Page 65 of The Lies We Tell

“A little retribution for your plaything?”

“Watch yourself, Luca.”

“She’s not wor—”

“We’re finished here,” Matteo snapped, pushing back from the table. “Dom, I’d like you to go with me to Rome. Can you take the time in two days?”

“Why me and not Luca?”

Matteo swept both his brothers with a look. “Because you’re the second.” Luca scoffed; Matteo ignored him. “So? Free?”

“Yeah, I can be free in two days.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

Matteo swept out of the conference room and back into his office, slamming the door behind him and twisting the blinds closed to shut everyone out.

He was not going to spend the rest of his life justifying every single choice he made. This family was not a democracy. If Luca didn’t like the way Matteo was running things, he was welcome to leave Sicily and make his own way in the world. Or Matteo might very well make the decision for him.

Because his patience with Luca was hanging on by a well-worn thread in danger of snapping.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Tessa squinted at the page she was reading and tried to focus. If her mind would stop racing, she might actually be able to read more than a single page. After re-reading the same paragraph for the fifth time, she gave up, tossing the book next to her on the loveseat with a frustrated sigh.

“Bad ending?”

Tessa squeaked, slapping a hand over her heart. “Jesus, Matteo. You scared me. How long have you been standing there?”

He smiled, pushing away from the doorframe where he’d been leaning and crossed to her, bending to brush a kiss over her lips, then her nose, then her forehead.

“Long enough. What’s the matter, piccola?”

“Nothing,” she lied. It’s not like she could tell him she was anxious because she still hadn’t heard from her father. “I just didn’t sleep well last night, and now I can’t concentrate on anything.”

Matteo shifted the book to the coffee table and claimed the seat next to her. She instantly pivoted to lean back against his side, feeling better as soon as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pressed his cheek against the top of her head. This was the fucking problem.

She should get up, move away from him, put distance between them to remind her she wasn’t here for Matteo. She wasn’t even here for herself. She was here for her mother.

But he was so warm and comforting at her back, his presence grounding. So she stayed and let him drag her a little further into the darkness he didn’t even know was looming beneath them.

“I didn't expect you home so early.”

“Maeve is still sick, and I…”

She tensed, wondering if he was going to say he’d missed her and that’s why he’d come home from the office early.

“I can work from home just as well as the office when she’s out,” he finished.

Of course. That made so much more sense. And it was better that way. She was already far too attached, far too invested. If she was smarter, she’d push him away, pick fights, make him hate her long before he found out what she’d done.

She wanted to be that cruel. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“I have to go to Rome tomorrow. I’ll be gone most of the day.”

“Is Luca going with you?”

“No.” There was a hardness to Matteo’s voice. “Do me a favor and stay away from my brother for a while.”

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