The Street Fighter

Chapter 34

"Mum," Zach warned, giving her a disapproving look.

She turned to him, raising her eyebrows at his response before turning back to me.

"Sorry, I was seeing to someone and they had my full attention at the ti-"

Zach's words cut me off, "No. I brought her here, I was the one at fault –it's my fault that we're late. Now could you please not be difficult, I'm actually hoping to enjoy tonight."

And with that, the hand resting on the small of my back guided me inside towards a living room, passing his mother as she wished for my body six feet underground with her eyes.

As we entered, I heard her footsteps behind me. The sigh of relief I had intended to release at her absence -abandoned.

We set foot in the room to find a broad-shouldered man standing by the window on the phone. His large strides were heard as he paced the room.

As he got round to finishing the call, Zach leaned into me and whispered into my ear, "That's my father, Matteo, just in case you were wondering."

I rolled my eyes at his words -trying to lighten the mood- nudging him lightly with a chuckle.

"Thank you for stating the obvious."

His smile grew at that but I faced forward again, realising that he wasn't on the phone anymore.

He turned around and began walking towards us, Zach's light touch on my back reassuring me that he was still there.

I didn't know what I'd have done without it.

Well, if it wasn't obvious that this man was Zach's father before, then it sure as hell was now.

His hair was only a shade darker than Zach's, blended in with a few strands of greying hair. His large hand raised, to graze at his chin, drawing attention to his facial hair that seemed to sculpt his face.

His large form stopped his approach in front of us.

I now understood where Zach got his looks from. The man stood before me was handsome, even for his age.

He gave no show of emotion as he held his hand out for me to shake.

I shook his hand firmly as Zach started to speak up.

"Dad, this is-"

I was quick to cut him off, knowing that this ex-gang leader was a lot more firm and hard headed than his son. Especially since he had made no reaction to my handshake.

"Skylar, I'm Skylar."

He raised his eyebrows at Zach who only responded with a smile.

Zach, you're really not helping me out here.

Was the raising of his eyebrows a good thing or not?

"Skylar," He tested out my name on his tongue before nodding. "I'm Matteo Cruz but I'm sure you already know that."

"Yes, it's a pleasure to finally meet you Sir."

He nodded before motioning for me to take a seat. I took it gratefully, instantly missing the warmth on my back provided by Zach's hand. Only then did I notice that the sofa could only seat the two of us.

Oh great, now I was separated from my saviour. Zach was sat all the way on the other sofa with his Mum, a coffee table in between us.

Matteo turned slightly, reaching beside him and grabbing a bottle from a table.

"Martini?" He asked.

I was quick to shake my head, "Oh, no thank you."

"Oh come now, if it's anything to do with age then don't worry. It's never stopped us from offering." He mentioned as he poured the scarlet liquid into a crystal glass.