“I’m not letting you leave,” she growled out, her gaze batting between me and Mateo.
“Move,” Mateo told the woman, dragging his hand across his jaw. “I don’t have time for your bullshit tonight.”
“My bullshit?” she screamed, slapping her hands against the door of the SUV. “You fuckin’ left without a word.”
“And?”
“And.” She licked her bottom lip, the dark circles under her eyes swallowing half of her face. “And I need money.”
Mateo laughed, the sound echoing in the open space. “Money?” He stepped toward her, and I watched like I was in a theatre consumed by the latest blockbuster hit. I couldn’t look away, even if I wanted to. “Figures that’s all you’d need.” He grabbed her arm and hauled her away from his car. “Luna, get in.”
I darted forward and practically dived in the car. But I still didn’t look away. She scraped her nails down his arm, fighting him to let go. “You’re not gonna get away with this!”
“Away with what?” he asked, his face impassive. He let her go and wiped his hand on his pants.
“You…” She pointed at him, grabbing her hair, and pulling it with her other hand. “You…” She screamed, so loud that I was sure she’d gain the attention of everyone in the apartments. She was losing her mind, and I had no idea who the hell she was. Was this something to do with the Mafia? I gasped. Maybe she wanted drugs from him. My stomach churned. Was he one of the people who fed people like my parents’ drugs?
Oh my God. I didn’t know who this man was and I was about to leave with him.
She paced in front of him, throwing her hands up as she tried to grasp at straws, then finally she paused in front of him, her lips spreading into a wide grin. “The kids.” His body snapped upright, and even I could tell from the back of him that those two words had affected him more than anything else she’d said. “They’re my kids.”
“No. They’re not. They’ve never been your kids.” He slammed his fist onto his chest. “I’m the one who has been there for them. Not you. You were too busy getting lost in your latest fuckin’ bottle!”
My body sank lower into the seat as I realized this was his mom.
Wow. This was his mom.
She reminded me of mine.
“All it’d take is one call.” She placed her hand on her chest. “One call to say you took them from me. Kidnapped them.”
“You think anyone would care?” He laughed as he pushed his hand into his pocket, but his movements were jerky. She knew what to say to get a reaction out of him. My eyes narrowed as he handed over some cash to her. “Here. Go get drunk and leave us the hell alone.”
She greedily snapped up the money, not giving him a second look as she sprinted away from him, bypassing the apartments. She was going to spend the money on the only thing she cared about: her vice. She was an addict, just like my parents.
Damn.
Mateo stood there for several minutes, staring at the empty space where his mother had just been. I wasn’t sure what to do. Did I get out and see if he was okay? Did I stay put and let him come to me? I bit down on my bottom lip, trying to figure out what was best, but by the time I came to a decision to stay put, he turned. His feet carried him to the driver’s side, and he didn’t say a word as he got inside the SUV then turned the engine on.
He pulled out of the lot, the silence in the car almost deafening. I opened my mouth, not sure what to say. The entire night had gone to shit, and I didn’t think anything I spoke could have made it better. But there was no harm in trying, right?
“So…that was your mom?”
“Yep.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with a beat that only he knew. “She’s a drunk.”
“I can see that,” I said softly, dipping my shoulders down to make myself smaller. “I get it.”
He hummed a noise in the back of his throat, not committing to actual words. He didn’t want to talk about it. I got it. I truly did. Which was why I pinched my lips together and stared out of the window. It looked like we were headed back the way we’d come, and for a second, I wondered if he’d changed his mind.
But then he pulled into a small driveway in front of a house. I couldn’t make it out completely in the dark, but I could see the trees surrounding it and toys scattered around on the front lawn. The rumbling engine cut off, but neither of us moved to get out.
“Why?” I asked, the burning question taking root and demanding to be voiced. “Why did you tell him I was your fiancée?”
Mateo laughed, shaking his head. “It was the only way to get you out of there.” He turned in his seat, his arm leaning on the top of the steering wheel. “Do you understand what you did?” His voice was deeper now. “You sealed our fate.”
I frowned. “No. I—”
“You made a decision.” He leaned forward, sucking up all of the air in the confined space. “You stole from Lorenzo, and the only way to get you out of there was to claim you as mine.”
“You don’t have to be mine though.” A thought occurred to me and I turned completely in the seat. “We can pretend. He’ll forget after a while and then—”
“No.” His word was final, his eyes lighting with fire. He thrust open the driver’s door, and I scrambled out after him.
This couldn’t be the end of it. So, Mateo told a white lie, it didn’t mean it had to be the end of the story. “I could disappear. I could run away. They’d never find me.” I rushed the words out as I caught up to him at the front door. I didn’t think twice about following him inside. “Mateo—“
“You can leave now.” I stumbled back at his words, my breath whooshing out of me. “Thanks for tonight.”
“Ma—”
“You’re welcome,” a new voice said, and I moved to the side to see around Mateo. An older woman shuffled forward, taking the stack of cash from him. “They did all of their homework and went to bed with no problems.” She smiled at me as she exited the house silently, and I realized she must have been a babysitter. Did that mean Cardo and Chiara were here?
