MATTEO (book 2)

16. XENA

Matteo is so wasted.

He's laying on my bed, the floor covered with empty bottles and cans. I walk to the kitchen, opening the cupboard. It was completely empty.

I open the fridge and take out some water bottles. I walk back to the room, he was still shirtless and blood was visible. I need to change that.

I leave the water on the bedside table and shake his shoulder.

"I'm awake." His throat croaks. "Too bright."

I close the curtains, turning on the wall lamp. "How's your head."

"Fine. I hardly get hungover." His eyes open a crack.

"You should go home."

"Ilaria is on her way to pick me up." He sits up, wincing again. "Thanks for..." He points to the bandage.

"I can clean it again."

He shakes his head no. "No, we have a medic down at the warehouse."

I nod my head.

"Don't make it awkward again." He rubs his eyes. "Do give me head tho-"

"Get out."

"Yeah." He laughs, standing up. "Hey, is under your pillow really the most sanitary place to keep a vibrator?"

"Get out, Matteo."

He stops in front of me, tapping my chin. "You let me know if you ever wanna fuck." He bends down, placing a kiss on my lips. "No strings attached."

I just stand still.

He smirks, leaving the room. I watch him from the window as he walks away, not turning back.

I can't do no strings attatched, I'd get attached.

I clean up his mess then shower. I take a small nap, and when I wake up, Antonio is standing at the end of my bed. "Hey." He smiles.

"Hi." I sit up. "You're here early."

"No. I'm on time." He laughs. "You okay? Your mom told me what happened."

I nod my head. "I'm fine. Thanks for coming."

He smiles. I could tell that he was begging to ask something. "What is it?" I ask.

"Uh... Whose bloody shirt is that?" His thumb points to behind him.

"Oh. One of the security got injured and came in here while the feds were in the main house." I get out of bed. "You might not be able to stay, I want to be out there with everybody."

"That's okay." He hugs me. "I'm so glad you're okay."

I hug him back. I need to either completely cut things off with Matteo, or never seen Antonio again.

"I'll make you some breakfast." He kisses me. I kiss him back, rougher than usual.

"Calm down there, tiger." He pulls away. "Can I stay tonight."

"Please." I smile.

I shower, we eat breakfast, he helps the cleanup while I help steady the other girls.

Hamada walks over. "Matteo's men found a location. We're going to check it out. Wanna come?"

"Sure." I stand up.

I inform Antonio and mom what's happening and then we leave. It took an hour to get there and when we arrived. I didn't expect to see Matteo and some of his men here, including his father.

I get out of the car. He had showered and changed clothing. He doesn't bat an eye when he sees me, just looks at his dad and says something.

The SWAT team arrive and Hamada pulls a bulletproof vest over my shoulders. "You stay at my hip, Xena. I mean it."