King of Stars (The Next Generation #2)

36. Matteo

Chapter 36

Matteo

T he Sromboli volcano was earning its moniker “the lighthouse of the Mediterranean” as it erupted during the night. Nazzareno was flying us to Sicily, and even though we were nowhere close to getting affected by it, it was visible from the plane.

“Why is it called that?” Stella whispered from beside me as she peered out the window.

“The eruptions look like a flashing light to sailors,” I said. “In Greek mythology, Aeolus is the god of the winds, and he supposedly lived in an island called Aeolia in The Odyssey , but it’s thought to be Stromboli. It’s part of the Aeolian Islands. Aeolus kept the winds in a cave in the island, and he’d release them to help or take out ships.”

“That’s really cool.” Stella yawned. “How do you know all of this stuff?”

“Mamma. She used to travel a lot for the ballet, and she’d read.”

“That’s kind of like me.” She smiled. “I couldn’t read like that, but I did read the dictionary a lot. I wasn’t traveling, but it kept my mind busy during the hardest nights.”

I kissed her on the head, keeping her glued to my side, and not long after, we landed and drove to Modica, where Mac and Mari had a villa on Mac’s grandfather’s property. His grandfather passed years ago, but the family still maintained the property.

As we drove up the long driveway, citrus groves lined each side, lit up by bulb lights. The property was tucked behind the thickets of trees, protected by a stone fence. It was strong enough to keep intrusions out, but it didn’t give the impression of being imprisoned either. Mac had created a perfect balance.

“This is so pretty!” Stella said, admiring all the lights. “What grows on those trees? Lemons? Oranges?”

“Lemons and blood oranges,” I said.

“I can’t wait to see it in the daytime!”

The gates opened, and Stella’s eyes were either wide, taking it all in, or narrowed, trying to see better. We parked and I took her hand, men moving all around us. Mac and Mari had a villa, but there was what seemed like a village of them located in the back. Saverio and my sister had one. Like a resort, a bunch of the villas were reserved for guests.

Saverio and Mia met us at their villa. Saverio handed me the keys to our villa and told me how to get there.

Stella had gone to see Graziana, since the boys were already asleep. My sister was dancing with my new niece, holding her tight to her chest, moving to the beat of the fast song. She wasn’t moving hard, but enough that Graziana felt it. Stella was standing not far from my sister, laughing, dancing a little, and singing.

Saverio looked at me and grinned. “Mia ate something that didn’t seem to agree with baby girl. She’s gassy, and the only way she settles is when Mia dances with her.”

Mia must have heard what he’d said wrong, because she stopped dancing, looked at us with wide eyes, and said, “Am not!”

“I wasn’t talking about you, Mia,” Saverio said, putting emphasis on her name. Mia meant mine , and that was how Rio had said it. With a claim that was his and his alone.

Mia grinned at Rio in a way that told me she’d melted for him. Then we watched as our women talked, Mia and Stella gazing at Graziana. She was a beautiful baby. She looked a lot like my sister at that age, but we all had a feeling she was going to have blue eyes like Mac, Saverio’s old man.

Rio squeezed my shoulder. “You’ll be next.”

“God willing,” I said.

He nodded, then became serious. “I’m glad Paris worked out, but while you were gone, we got an update from Lev. He said his people are not happy with the drug. They want it out of Russia.”

“It needs to be cleaned up.”

“I fucking agree. That’s some bad shit.” Saverio had been given some of it, so he knew firsthand what it felt like to have it in his system. It was something he said he’d never forget, even though the drug played wild tricks with his mind.

Stella had it in her system when we found her. They must have given it to her to keep her quiet while they transported her from one place to another when we were looking for her. Just the thought of that shit in my wife made my arms stiffen, though my blood was rushing hot through my veins.

“Your grandfather is giving you time,” Saverio said. “He said every man deserves that, but there’s a lot of shit going on right now, Teo. The war on the dangerous psychedelics, the Russians, Régine and her French army, and what’s going on within our family.”

“We keep picking up shit to clean,” I said. “Word on Massimo?”

Saverio sighed. “He’s still in Louisiana. Still can’t find Chloe. Wherever she’s hiding out, it’s a good place to do it. But her mom is worried. She said Chloe’s not happy about being followed, and it’s making her withdraw even more. Her mom called her ‘my little turtle’ and asked that we get Massimo under control. Let her ‘Little Turtle’ have some space to breathe.”

“I was concerned when I’d found out about Chloe and Massimo, but I thought Massimo could handle it. I still think he can. I’ve seen it. He calms her when she starts to feel anxious, and he pulls her out of her…shell when she…turtles. I hadn’t banked on Rosaria causing so much shit.”

“That naked model in their bed really messed with Chloe’s head. Then, when she realized it was a setup, and Rosaria had done it, it was almost worse.”

“Chloe pictured a future with Rosaria always putting a snake in their bed, so to speak.”

“Yeah. Chloe’s mom asked to speak to you personally.” He smiled when Stella took a seat and held her arms out for Graziana.

Stella didn’t seem too confident in holding something so small and breakable yet, but she seemed like a fucking natural. The way she looked at my niece was almost heartbreaking.

A knock came at the door, and my parents, my three brothers, Mac and Mari, Evelina, all my uncles and aunts, and Padrino all came barging in.