“What…” I was so confused. I still didn’t know where we were, and I was starting to lose my damn mind. I followed Mateo down the short hallway and glanced around the room he’d walked into. A modern kitchen, complete with all the appliances you could ever dream of. “Where are we?”
“My place,” Mateo said easily, pulling open the refrigerator. He grabbed a bottle of water and downed it in one then walked around the kitchen, messing with different things and setting up a coffee pot.
Had I disappeared into a new universe?
“I…don’t understand.”
Mateo huffed, leaning against the counter opposite me. “What don’t you understand, Luna?” He crossed his arms causing his shirt to tighten across his chest. He was sex personified, standing with his legs crossed at his ankles, his hair a stylish mess.
“I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Let me break it down for you.” He lifted his hand in front of him and extended a finger. “You stole from the Beretta Mafia—for what reason I still don’t know.” He stared at me pointedly then lifted a second finger. “Said Mafia boss was about to chop one of your hands off. That’s what he does when you take something that’s his.” I swallowed. Lorenzo had pulled his knife out and it had been so close to my arm when Mateo had told him to stop. “The only way to stop it was to claim you,” he told me, bringing up a third finger. “But here’s the thing.” He pushed off the counter, dropping his hands at his sides. “I couldn’t just say you were a friend, or a girlfriend.” He tsked. “Nope. That wouldn’t have been enough to keep the hand attached to your wrist.” I couldn’t look away as he sauntered toward me.
“But—”
“So, I said what I had to say. I told him you were my fiancée.” He rounded the counter that separated us. “And Lorenzo? He doesn’t take being lied to lightly.” I grasped onto the counter as he stopped a foot away from me, so close, but so far away. “Whic
h means, what I said to him has to be the truth.”
“But what if…” I licked my lips, trying to formulate a plan. “What if we went back to him and said we decided not to get married after what happened?”
“No.” He placed his thumb and finger on my chin, staring into my eyes. “This isn’t just your ass on the line now, Luna. It’s mine too.” My shaky hand reached out, and I hooked my finger between the gap of two buttons on his shirt. “We go back on what we said? I’m out. And if I’m out, I can’t provide for the kids.” He stilled. “Now do you get it?”
“I…” My chest heaved, and I tried not to get distracted by his heady musk scent. “I get it.” I fisted his shirt, needing something to center me and the realization. We had no choice, not if we both wanted to survive.
“We get married,” he started, not moving closer to me. “The quicker the better. It’ll prove to Lorenzo that he can trust us.” He paused, the silence stretching between us.
I still had so many questions. So much I didn’t understand. Like… “You’re in the mafia?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Lorenzo helped me when no one else would. I was sixteen with a baby at home that my mom didn’t give a fuck about.” I hated the sad look in his eyes as he spoke. “I had no choice but to drop out of school. And Lorenzo was there to help me. He’s my family.”
I wished I had someone like that to help me. But then…I blinked. I did have someone like that. Mateo was that to me. He’d stepped in when no one else would, and he didn’t even know why.
“They owed someone money,” I whispered. He tilted his head to the side, but didn’t say anything as I tried to find the rest of the words. “For as long as I could remember, I’ve been cleaning up their messes.” I stared at the painting on the wall behind Mateo, too scared to look into his eyes as I opened up to him. I’d never told anyone what I was about to confess. I’d never trusted anyone like I did Mateo in that moment.
“They’d run up bills with the local dealer. Then they’d come knocking.” I snorted. “Of course, they couldn’t pay them. So…I did. I did whatever I had to do to pay them back, normally by working for them.” I swallowed, feeling tears fill my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “It’s easier not to get caught when you’ve got a nine-year-old kid working for you.” I let go of his shirt and wrapped my arms around my stomach, wanting to keep myself together. “So when the dealer was in the apartment when I got home, I knew they’d done the same thing.”
I blinked, hating the tear that slipped free and tracked down my cheek. But Mateo was there, ready to catch it.
“I knew they didn’t have any money to pay him. They’d already stolen my laptop that I used for schoolwork and sold it. Along with most of the furniture.”
“Anything to feed their habit,” he murmured.
I nodded, agreeing with him. “Exactly.” I cleared my throat, looking back at him. “So you see, I had to steal that bag. If I didn’t then he would have…” I trailed off, not wanting to say the words.
“Which is the reason why I stepped in.” He grasped my wrists gently, pulling my arms from around my stomach. “I understand you better than anyone else ever will. Being the child of an addict isn’t easy, but we do what we have to do to survive.” His lips lifted on one side. “And that’s what we’ll do now. We’ll survive…together.”
Hope blossomed in my chest. Maybe things would be different now. Maybe I could start a life that wouldn’t be filled with chaos and darkness.
“Okay,” I whispered, not wanting to break the precarious position we were in.
“I only have one rule.” He pressed his body to mine, his hands trailing up my arms and around my back. He held me to him, and I sighed at the feel of his heart beating against my chest. I’d never felt safer than in that moment. “You have nothing to do with them again.”
