Mateo: A Dark Mafia Romance (The Syndicates Book 5) by Raven Scott

Author:Raven Scott [Scott, Raven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

18

Mateo

Cuddling against my side, Lucy twirled my chest hairs around her finger, and I grumbled lowly as I breathed in her smell. I’d felt her wake up with a start, like she was worried this wasn’t real; to be honest, I felt the same way. This was just far too perfect to be true. Stretching my legs, I flexed my feet and toes before rolling over to wrap her up against my chest, and all of my senses tingled wildly.

“You know, I’m an only child. I think my mom just thought I wasn’t going to get any better than Seth. I think . . . I thought I probably wouldn’t, either.” Her hoarse confession wrapped around my heart and squeezed, and I cracked my eyes open to lean back. Lucy’s baby blues focused on my chest under furrowed brows, and she frowned slightly as goosebumps followed her fingertips. “I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t unhappy, either.”

“I had a sister, Sonja. She killed herself when I was ten.” It wasn’t like Sonja was a touchy subject, but shame thickened my tone and soured my tongue, and Lucy’s breath hitched softly. “I spent every moment after that using money to make up for how miserable I was, and it worked for the most part. I mean, I had the means, so why shouldn’t I? After what Carlyle put me through, everything changed. In an instant. Not because I killed her, but because I realized that was my life— being ordered and stepped on and despised for not being invested in the business.”

“But you’re different now. You’re gentle and warm.” Humming softly, I reached to stroke her cheek, and Lucy covered my palm with hers as her eyes flickered up to mine. “You’re a wonderful man, Mateo.”

“When those grease monkeys threw you in that room, I thought, ‘you didn’t deserve this’. I’d grown up in an environment where being kidnapped was a reality I had to face, but you were just snatched on your way home from working at a damn supermarket. How do you get more innocent than that? But the last time I talked to my dad at the hospital, he said something that took me a while to understand.” Trailing off, I licked my lips heavily as my mouth dried from my confession, and Lucy watched me with big, glistening eyes. “I don’t deserve it, either.”

“Oh, Mateo.” Her sharp, sad smile closed my throat, and Lucy wrapped her arms around me to hold my head against her chest. Slithering around her waist, I hugged her tightly, and my heart thundered against the bars of its cage. Stroking my hair, she kissed my crown, and I closed my eyes to focus on the soft feel of her body against mine. “Have you talked to your family since then?”

“No.” Mine was a lonely, sad existence, pining for her because I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t call my dad or Oran, and I really didn’t want to for fear of being dragged back in.

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