Page 74 of Shot For Mercy

“Really, Dad?” Matteo asks lowly. “You invite me just to rub this in my face?”

“I need to talk to you.” I tell him, and he raises an eyebrow. “It’s about Cole.”

“What more could you possibly have to say?”

“We’re engaged,” I reply, and his eyes widen once more. “I’m sorry—I just didn’t want you to find out another way. I needed this to come from me.”

“So it’s that serious?” he asks, venom in his voice.

“Yes, it is.” I sigh. “A spring wedding.”

“Unbelievable,” Matteo scoffs, and I flinch. “This is absolutely insane. You’ve barely even been with him.”

“I know him, Matteo.” I rebuke.“This is what I want—what we want. Does it matter that we’ve only been together a few months? Not to us. We both know what we want, and I don’t want to play the long game.”

“Wow.” He chuckles. “Just when I thought I couldn’t hate you more.”

I flinch, and he smiles. “You can’t mean that.” I shake my head. “What can I do to make this better? Did you think about therapy?”

“I have.” He nods slowly. “I just don’t know if it’ll help any.”

“You can’t know unless you try.”

Matteo looks at me with tears in his eyes, and it breaks my heart. “I don’t know, Dad. Okay? I’m not sure what I want to do.”

“I can wait,” I whisper to him as people get closer to us. “Please.”

“I want to talk to Cole,” he replies, and my stomach drops. “Then I’ll make a decision.”

That leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Jealousy consumes me, and I know it’s fucking irrational. What if he convinces Cole not to marry me? What if he steals him away from me? No. Cole wouldn’t do that to me. Right?

“I’m going to talk to him,” he tells me again. “Whether you want me to or not. We both know he wants to, and I need to hear it from him, Dad. I need closure.”

“What kind of closure?” I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t you dare?—”

“What?” He rolls his eyes. “Don’t you dare kiss him? Fuck him?” I bristle, and he smiles. “Don’t worry, Dad. He’s a loyal guy. I’m sure he wouldn’t do that.”

I nod. “He is.”

“But it won’t stop me,” Matteo tells me, and I swear my stomach bottoms out. It’s about to fall out of my ass. “I need this, Dad. It’s the only way I can move on.”

“What a way to move on,” I mutter. “Maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Oh, now you want to change your mind?” His smile is saccharine. I’m about five seconds tops from wringing his neck. “I thought you wanted me in your life.”

“Not at the expense of my marriage, Matteo.”

“You’re not married yet.” He shrugs. “He’s free to make his own choices. And who knows, Dad? He might just pick me instead. I’ve seen the way he looks at me. Like he’s fucking dying without me. If you think he doesn’t have feelings for me anymore, then you’re fucking delusional.”

He’s not wrong, and that’s what kills me. Cole has been a mess without Matteo in his life, and it’s made me wonder if his feelings went beyond friendship. I can’t think about that too much. I fucking proposed. I asked him to spend the rest of his life with me, and he said yes. I have to trust that he loves me. That we’re in this together. That something like Matteo begging him to come back won’t break us. I have to trust that our relationship isn’t fragile.

Even if it kills me.

“Do what you need to do,” I reply grimly. “But after that, you’re going to therapy with me, and we will fix this. You’ll be a part of our lives again.”

“I can’t pretend nothing happened, Dad.” He chuckles, but it holds no humor. “You can’t expect me to do that. I’ll make amends with you. I’ll go to therapy with you. But being around Cole is too painful, and I don’t know how long it’ll take me to come around.” A tear slips down his cheek and he wipes it angrily with the back of his hand. I know it bothers him to show me weakness. “He’s the love of my life.” His voice cracks. “You can’t expect me to watch him live his life with…you.”

I get it, I really, really do. I don’t blame him. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that it hurts so fucking bad. He’s going to get closure from Cole and then abandon him, and it’s going to destroy both of them. I don’t want him to do this, but I don’t know how to make it stop either.

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