boundaries last night. No, we hadn’t, and if we did, not enough.
Last night, I’d admit to being a bit hurt when he knocked on my door to give me the things Trevor brought over.
All he said was “here” and shoved the bag at me before walking away.
I wasn’t a needy fake girlfriend, but couldn’t he have at least asked if I had everything I needed?
Granted that the bathroom was fully stocked with five-star-hotel amenities, but still. It was my first night here. The baffling part was the inclusion of his own T-shirt when there was a set of pajamas in my size. And just to remain contrary with how I felt about him, I chose his tee to sleep in instead.
I inhaled it again.
“Goddammit, Matteo.” A muttered expletive startled me.
Someone was here?
The voices filtered into hushed silence.
That was the sound that woke me up.
Sliding off the bed, I went to the bathroom to splash my face with water, run a comb through my hair, and gurgle mouthwash. After performing the standard morning rituals, I removed a white terry robe that was still in laundromat plastic and put it on. It hung comedically almost to my ankles. Did giants only live here?
I was used to walking barefoot and ignored the archless terry slippers. The second I opened the door, I definitely heard murmuring.
Either they were trying to keep me in the dark about what they were discussing or they were trying to be polite and let me sleep. I followed the voices to a shut door.
“This is going to dig up old shit,” the man said.
“It’s been over thirty years, Paulie. Maybe it’s fucking time people stop avoiding it.”
Zio Paulie was here? I hadn’t seen him since Nonno’s funeral three years ago. Carlotta avoided Chicago because of my grandfather’s third wife who had since moved to L.A. early this year.
I wasn’t sure if I should show myself. Maybe I could hide in my room until Matteo came to get me.
I backed away slowly and then turned around to hurry back to my room. My mind raced and wondered if I could use a phone in the coffee shop below and call Ivy.
The study door opened. “Sera, get in here.”
My spine figuratively snapped into place. I pivoted and glared at Matteo trying to avoid our uncle’s scrutiny. Our uncle. Legitimately our uncle and yet Matteo and I were unrelated.
Whew.
“I think caffè will be needed for this discussion,” Paulie said, coming up to me, a big grin on his face. “Sera, it’s been a while.” He gave me a hug. “You’ve grown into a lovely young woman.”
“Except the height,” I laughed.
“Do you want a cappuccino?” Matteo asked me.
“Sure.”
When the three of us reached the kitchen, Paulie and I took our seats behind the counter while Matteo went to work as barista. “Want one, Paulie?”
“Espresso.”
I couldn’t help noticing Matteo’s broad back and how the muscles rippled underneath his gray shirt.
Damn, Matteo was blessed with good genes. His mother was a redhead and those translucent blue eyes came from her. I always thought Paulie was handsome until I caught a glimpse of Matteo’s father Cesar. He was the De Lucci who epitomized the De Lucci’s famous chiseled jaw that he obviously passed on to his sons.
Paulie had it as well, but he was a lankier version of Matteo’s dad. Still, he was an attractive man and I could see why Carlotta fell for him.
No wonder my godfather hated his guts. Zio Gus never got over losing Carlotta to Paulie.
Matteo turned around and set a cappuccino in front of me. “Sorry, I don’t do that fancy leaf crap.”
“You know if we’re going to—” I nearly said fake-date, crap. He narrowed his eyes knowing exactly what I was about to say. What did he expect? I hadn’t had twenty-four hours to get used to the situation. “You know I love that leaf design, caro,” I said sweetly. “Do better next time, okay?”
“You should ask Renz to teach you,” Paulie told Matteo. “He’s an expert in that.”
“He’s an expert in that because that’s what Liz likes.”
I cocked my head. I remember Carlotta telling Luca with glee that the youngest of Cesar’s boys got a girl pregnant in high school. There would always be rivalry between the wives. “Liz is…”
“Renz’s wife.”
“The only victim of the De Lucci curse,” Paulie added.
“Curse?”
“Obsession,” Paulie said. “They fall in love once and obsess over a woman.”
I stared at Matteo with amusement. “Are you in danger of it?”
Matteo made a pfft sound. “It’s a myth. Renz took it too seriously. Look at Paulie,” he said. “I remember him saying he fell in love one too many times.”
“Don’t repeat that to your aunt,” Paulie chuckled. “Where’s my espresso, nephew?”
“So you’re in no danger of falling in obsession over me?” I tongue-in-cheeked.
Matteo rolled his eyes before turning away from us to make the espresso. “Don’t worry. I’m immune to the curse, but I’m not immune to criticism of my cappuccino-making skills.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I tasted his brewed concoction. “Not bad, De Lucci.” I leaned sideways in my seat and regarded Paulie. “So who put you up to checking on us?”
“Carlotta, of course. She’s worried about you since this thing with Matteo came out of nowhere.”
Matteo glanced over his shoulder. “Wow, that’s self-confidence in the reputation of your nephew.”
“You’re playing with fire, pup,” Paulie said. “You know Carlotta will raise a stink about this.”
“I don’t answer to her.”
“She said you’ve both been ignoring her calls.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say it was because Matteo destroyed my phone.
“Here,” Paulie slid his phone toward me. “Why don’t you call her right now?”
I couldn’t even say it was too early because Italy was six hours ahead.
“Fine.” Matteo scowled. “Anything to get her off our backs.”
“Hey—” Paulie said sternly. “You may be the head of De Lucci Transnational now, but you’re still our nephew.”
My fake boyfriend didn’t say anything. I pressed my lips together, not sure whether to laugh. Paulie, I heard, was the lighthearted De Lucci, but Luca thought it was a front and underneath all that nonchalance was a shrewd businessman.
Carlotta answered on the second ring. “Paulie? Did you get hold of my errant nephew and niece?”
“It’s me, Zia. You’re on speaker,” I said.
“Finally,” she said. “I’ve annoyed Luca enough by blowing up his phone. He told me he talked to you. What am I, chopped liver?”
“I lost my phone in the mayhem yesterday.”
She huffed. “I had a word with Gustavo. I told him to do something about Santino.”
“Lottie,” Paulie cut in. “I told you Cesar is handling it.”
“I know, I pestered him too. I’m with them on this vacation, remember?”
“Calm down, tesoro. Your blood pressure, remember?”
“Yes. But he’s gone too far.”
“Let them handle it.”
Another huff came over the phone. “I wasn’t even aware that something like this was going on. What was Luca thinking?”
“After the stunt Santino pulled last night, you can be sure any arranged marriage between us is off the table,” I said.
I shuddered at the close call. Although I wasn’t blindly going into an arranged marriage. I was going to get to know Santino first, but after last night, I was permanently turned off. Instead of becoming a partner, I would be relegated to keeping house for him. Luca knew that wasn’t my plan. I wanted a family, but I wanted to also change the old ways. I wanted my husband to think of me as a helpmate, someone who could give him counsel in running the legitimate side of the business. Sure, I wanted children and to take care of my household, but why not both? It was the twenty-first century.
“And this thing with you and Matteo?”
“I say this with much love, dear aunt,” the man in question drawled. “It’s none of your business.”
This time, Paulie shook his head and covered his mouth, but he couldn’t hide his grin.
“We’re exploring where this is going,” I added.
“Fine. I’ll try not to be nosy.”
“Go take your rest, Lottie. See? The kids are fine.”
After several attempts to say good-bye, we finally ended the call.
I looked at Matteo. “The first thing we need to do today is get me a new phone.”
He shrugged.
Paulie grinned at his nephew. “I’m not sure why Lottie was worried about you railroading Sera. She’s handling you just fine.”
“Don’t encourage her,” Matteo grumbled.
