RESILIENCE

Chapter 32

The place was already packed by the time we reached the venue, and the items were about to start.

I rushed the boys into the changing rooms with their dad who had been attached to my hip since this morning, following right behind me. The rest of my family went to find seats.

I still don't really know how to feel about him constantly being in my vicinity.

When the boys were ready, we headed to the stands, but there were no seats available near my family, so we had to settle for seats in the opposite block.

All the hungry eyes of the female spectators were fully focused on Matteo as we walked to a few seats that was available in the corner.

Why are these stares not sitting well with me? Why am I having these possessive thoughts about this man, as if he belongs to me? I need to get him out of my head.

It seems the interaction we had in the early hours of the morning is playing with my head. I shook the feeling off as we took our seats in.

This competition was a welcome challenge for the boys because they were competing against students from another state, instead of competing with the same kids from this region.

"Is it always this packed?" he asked.

"Yeah, sometimes, but today there are kids from other regions also competing"

"Thank you" he said out of the blue, making me turn my head to give him a questioning look.

"For?" I asked.

"For taking this stray in for a few hours" he said, while pointing at his chest.

"No problem, but why are you living in a hotel?" I questioned.

"I've been staying there since Gina moved into my apartment" he said, making me frown.

"I thought you always lived together"

"No, after the whole boy's saga, dad demanded that she be moved in, but I moved out into a hotel the same night. I was done with the whole setup"

"What about your family or other properties you own that you could have stayed at, not that you're not welcome at my house, I'm just curious. I assume you're a rich man without the wealth of the family business" I stated, referring to the mafia.

"Yeah, I know. My family will be cut off by my dad financially if they take me in and I am busy renovating a property that will only be ready in two weeks for move in. All my other properties are rented out and that's basically why I decided to stay at one of my hotels. I just needed somewhere to go after what happened last night and where no-one is trying to kill me. The hotel just didn't feel like I wanted to be there at that time. You and the boys came to mind" he said as he placed his hand on my thigh. Causing chills to run through my body.

"I just wanted to be near you guys. It's like the only part of my life that's making sense now" he said, and the sadness could be heard in his tone as he took my hand and interlaced our fingers.

I looked down at our hands and then looked up at him entranced. He was already looking at me with an unknown expression reflected in his shiny eyes. I sat there in a trance as he lifted his other hand to take a stray piece of hair that dangled in my face and placed it behind my ear.

"What are you doing to me?" I asked without realizing what I'm asking.

"What do you want me to do to you?" he asked.
I just shook my head and removed my hand from his as the announcer spoke, advising us that the competition had begun.

There were 10 different spots on the floor where kids performed in different categories, the boys had Matteo on the edge of his seat the whole time.

Matteo jumped up a few times in excitement, making me chuckle under my breath. It was his first time seeing them compete and he looked like a proud dad because they are really good at this.