Chapter 23

HAZEL'S POV~





"Lauren...?"







"We need to talk," Matteo announced having returned from wherever he was. He stood towering over me from where I sat on the couch.



"Hmmm?" I questioned not catching what he said. He threw Mikhail a glare who was still sitting in the corner laughing.



"We need to talk right now!" he repeated turning back to face me. I tipped my head backward to meet his gaze.



"What's your problem?" I asked observing his angry expression. What's with him now? I'm clearly sure I didn't do anything wrong so why is the dude staring at me like that?



"Why did you open that door?" He hissed out. At first, I didn't want to say anything. Mikhail looked like he could barely control his laughter as his shoulders shook uncontrollably.



"God, damn it! Hazel, why can't you just stay out of trouble for once? Must you always go and ruin things?" now he was getting on my nerves.



"What do you mean by that? I think you are forgetting it was you and Mikhail that made me go to that room in the first place besides why are you even blaming me like I did something wrong? It's not like I had sex there or anything" I defended. This guy needs to get his brains checked out or something.



"But..."



"But nothing, you have no right to blame me for your friend's sexual escapes especially when I'm not in any way involved," he huffed and sighed before sauntering out again. Mikhail who had now stopped smiling sent an encouraging smile my way, winking at me. A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips, I breathed out before drowning the remaining whiskey from the glass on the table.



The rest of the journey was uneventful, Andrew came back to apologize, he could barely meet my eyes. Mikhail teased him the whole time making the situation even funnier. I didn't see Matteo again until we touched down. He entered a different vehicle and drove off first leaving me to ride on another with Mikhail.



I looked out of the windows as a car drove us through the city of Milan. I didn't get to enjoy its beauty since it was late and I was jet lagged, but I made Mikhail promise to take me on a tour around the city whenever he had some free time. We drove to a huge gate, one that was even bigger than the one in the states, Men in black were scattered around the environment. The security here was even tighter and looked more intimidating. We drove past trees, lawns, and beautiful gardens.



"This is Matteo's home," Mikhail whispered from beside me capturing my attention. I glanced at his face to see he had this look in his eyes, it was a happy look. I realized this isn't just Matteo's home, it was Mikhail's too.



I watched as our car stopped behind the one Matteo had taken to get here. As soon as we stepped out, guards came rushing out to welcome us. I observed silently as Matteo stood nodding at them before turning to look at me with an unreadable expression. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. He turned and walked into the house. I was curious to know what he wanted to say and at the same, I dreaded whatever he was going to say.



"Mikhail," one of the men greeted giving him a warm smile and patting his shoulders before turning to stare at me curiously. He cocked his head lifting an eyebrow as he nodded at me to Mikhail.



"Rocco, this is Blakey," I shot him a glare. He returned a goofy smile and a wink before turning back to Rocco.



"The name's Hazel," I introduced reaching out a hand which he brought to his lips giving it a light peck with a smile.



"Welcome to Italy, Signora," he greeted with an accent. I smiled at his warm gesture before turning and waving to the other guys who sent nodded back. "This way" Rocco gestured leading me through the huge doors Matteo had followed earlier.



"I told you to not come back here without a wif..." Whoever was talking paused what he was about to say as everyone else in the room turned to stare at me. Matteo was standing in front of a similar-looking man who had one finger out pointing at him while he's eyes were locked on me. There were about seven men in the room including Rocco and Mikhail who were beside me, Dimitri Markov was sitting in a chair across the room with a cheeky glint in his eyes. He sent me a warm smile as he stared at me lifting a cup to his lips.

A younger man was sitting close to the man talking earlier watching me with a curious gaze.



"Who's this?" whispered the man as he stood up walking towards me.



"Dad.." Matteo tried stopping him but paused when the man raised a finger to shush him. No wonder the man looked like an older version of Matteo, of course, this is his father.



"Signora," Matteo's dad stood in front of me, with a warm smile as he observed my features. "You look very familiar, have we met before?" He asked quietly staring closely at me.



"I don't think so, sir. I would never forget a face like yours," I smiled shyly from the corner of my eye as I saw Dimitri grinning from ear to ear, probably proud that I used his lines.



"I'm Hazel. Hazel Woods," I added reaching out to shake me, he pushed my hands back. I gasped in surprise as he pulled me into a warm hug before letting go almost immediately.



"So Hazel?" He turned, looking between Matteo and me. "If I may ask, what are you doing here? With my son of all people?"



" He.."



" She.." Matteo and I tried replying at the same time but were cut off by Dimitri fucking Markov.



"Oh, those two are fiancées," he announced gesturing between the two of us with a smirk. My eyes widened in surprise and I opened my mouth to deny it. Mikhail grabbed my hand squeezing it secretly as if telling me to go with the flow and I got the message. Even though I was against it, I just forced out a smile nodding my hand in agreement with Dimitri's statement.



"You? Engaged?" Matteo's father was surprised as he stared at me and Matteo. "And to someone like her of all people?" I didn't know what he meant by that but I was offended.



"With all due respect sir," I smiled at him. "What's wrong with someone like me? If anything you should be grateful to me for putting up with an amazing asshole like your son. I still tolerate him and of course love him despite his bipolarity and rudeness," I remarked sarcastically with gritted teeth. I watched as he burst into a fit of laughter, Mikhail joining in while Dimitri grinned staring at me in wonder.



"I love this one. I love her already," Matteo's father said in between laughs placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.



"Forgive me Signora, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just I expected someone more submissive but this is good, even the best," he gave me an encouraging smile. "You are what this family needs," he turned and walked back to his sit gesturing for me to join him. I took confident steps smiling awkwardly at Matteo who was still standing staring at me.



"Son, join her," he called to Matteo who finally took a sit beside me. "And oh, Signora? Call me Nikolai," he smiled at me before clapping his hands. I spent the whole time putting on a fake smile as I nodded to whatever the men were discussing.



I noticed the younger man who I learned was Matteo's younger brother watching me the whole time. He had this weird look in his eyes the whole time watching Matteo and me. Mikhail was laying face down on the couch contributing to the discussion from time to time. The men were talking about something relating to family, I let my eyes wander around the living room.



The place looked rich as expected, the walls were decorated with beautiful artifacts. Different drawings hung on every corner, each of them can't be worth anything less than a hundred grand at least from my experience with things like this. A shelf containing books and what seemed like photographs was on the corner. I could make out Matteo's form in some of them.



"When's the wedding?" I snapped my head back as soon as I heard that question. Wedding? Don't tell me it's what I'm thinking. Mikhail sat up from where he was laying a wide look in his eyes.



"W-wedding?" He stuttered. I looked at him before glancing at Matteo who was sitting quietly beside me not saying anything. I glared at him waiting for him to say something.



"Uhmm dad?" He called out finally "It's too early to talk about the wedding and besides we aren't in a rush."



"No, son," Nikolai waved him off. "There was no need to put it off any longer. You know it had to be done earlier than this but you caused the delay. I'm sorry to say that time is no longer on our side," he glanced at me.



"But...?"



" No buts soon. You had your chance," he turned to me. "You both will have to start preparations for the wedding, there's no need to delay it any longer dear. I hope you don't mind?" He asked. I took calculated breaths trying to remain calm as best as I could. I didn't sign up for this in fact I sure as hell wasn't going to tolerate being used like this I opened my mouth to protest. Matteo grabbed my hand nodding at his father.



"Okay, Dad but give us time to think about this" I gave him a sideways glance. "There's nothing to think about here we are not engaged." I wanted to scream this out but I held it in, choosing to stay silent for now.