Chapter 21

MATTEO'S POV~







Hazel's presence in my office earlier only ignited the frustration within me. I groaned, tipping over a glass of martini, I can barely get my mind off her. Thoughts of that kiss kept flashing through my mind reminding me of how much I loved it more than I would admit.

I raked a hand through my hair tugging hard as I could.



What the fuck was I thinking kissing her like that?



I groaned again in frustration.

One minute I was screaming at her and the next I was pulling her close, kissing her, and feeling her petite body against mine. God, and don't get me started on the sounds of her moans. It sounded like.



"Get your shit together!" I hissed gulping down another glass of drink before slamming it on my office desk. I watched as it shattered, some of it getting into my palm. The pain caused a distraction that lasted only for some seconds before my mind went back to her. She just knew a way to get under my skin without even trying. I know she's been avoiding me and I was happy about that.



She constantly avoided seeing me and even when we met, she would avoid speaking directly to me or talking to me. That was fine for me, at least she got my message after that kiss.



"Nothing is ever going to happen between us," if that was true why did it hurt for me to say that? Why did it feel like I was lying to myself?



A knock sounded on the door, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see a smiling Matteo walk in and take a seat in front of me.



"Oww," he exclaimed placing a palm over his mouth. "That looks disgusting," he was referring to my wounded hands. Blood had dripped from the wounds onto the table, I hissed from the pain as I finally pulled back my hands. Used a tissue from my desk to wipe it off.



"You have to check that out at the clinic, it is not looking good."



"I will check that later," I replied before cocking my head in question. "Why are you here?"



"Why wouldn't I be here?" Came to his reply shrugging his shoulders. "I heard we've finally located our men," he was talking about Jimmy, our spies called me to inform me about his whereabouts. Currently, he was in Italy but they are still in the process of getting his precise location.



"Yeah, that fucker is really giving me a hard time."



"That fucker? Here I was thinking it's Blakey." I glanced at him emotionlessly as he sent me a smirk. "Come on, Matteo don't give me that look, everyone in this building can feel the tension between the both of you. It's suffocating."



"I don't know what you mean," I scoffed looking down to concentrate on the table I was cleaning.



"Of course, you don't know. Does this mean I can go on with chasing her?" He asked smiling innocently at me. I growled out in anger.



"Don't you even..." He cut me off as he scoffed before looking at me with a serious expression.



"Who's going to stop me? You?" I ignored his disrespect.



" She's a criminal and a fraud. I've warned him to not get close to her, she's a manipulative woman!"



"The only manipulative person here is you, Matteo. Tell me, what problem do you have with her?" He didn't wait for my reply before continuing. "And don't use what happened at the casino as an excuse. You own the place, Matteo!" He exclaimed.



"And so what if I owned the place? Does it give her any right to steal a huge amount of money from my Casino?" The problem isn't the fact that she stole but the fact that she took it right under my nose without me even noticing until it was too late.



"The amount she swindled is nothing compared to the profit you made only that evening."



"That still doesn't give her any right to steal from me," I replied in frustration.



Mikhail has finally found out what happened. Another thing I disliked about him was his unending need to discover things that didn't matter. One day his curiosity will drive him to his grave and on that day I will be smiling at his expense.



"Good to know someone has been doing their homework," I snorted staring him dead in the eyes. "Nothing you or anyone says will change my opinion about her. She is nothing to me."



"You can deny it all you know Matteo. Your denial only proves my suspicions right," he stated before leaning back on the seat. Suddenly a mischievous grin appeared on his face. "And oh?" He paused. "Don't come crying to me when Andrew finally gets the girl," of course I was not surprised about that, we all know how much of a flirt Andrew is beside Hazel is a very difficult nut to crack, she wouldn't be falling for him any time soon.



"Okay," came my response as I shrugged. "Anyway." I glanced over at him my expression turning serious. "We have a funeral to attend tomorrow."



"Nice try at changing the topic," he winked. "but whose funeral? Andrew's?" He joked.



"It's sad of you to think I care about anything Andrew is doing that doesn't relate to the family," I replied unamused. "And I don't mean Andrew's funeral, it's Dom's!" The room fell into complete silence as I watched Mikhail's eyes drift over to the calendar in the corner like he was trying to remind himself about something. I watched him in silence not saying a word, waiting for his response.



"Oh!" he drawled with an off look.



"Mikhail, you don't have to go if you don't want to," I stood up from my seat rounded my desk, and placed a hand on his shoulder patting it lightly. Right now he needs nothing but support, I wanted him to know that whatever decision he made, I would support him. After all, it was not every day you bury an abusive foster father, I knew his attending, would only dig up old buried wounds.



"No..." He breathed out, I could barely hear him. "No, I will go. I have to go," he repeated this continuously while bouncing his knees as he clutched his two hands tightly bringing them up to his forehead.



"Why...?" I drawled out in disbelief. "This is someone that didn't give a single damn about you."



" But he is still my father!" He screamed out in frustration. "I am the only family he has left."



"No surprise there, the man was shitty." I hissed unapologetically. " How can you be so..." I paused looking for the right words to use. "So fucking nice and forgiving all the time. I mean that fucker fucked you up real bad."



" Yeah... but that doesn't mean he isn't worth being forgiven. Everyone is, including him. I know many will think I'm messed up for saying this but.." he paused blinking back tears. "He is the only man I ever called father. The first person that took me in when everyone else abandoned me," he sounded pained. I wondered if I should push some sense into him or just let him mourn in his way.



Only Mikhail could tell how much pain he had been through and if after all that he still wants to forgive the man then who am I to oppose that? With that, I walked to the mini bar at the corner grabbing two glasses and a bottle of liquor. If we are going to get through today without spiraling then we would be needing this. Coming back, I placed the glasses on the desk and poured them into the two glasses. He immediately gulped down hissing slightly.



"Jesus, What's this? He asked as he took another sip after I filled his cup the second time.



"This?" I hummed as I analyzed the bottle before glancing back at him "I don't know" I shrugged.



We both stared at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter as we Spent the whole morning and noon in my office, drowning ourselves in pools of alcohol as we reminisced about the old days.