Allure

Twenty-Six

Heather

I sit, slack-jawed, as Matteo reveals his family's secrets. What I though was a family of Italian corporate "royalty" turned out to be linked to the fucking mafia. The Grazianos had been wrapped up in crime for generations, until his father Rico, and his brother, Enzo, decided they wanted out after an accident that left Rico's wife dead. Matteo and his Brother, just teenagers at the time, had enough of the lifestyle wanted to go with him. They struck a deal with the leader to peacefully go their own ways, as a reward for years of loyalty and good service, and in apology for the loss of Maria's life.

The night they were supposed to leave the country, they got a call from Enzo that there was one last mission they needed to complete, and he gave a location in the middle of the city. The brothers rushed to the scene to help, and saw both their father and uncle shot dead. A call from their leader came in at that moment warning them that it was a trap and they needed to get out of the city ASAP. With the promise of peace, Matteo headed to London while his brother settled in Amsterdam. All this time, they had no idea the set up had been arranged by no other than their own uncle, who had faked his own death.

He somehow remained hidden over the years, biding his time until he formulated a plan for his strike on Matteo. His true motives remained unknown, as he was left dead on the scene, and this time his body was buried for good. Matteo's men found detailed plans of the attack, as well as files full of information on Matteo, his Brother, and me, including a worrying amount of creepy photos of us.

Matteo fidgets in his seat nervously, avoiding my gaze. "I never would have gotten involved with you if I had known it would place you in this kind of danger. I've always been the suspicious type so I placed a tail on you for your protection as soon as we started our dynamic. I thought I'd be protecting you from business deals gone sour, not an italian madman." I bite my lip and look out the window, unsure of what to say. "But the point is I wasn't honest with you. And honesty, trust, and respect are the three pillars of a relationship like this, something I've been teaching you while not upholding my end of things. Heather, look at me. Please." I keep my eyes averted, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Baby..." his voice breaks as a gentle finger slides under my chin and I allow him to guide my eyes to his, tearing up myself when I notice how his tired eyes are glistening. "I fucked up. I broke your trust, and I almost got you killed. You got fucking shot, you could have..." A broken sob escapes from his lips. My heart squeezes in my chest. "But I didn't, I'm okay. It was just my shoulder." I wince as I reach a hand out to touch his face and pain shoots down my arm.

"Look, I understand if you need space. I know you probably don't want to see me anymore..." he trails off again, and a tear drops down his cheek. Something about seeing this usually impenetrably strong man broken like this has my heart in my throat. "You're truly an idiot." I gasp. His eyebrows shoot up. "What?" He questions, clearly thrown off. "You're dense, you know that? If you think after all of this I'm just going to what, peace out? Go date some fucking, what... a banker? Just go along with my life like this never happened?" I feel my face heating as I gather steam, letting all of my emotions pour out, and he just looks at me, dumbfounded. "Yes Matteo, you fucked up. Yes I could have died and yes it would have been partially your fault. But I didn't die, and I'm right here watching your dumb face as I try to peice together how you ever thought I would just break up with you after all this." I huff, catching my breath.

"But you... you were getting in a taxi, to..." He breathes. I roll my eyes. "Yes, Matteo, I got in a taxi to have a second to get my shit together because you dropped a MASSIVE bomb of information on me. In retrospect, a dumb decision on my part, but then again, I didn't know a psychopath was on the hunt for me, now did I?" He swallows hard, and I swear I can see his hands visibly shaking. "I'm sure there will be times when I need space to breathe and think things through but I'm never just gonna run away from you, from us. You broke my trust, Matteo, but I'm willing to give you a chance to build it back up." I finally loose it, and tears roll freely down my face. "I love you, damn it." I cry, throwing my arms around his neck. He clutches me so tightly it's like he thinks I'll slip through his grip if he's not careful.

"I love you," he says into my hair. "I love you, I love you, I love you," he punctuates each word with a kiss on my head, finally pulling back to look me in the eyes. "I am going to love you until the end of my days Heather, and I will make this up to you. I promise." I give him a tearful smile in reply. "You have a lot to make up for... why not start now?" I smirk. "Oh, I can work with that," he grins, pushing my hair to the side to kiss my neck. I smile, closing my eyes and despite the chaos of the day and the fact that we are in the hospital, there's no where in the world I'd rather be.