I turn to Matteo waiting for an explanation.
He shrugs again. “Must have slipped my mind.”
I frown, not liking the idea of being back in his house again. Armas may be gone, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a brother or a cousin who is as bad or worse.
The limo parks outside the house, and the door opens. Gia and her date step out while I stare at the house, not sure if I want to go inside anymore.
Matteo steps out and holds his hand out to me, commanding me to step out without pushing me.
I grab his hand, feeling calm radiate through him to me as he helps me out of the car.
I continue to hold onto his hand, grasping it for dear life, as we step inside the mansion. I expect to feel nervous, anxious butterflies flickering in my belly. I expect hauntings and terror to cloud my head. But Matteo smiles at me like he knows a secret he’s sharing with me, and it all stops. I can’t think about anything other than enjoying the night with him.
“You okay?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
I smile. “Never been better.”
He laughs because we both know what I said isn’t true.
“Good. Now dance with me.”
He pulls me to the dance floor in a large room toward the back of the house that seems it was built entirely for this purpose. With so many people laughing and enjoying themselves, and this room feeling so far from what it was like in Armas’ room, it doesn’t even feel like I’m in the same house.
Matteo wraps his arms around me, and we start dancing. The music is slow and classic, not what I’m used to dancing to, but Matteo is practiced and patient with me. His hands guide me until we are moving together to the music.
I step on his foot at least three times and each time he growls and laughs. I almost want to step on his foot again on purpose to make him laugh because I love hearing him laugh so much.
“Don’t even think about it,” he whispers in my ear.
“Think about what?”
“Stepping on my foot again.”
I grin, surprised he was able to guess my next move.
He doesn’t smile back. Instead, he’s focused on something off in the distance.
I turn in the direction of his stare, and I see a man who looks almost exactly like Armas, but a few years older from the gray in his hair.
I swallow hard.
“Sorry, the fun needs to end. Time to get to work,” he says.
My heart stops. As he hooks my arm into the crook of his and we start walking toward the man.
He pats my hand calmly, letting me know things are going to be okay, as we stroll without saying a word.
But I have a feeling everything is not going to be fine. My stomach is in knots, and so far since I’ve been captured, my gut feeling has been right. Every time.
The man strides outside to a balcony, and we follow. My throat tightens when we step outside, and we are joined by the entire Espocito family. Armas’ parents, his older brother, and a younger brother, who looks to be fifteen. All are standing, staring at us like they want to kill us. They probably will. We are out numbered, and they have a vendetta against Matteo.
We are dead.
And just when I was finally accepting my new life and wanted to live.
I hear heels behind us, and see Gia, and her date walk up next to us. We are now four against four, but I still give them the better odds. The only person who would be useful in a fight on our side is Matteo.
“You had some balls to show up here tonight,” Armas’ older brother says.