by Cassie May
We drive in silence to Matteo’s condo and I feel nervousness rising in me. What if he doesn’t want to see me? What if he is happy and just doesn’t want to face his brother? I only heard rumors about what happened with Clara and maybe that is the reason he is so off-kilter?
Finally we are standing in front of the condo door and Federico turns the key in the lock. “I’ll leave you alone now. If you’ll need a ride back, just call me. I’ll stay nearby.” Nodding I push the door open and enter the dark condo.
The first thing I notice is the smell. Stale and as if something has died in here. I barely suppress the urge to gag while wandering through the barely lit condo in search of Matteo. I stumble over empty bottles and half-eaten takeout container and scrunch my nose. Where is the cleaning lady? She came every other day when I stayed here and this mess is more than a week old.
I am almost scared to look in the master bedroom, but I have looked everywhere else and Matteo is nowhere to be found. Slowly I push the door open and expect an even worse chaos than in the rest of his apartment, but the scent that assaults me is… my own? The whole room smells like my perfume and when I see a haggard looking Matteo hugging a big pillow in his sleep my heart breaks for him. He must have bought my perfume, because I am sure I didn’t leave it with him. Carefully I creep closer and look at him. A week old scruff covers his face and his eyes have sunken in. Thank god he must have showered in the last days, because the smell is not that bad considering how the apartment looks like. A dark lock of his hair falls over his eyes and I can’t resist the urge to push it back. It feels soft and I notice too late that Matteo’s eyes are now wide open.
“Valerie? What are you doing here?” His voice is hoarse and he sounds like a chain smoker.
I try a smile, but feel my chin wobble at his obvious despair. “I came to talk to you. I am sorry that it took me so long, but Jess and Luca thought it would be better for me to not see your gifts. I thought you didn’t care about me anymore. I am so sorry.”
I see anger flashing in his eyes, but he hides it quickly before grabbing my waist and pulling me next to him on the bed. “You have nothing to be sorry about, cara. I have missed you so much. I am sorry for not trying harder to get back to you.”
Turning around I kiss him. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I love you and I would like to give us a second chance. That is if you still want me.”
He smiles and kisses me back. “I love you, too, cara and I could never not want you anymore. Thank you for coming for me.”
Epilogue
Valerie
Laughing I try to fend off the grabby hands of my boyfriend when we enter his condo after our month long vacation in Europe. I got to know Matteo’s mother, a really nice woman, and we traveled to all those cities I have only dreamed of before.
I tried so many pastries and baked goodies my head is still hurting with the thoughts of how to do them on my own. “Matteo, stop! Federico is waiting for us have you forgotten that already? He wanted to tell us something important!”
And he sounded worried. That can mean so many things in their world. It can be another war coming toward us after the Mexicans have finally quieted down. It can be the possibility that they found Clara’s partner. It can be more stress inside the Family after Rico has killed Clara. It went better than everyone thought since Matteo and Federico had enough evidence against her, but her father still likes to stir shit up.
Entering our living room I come to an abrupt halt when I see Rico already sitting in one of the armchairs waiting for us. Swatting away Matteo’s grabby hands with more force this time I mumble. “Matteo, your brother is already here.”
Matteo looks up and frowns. “What are you doing here? I thought we would come to you after we got settled again.”
Federico shakes his head. “There is not much time and I wanted you to know it before anybody else. I am going to get married again. I am going to marry Jelena Charkova, Vitali’s daughter.”
Bomb. Exploded.
Wow. I would have never thought if that possibility.
Acknowledgements
I want to say thanks to all people who supported me during the long way toward publishing this book.
First and foremost my Zwilling. I love you and I could not have done this without you.
Second my family that supports me even when I space off sometimes and get lost in my head and the voices that speak to me and the stories that want to be told. I love you.
My author posse that changes its group name almost daily. You people light up my day and make me see the path that winds itself through this whole indie author thing xD I hope we continue too be as awesome as we started.
My lovely facebook group where most of the members don’t even know that they supported me with their incredible strength. You guys rock! Peniten forever ;)
Thanks to all of the other indie authors out there that went this way before me and made it possible for me to enjoy their stories before taking this step as well.
And finally a huge thank you to all of the people out there that gave me a chance and bought this book without knowing me or my writing style. Thank you so much, you don’t know what it means to me, that you read this book so far. You guys are awesome!
About the author
I am German born and bred and even though I write mostly in English, because it flows better when the characters speak to me. I started writing when I was very young, but since now nothing was fit to be published. Taking the step to finally publish the stories that were in my head far too long needed a lot of courage and prodding from different people, but I am glad that I did it. If you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it, please leave a review on your retailer or Goodreads. If you want to keep up with my upcoming releases, like my author page on Facebook or Goodreads. Thank you for giving me a chance and I hope you keep on reading my books.
Connect with me:
Follow my author page on Facebook: Cassie May
Follow me on Goodreads: Cassie May
Other titles by Cassie May
The Collister Series
Captured Hearts
Stolen Innocence
Lost Moments (Coming 2017)
Precious Dominance (Coming 2017)
First Entanglement (tba)
Twisted Hustle (tba)
The Deadly Sins Series
Gluttony
Pride
Wrath
Lust
Envy
Sloth
Greed
Imprint
Cassie May
Nürnberger Straße 56
70374 Stuttgart
Germany
Table of Contents
Intro
Chapter 1
Valerie
Matteo
Chapter 2
Valerie
Chapter 3
Valerie
Matteo
Valerie
Chapter 4
Matteo
Valerie
Chapter 5
Valerie
Chapter 6
Matteo
Chapter 7
Valerie
Chapter 8
Matteo
Valerie
Chapter 9
Matteo
Chapter 10
Valerie
Chapter 11
Matteo
Chapter 12
Matteo
Valerie
Chapter 13
Valerie
Chapter 14
Matteo
Chapter 15
Valerie
Chapter 16
Matteo
Chapter 17
Valerie
Chapter 18
Valerie
Chapter 19
Matteo
Chapter 20
Matteo
Chapter 21
Valerie
Chapter 22
Valerie
Chapter 23
M
atteo
Chapter 24
Matteo
Chapter 25
Valerie
Chapter 26
Matteo
Chapter 27
Valerie
Epilogue
Valerie
Acknowledgements
About the author
Other titles by Cassie May
Imprint