Page 57 of Shield

“Do you miss her?” I whisper.

At that, he finally pulls back, his blue eyes locked onto mine. “No. I never had feelings for her. But I feel sorry for her. Guilty. She was just a kid, and I put her in that situation.”

His voice cracks. I cup his face, forcing him to look at me. “Matti, you were just a kid, too. Both of you were young, yes, but she made her choices. Her friends were there, too, and Aurelio didn’t hurt them. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen.”

His grip loosens. I lift his chin, holding his gaze. Fuck, he’s gorgeous. Those sharp blue eyes, high cheekbones, chiseled jaw, his scruffy beard. I’ve been staring at him for over a week, and it doesn’t gets old.

He lets me kiss him, softly pressing my lips to his.

“I didn’t do it,” he whispers. “I didn’t rape her. I knew I didn’t, but I kept questioning myself. Thinking maybe I got it wrong, maybe I didn’t read her right. But I didn’t.I didn’t do it.She never even said I did.”

The weight of it settles between us. He didn’t rape her. She didn’t kill herself because of him. It was all Aurelio.

Matti closes his eyes and presses his forehead against mine, exhaling a deep breath that releases all the tension in his body.

“I fucking love you so much, Siena.”

My heart clenches. What am I supposed to do with this man?

I don’t know how long we sit like that, holding each other, before the moment is shattered by a man’s voice coming from the living room. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Matti’s head snaps up. He stands, setting me down and steadying me on my feet. “You good?” he asks gently, his fingers brushing my jaw.

I nod. “Are you?”

“As long as you’re with me, kitten, always.”

He drops a kiss on the top of my head and takes my hand, leading me out of the bedroom.

Vin is in the living room, glaring menacingly at Valentina as she yells at him. His anger sends me straight back to that day in Aurelio’s office when he stopped Matti from helping me, and I’m immediately on edge. I start to shake, but I work hard to keep it under control. I know Matti won’t let him touch me, but when I see Tommy step out from behind him, the blood drains from my face.

When his gaze falls on me, Vin scoffs. “What the fuck? You putting together a harem?”

Valentina sneers. “Please. I wouldn’t fuck him withyourdick.”

That’s news to me. If I weren’t so nervous, I’d laugh.

Vin’s not buying it either. He rolls his eyes and turns to Matti. “Whatever. We need to talk.”

Is he here to fight with Matti? I try hard to stop my shaking before anyone notices.

“What’s up?” Matti asks, his voice even. He seems unconcerned, so I step back to watch them both.

Both are muscular men, but Matti is a little taller than Vin, and Vin is darker than Matti, with eyes and hair that are almost black and olive skin. Matti’s lighter complexionmakes it seem like he has a golden halo glowing around him in comparison. A wave of pride washes over me that this man is mine.

Valentina huffs, flopping into a chair. “Why don’t you guys just fuck each other and get it over with?”

Vin rolls his eyes. “Both of us fucking you is about as close as we’ll ever get to that.”

Disgusting. I don’t react outwardly but move to sit on the couch, keeping my eyes warily on Vin.

Tommy turns to me. “Siena, I’d like to apologize for the pain you endured at my father’s house. You didn’t deserve any of that. You were caught in the middle of something that had nothing to do with you. It was unconscionable and should never have happened. On behalf of my family, I’d like to sincerely apologize.”

“Caught in the middle of what?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and ignoring his apology. I don’t know this fucker and the last time I saw him, he pulled a gun on my… on Matti.

“In the middle of my father and your brother,” Tommy says. His tone is polite but distant, very different from his brother, Vin.

Though they both have dark hair and olive skin, Tommy’s tattoos stop an inch above his wrists and below his collar line. If he were wearing a suit, you wouldn’t know that he had full sleeves and chest tattoos, but today, his short sleeve V-neck t-shirt shows them off.

---