Caught In Between - Book 1

21

CHAPTER 21
Catalina
Friday

The past two weeks have flown by, and I've tried my hardest to avoid the brothers because fuck them! I've been "working" from home more days than not, and even though Domenico and Lorenzo hadn't said anything about it, I knew I couldn't keep doing this.

However, since it was Friday, I decided I wasn't going in because I had to run all over Miami yesterday, looking for some stupid flipping office chair. Lorenzo was letting 'The Fake Housewife of Miami' redecorate his office. I should've quit or let the bitch boy go on the hunt for this Timko Genuine Leather Executive Chair himself. But the pay was great, so I stayed, jumping at the chance to get the hell out of there and away from their fuckery whenever I could. Even if that meant shopping for a freaking office chair. A goddamn hideous chair at that. But hey, it's not my two grand, so I don't care, and any time away from the brothers and bimbo barbie was very welcomed.

Lorenzo had steered clear of me for the most part after I walked in on him and Olivia in an intense make-out session. Nic, on the other hand, had kept trying to talk to me. Even though I continued to blow him off. I mean, I guess he was trying, but I wasn't particularly ready to hear why I wasn't good enough for them and Olivia was. So, I told Nic if it didn't have to do with work, not to speak to me about it. He hesitantly agreed, though I could tell he wasn't happy about it. But I wasn't living to please him. I was living to make myself happy.

Matteo and I had also gotten to know each other better outside of the workplace. He was a kind and genuine person that I've liked spending time with. Over the last couple of weeks, we'd spent our time doing things I enjoyed like binging Netflix—mostly GG and slasher films. And we pigged out on extra cheesy pizza and took lots of naps. We had also done things he enjoyed, like hiking freaking trails. Like outside. In nature.

Not gonna lie, at first, I wasn't too thrilled about it because I had never been an outdoorsy person. Nonetheless, I did promise him that if we did my things that I would try to do his things too. Plus, Matteo informed me he wasn't going to let me back out, making me entirely choiceless in the matter. At the end of the day, I was so glad he pushed me. It was completely worth all the bitching and moaning I had done. The 'classified' trail he took me on led to a stunning private beach with white sand and beautiful little Blanket Flowers everywhere. He said it was his secret spot and that it was where he came when he was feeling overwhelmed and needed a breather—or just needed to think.

I felt like I could be myself around him. He never once tried to push himself on me or anything, not even a kiss. As much as I wanted to believe it was because he was a true gentleman, I'm sure it had a lot to do with the brothers and his friendship with them. Especially after Matteo informed me that Nic and Enzo had an issue with us spending time together. To which I replied, "I didn't give two fucks." Though I could tell he cared. For example, every time I felt like Matteo was letting his guard down just the slightest bit, he would pull back with a somber expression, and his playful demeanor would be gone. It was almost like the man was always having an internal battle with himself, which made me feel like crap for putting him in the middle of my shit with the brothers. So, I gave Matteo an out and told him he could walk away whenever. But he didn't. Instead, he told me he was a grown man; if he didn't want to hang out with me, he wouldn't.

I'll admit my first little flirty interaction with him at the club was just to piss off Nic and Enzo. But after spending the last two weeks getting to know him, I liked Matteo. Not only in a physical way either, because let's face it, I'm not blind, but I enjoyed how goofy and sweet he was. He was also an incredible artist. I didn't know why he stayed working for the brothers because he's that freaking good. A young, better-looking Michelangelo, in my opinion.

Lola and I had also spent some much-needed time together since I had been home a lot lately. I finally found out why she was behaving strange, and it had nothing to do with me overstaying my welcome. It turned out she started dating someone. Some guy she had been friends with for a while, who wasn't Brody. Lola said she was worried about telling me because the dude was older than Domenico.