My head snapped up. “What?” I tried to back out of his hold, but he held steadfast. “I can’t—”
“Yeah, you can.” He drilled his eyes down on me. “You wanted a fresh start, but you were never going to get it with them. They’ll drag you down. They’ll always drag you down.” A muscle in his jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. “It took me eight years to realize you can’t help someone who doesn’t want the help.”
“But what if—”
“What if?” He shook his head. “What ifs will only keep you tied to them. Break the chains, Luna. Break them. Escape. And never look back.”
My heart beat wildly, the thought of turning my back on my parents something that I couldn’t comprehend. But what if he was right? I stared around the kitchen and focused on the drawings pinned to the refrigerator. This wasn’t just a house, he’d made it a home. For him. For Cardo. For Chiara. And now I was here. He’d brought me in, and yet, I still couldn’t fathom why he would do that for me.
He’d walked away after our night together. He’d acted like I didn’t exist. But tonight, he hadn’t had a choice, and now we were stuck here, whether we liked it or not. It didn’t matter what plans I tried to come up with in my head, none of them would protect him and the kids. I had the fate of their lives in my hands, and I would never cause harm to them.
I hauled in a burning breath, making the decision. I may regret it, but in that moment, I knew there was only one thing I could say. “I’ll break the chains.”
CHAPTER 12
MATEO
I idled at the end of the pathway, my stomach churning with nerves. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was picking Aida and Luna up at the same time or if it was what I planned to do afterward.
It had been three days since Romeo had dragged Luna down into the basement. Three days since she’d confessed her sins to me. Three days since she’d witnessed what my mom was like. I ground my teeth at my last thought. I should have known that my mom would use the kids against me. She’d perfected her shot over the years and never failed to hit the jugular.
But she’d made a mistake. She’d shown me her hand, and now I’d put things in motion that would have her out of our lives for good. I wasn’t even sure if Cardo and Chiara missed her. They were so much happier now that we lived in a house they weren’t kicked out of at every opportunity. I blew out a breath. This was what I’d worked eight years for. Eight years of long hours and dedication. Eight years of dragging myself up, determined to be more than what my mother was.
It was all coming to fruition, but now a wrench had been thrown in the works. A wrench with light-brown hair and blue eyes. A wrench that had taken root in my brain and now it looked like she was there to stay.
It’d be all too easy to let her occupy my every thought. But I couldn’t let it happen because I had too many things going on at once. I didn’t have the time for her too. It was the harsh reality. Which was why I’d kept my distance since that night.
Scoffing, I shook my head. It didn’t matter whether I got caught up in her or not. After today, there would be no backing out.
My stomach dipped as I caught sight of Luna walking beside Aida, a genuine smile pulling at her lips. I hadn’t seen that since the morning in my apartment all that time ago. The morning that had set this entire thing in motion. The morning that had made me wish I was a normal twenty-something guy who could have his fun without any consequences.
But I wasn’t that guy.
I’d never be that guy.
I didn’t shy away from my responsibilities. I hadn’t since I was sixteen years old.
My heart raced as the back door opened, my body not getting the memo on how I was meant to feel about her. This was why I’d stayed away from her. Aida slid in and I stared at her in the rearview mirror, expecting to see Luna get in next to her, but when the passenger door opened up, I whipped my head around.
“Hey,” she greeted, her voice light and airy. She had no idea what was about to happen. No idea that by the end of the night she wouldn’t be her any longer. She adjusted herself in the front seat then closed the door at the same time as Aida did.
&
nbsp; “Didn’t I call this?” Aida said, leaning forward and pushing her head between the seats. “I knew you two would get together.”
Her words broke some of the tension I was feeling, and I blew out a breath, thankful that for at least a little while, they’d be a buffer between me and Luna.
“No you didn’t.” I chuckled, putting the car in drive then pulled away from the curb.
“I did!” She leaned back, laughing. “I just didn’t tell you.” She clicked her belt in place and settled back, her attention drifting off to a place in her mind I knew she hated. She didn’t do it as often as she used to, but what happened still haunted her. It didn’t help that she had the scars to remind her at every opportunity too.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying not to let my mind go back to what happened to her and how I’d failed. I stopped at a red light and glanced over at Luna, trying to distract myself. Her gaze was fixed to the window, and I couldn’t help but tap her arm to get her attention. She turned her head slowly, her blue eyes fixing to me. She looked unsure of herself, her insecurity at the forefront for me to witness.
“How were classes?” I asked, deciding a neutral topic would be best to start with.
“Good.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I need to stay late tomorrow so I won’t be able to watch the kids.” That was another thing she’d been doing since I moved her in. Dorothy—the new babysitter who lived two doors down from the house—hadn’t watched them since.
I nodded as the light turned green and pushed my foot down on the accelerator. She didn’t need to watch Cardo and Chiara. That wasn’t what she was there for. But I didn’t tell her that because I knew how much they all liked to spend time together. They had their bond, one that I hadn’t realized was so strong.
“There’s no classes tomorrow,” Aida spoke up. I darted my gaze to the rearview mirror, seeing her eyes go wide as she realized what she’d said.
Mateo Caputo: Unseen Underground Page 13