LOST INTO THE VINE (BWWM)

CHAPTER 9

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That pulled Matteo out of his head, “he’s still breathing.”
He had to look around to make sure he was no longer in
Afghanistan but in Malaga. He glanced at her. She was
trying to cover herself from him. But her red bra was still visible to his eyes. He mentally cursed himself for
checking her out, considering the circumstances.
“You okay sweetheart?” he asked, pulling up his shirt
and walked to her.
“Yes... no… I don’t know, I’m scared,” she cried. He
pulled his shirt over her head and had her arms out on
the holes. It was big on her, the sleeves hanging past her
elbows. He pulled her into his embrace, “shhhh
sweetheart, it’s all okay now. It’s all over.” She leaned
into him, placed her head on his bare chest and sobbed.
Holding her on his side, he fished for his phone and
dialed his mother and asked her to call the police and
report an incident of attempted rape. His mother tried to
grill him for details but he cut off the call. The woman in
his arms sobbing even harder.
“It’s okay now, love,” he kissed the side of her head.
“He was going to rape me, Teo,” she trembled in his
arms, probably replaying the incident in her head. She
sobbed, her arms around him squeezing him harder. He
kissed her head, trying to ignore the effect she had on
him.
Her back stiffened when they heard the siren of the
approaching police car.
“It’s okay baby. I’m here now. It's all over,” he
kissed her forehead repeatedly until she relaxed against him.

Nala braided the hair of the little brunette who decided
she wasn’t going to leave her side, she had fallen asleep
halfway through telling her a story about her classmates.
She took a sip of wine from her glass and continued
braiding, listening to the conversations around her but
not contributing to anything. She looked at the young
Rodriguez, a woman she had never met before, but
hugged her and had comforted her like they were besties
for the longest time. When she was answering questions
from the police, the woman rushed to her together with
Olivia and they hugged her and assured her that
everything would be fine.
She looked to the man seated on the sofa facing her, his
eyes would look her way most part of the night. Once in
a while, she would catch him staring right at her.
He reminded her so much of Matthew. Her Matthew.
Funny enough their names were in the same line.
Matthew. Matteo. She had seen the tattoo on his chest.
He was a man in uniform. Just like her Matthew.
“Nala,” she heard her name and looked up, all eyes were
on her.
“Mmmh?” she blushed. She was day dreaming or rather
her mind was far away.
“Tell us a bit about yourself, if you don’t mind, sweetie,”
Olivia looked at her with a loving smile, much like a
mother’s smile. She wished her mother would look at her
that way.
She shifted in her seat and smiled, “well, you know my
name so that’s a start, right?” They chuckled.
“I’m Kenyan. Traveler. I have a twin sister, Adiah. She’s
married and has a set of twin boys, living in New York.
I’ve been travelling for the past three year’s fulltime,
doing blogging and photography. Oh and I’m twenty
five,” she breathed.
“And before that?” Olivia asked.
“Mmmh?” she asked. She knew what Olivia was asking
but she pretended not to understand what she was saying.
With Matteo’s stare, she knew he knew she was stalling.

“What were you doing before travelling fulltime?” she
asked.
“Ooh ummh ha-ha… I took on English teaching assignments and did a bit of au pairing over every couple of months in Italy and when I was not doing that, I was in the US bartending and freelance article writing to get
by,” she said, her smile tight.
“Any relationships along the way or you didn’t want
anyone to tie you down when you explored the world,”
the one person who had been quiet through the night
asked.
“Papa!” Ella gasped, glaring at her father.
Matteo didn’t need words, his glare was enough.
This time her smile fell and she stared hard at the woman
who had been nothing but kind over the few days she
had been there, Olivia looked at her as if to apologize for
her husband’s harsh words.
“With all due respect, senor, I don’t know how my
relationship is any of your business” she gritted her
teeth. “But I was engaged. But he died before we could
get married.”
Ella and Olivia gasped.
She lifted Irina’s head and pulled herself up, willing that
her tears would not fall before she was out of the room.
She placed the girl gently on the seat and excused
herself, choking on her words, “it’s been a long ass day.
Buenas noches.”