Page 62 of For Pleasure Or Worse

His fingers slipped under the hem of the shorts on either side and squeezed my outer thighs. A sigh fell from my mouth in the quiet room and Matty’s eyes glinted gold like sparks in a fire. “Say the word, Natalia.”

The lube lying a foot away from us was so promising.

I thought too hard, for too long, and then there was a hand at my throat, tugging me forward until our noses connected and our unsteady breaths mingled. “I know you’ve been feeling this too, between us. I know whatwantlooks like in your eyes. I could see it outside.” His words skated across my lips and I pitched forward to claim him but he kept the distance like a cat-and-mouse game. A short whine erupted from me, pleasing Mateo into a grin.

“I want to get back to us again,” I said vulnerably. My fingers skated into his long hair, pushing it off his forehead, behind his ears. His eyebrows threaded together like I’d pinched a nerve, then relaxed into understanding. We both underestimated how hard it would be to meld our separate lives into one. Our opposite upbringings, our distinctly different families. We werealso naive to think we knew each other entirely without having stirred that pot. Love is never just about two people. It’s about how two people take on the world together.

Mateo leaned forward and kissed me, blank slating all the thoughts I had racing through my head as my eyes fell closed, lashes fanning together. It deepened instantly as our lips made way for tongues to clash and a satisfied hum rumbled through Matty’s chest and landed like a rock in the cavity of my stomach. This kiss was an ‘I’m hungry for you’ kiss, an ‘if you don’t stop me now, this is going to go all the way’ kiss.

Half my shirt was over my head when the sudden slam of a car door in the driveway below our window followed by the incoherent rumble of yelling demanded our attention. I ignored it initially—my fiancé was kissing his way down my body and parts of me were completely checked out of reality. But another door slammed, and more disgruntled exclamations had Mateo perking his head up to listen.

“What is that?” I was flushed and breathy, and I ran my hand involuntarily through his locks like a tether to the moment, willing it to not get away from us again. But the chirping continued through the back gate of the house, getting louder and more animated and branching off into three very distinct voices that belonged to my sisters.

Causing a scene like clockwork.

I blew out a breath and ran my hands up and down my face with a groan. “Perfect timing as usual for us Russos.”

“Ophelia can probably handle it,” Mateo tried.

“I would never subject her to that.” I slipped my tank back over my head and shimmied out from under Mateo’s touch. He remained there on his knees with his forehead on the mattress, the blankets muffling his growl of frustration.

Jogging through the door and down the hallway, I met Ophelia out on the veranda where she was already trying tomediate my concerned and overwhelmed sisters. Camilla was wearing a sun hat the size of the deck umbrella and dragging a designer carry-on bag carelessly up the stone stairs.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“There’s afreakthat followed us here all the way from the airport,” she spat. Mia and Isabella were making their way up the stairs close behind.

I looked down at an inexplicable number of suitcases abandoned poolside. “Followed you how?”

“He asked us at the taxi pickup if we wanted to carpool,” Bella explained. “Yeah, no thanks. Women can’t even walk outside alone without the threat of physical assault.”

“I called him an ass-licking incel and then we jumped in the SUV and got the fuck out of there,” Mia said. “But his car trailed us all the way here and parked outside. I think we need to call the cops.”

“Who’s calling the cops now?” Tyler and Sam stepped out onto the deck in tandem and the eyes on all three of my sisters doubled in size.

“Looks like the cops are already here,” Bella lavished.

Tyler’s eyes lit up and a smirk stretched across his handsome face. “You are going to get me in all types of trouble, aren’t you?”

“Oh my god.” I swallowed and put my body between them. “Where is this guy now? The boys will take care of it.”

“Is your name Frankie, by chance?” Mia pointed at Sam.

“Have you forgotten that you just busted in here screaming about a potential stalker security risk?” I reminded her. “Focus, Mia.”

Mateo and Frankie joined the group outside, glancing around in confusion. My fiancé caught my gaze and lifted an eyebrow. “Everyone okay?” he asked.

“A car followed my sisters here from the airport. Can you four just go do a quick look around out front and see what’s going on to ease everyone’s mind?”

“Of course.” Mateo nodded. He gestured his head toward the stairs and Frankie and the Swans followed the order like it was ingrained in them, filing one by one in a stealthy line toward the backyard fence. Us girls leaned over the veranda wall and watched from a safe distance.

“Should we keep score on the absolute fuck-assery that goes down this weekend?” I suggested. “Starting strong with this one. If someone’s not in jail by Sunday it will be a miracle.”

“No one is ending up in jail,” Ophelia assured me. “This is a small hiccup. It will be sorted out in just a few minutes.”

The wooden double doors on the gate squeaked open and the men below stopped, flattening themselves to the white stone walls of the house, disappearing from view.

“Oh my fucking god, he’s coming inside,” Camilla panicked.

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