Zio Romeo held up a game. “We shall get our play on!”

Stella held Graziana a little tighter, like she was trying to protect her from the noise, but Graziana was an Italian bambina . We exposed our children to noise early on so they’d get used to it. Mamma took a seat next to Stella, hugging her, and then running her hand through Graziana’s dark hair. Mamma must have been telling Stella the same thing I’d been thinking about the noise, because Stella got a serious look on her face, like she was mentally saving every word for later.

We decided to stay and play Zio Romeo’s game, and we didn’t get to our villa until the middle of the night. Stella kept singing “Angel” by Shaggy, because Zio Romeo had gotten it stuck in her head. She danced the entire way, singing, loving that I kept twirling her.

“I love your family!” She had a big smile on her face, and then it fell. “All but one—who shall not be named—who was not at the party tonight. Thank the stars up above!”

She was talking about Rosaria. I grinned. If I hadn’t have known better, I would have thought she was drunk. But she was just high on life.

We did what lovers do until the sun came up, and though we barely got any sleep, Stella was up and ready to explore Modica early the next morning.

When everyone found out we were going to the beach after a trip to Saverio’s great aunts’ chocolate shop in town, the two of us seemed to turn into twenty of us. Even Rio and Mia decided to come.

“AH!” Stella did a little dance. “I can’t wait!”

Twenty minutes later, she was complaining about not being able to find her bathing suit. It was a gold two-piece with pearls on the straps. The bottom looked like it came with a piece of string to floss her ass. Fucking scandalous.

“I don’t even remember packing this one.” She held up a gold one-piece that fully covered both cheeks. “I don’t remember buying it either.” She stared at it for a second before she turned to me, giving me a suspicious look.

I shrugged. “I like that one.”

“Uh-huh,” she said.

When she saw the Mediterranean for the first time, I took her hand and brought her to the edge of the water with me. Not close enough for the water to rush over her feet, but I could tell she felt like she was standing in front of something she knew was so much bigger than her, and she was just soaking it all in, like she soaked up the sun.

I was fucking absorbing all the men on the beach attempting to absorb too much of mine. Even in the one-piece, she was fucking magnetic. It felt like eyes were crawling all over the place, in search of her flesh. Mine. But when she took my hand and gave me the sweetest smile, I fucking melted.

She screeched when I swept her off her feet and brought her into the water with me.

“Matteo! Oooh,” she almost cooed, closing her eyes, sinking into my arms, into the feel of the water. “This feels even better than it looks! It’s like I’m inside of one of those gems, the ones with the different colors when you open them up. This one has dark green, light green, all shades of blue, and a layer of crystal as the surface. So beautiful.”

I taught her how to swim.

She wiped her face. “How are you so good at this? It’s so unfair!” She slapped the water. “All I do is twist and turn a lot.”

Evelina laughed. “The Faustis turn into sharks in the water. They should come with a sticker: Add water and will turn into shark .”

Noemi lifted her hand. “I can attest to this.”

Stella looked at me and narrowed her eyes.

I wiggled my brows and grinned.

“I don’t like that look, Matteo Fausti,” she whispered, then she turned, using her hands and legs to swim away from me, but she was right. She twisted and turned a lot, like she was trying to run but couldn’t find her footing in the water.

I ducked underneath the surface and went for her. I heard her laughing from above, and instead of nibbling on her toes like I’d originally planned to do, I swam between her legs, bit her ass, then got her on my shoulders and lifted her out of the water. She was unsteady at first, but then she started directing me where to go.

“I like the view from up here! It’s like I have my own personal shark!” She tussled my hair.

I looked up at her. “Yeah, the view is exquisite.” I grinned. “And you do, baby. Anyone fucks with you, they fuck with the shark.”

She sighed when I set her down on a towel about an hour later. Mia handed her a cold water out of the cooler, and Evelina handed her a fruity kind of drink. She stared at it for a second, then took a tentative sip. She guzzled it down but declined another. She snacked on chilled fruit and fresh seafood that had been brought out of the water not long before while she chatted with my sister and some of the women. I got back in the water with my brothers and some of the men.

There were too many sharks on land, though, and we all got out, going to sit with the women. Stella ran her hands through my hair and fed me some fruit. She kept sighing, and her touch was starting to become heated. And when her eyes connected with mine, she leaned over and kissed me.

Her lips tasted like coconut, her tongue rum.

“I like whatever Evelina gave me to drink,” she whispered against my lips. “I could take off this strange bathing suit—which I didn’t buy or pack—right here and climb on top of you.”

We left, and before we could get back to the villa, I pulled over and let her attack me. She was wild, drunk on the sun, water, and rum, and I was fucking drunk on her. I wasn’t sure if we would ever be able to stop.

We barely made it into the villa before we tore at each other’s clothes.

“Freckles,” I barely got out. “Freckles on your nose.”

She giggled. “Yeah. What a surprise, huh?”

“I fucking love them,” I breathed out, then sucked on her nipples until she started to whimper into my mouth and claw my back.

“It’s like we’re back at the beach, under the water, reckless and free,” she whispered against the pulse in my neck, licking and sucking me there.

We didn’t come up for air until a knock came at the door two days later.

Mac, a grin on his face, with a vintage-looking bike. “Your wife said something about riding.” He pushed the bike toward me. “My wife asked me to bring this over.”

“ Grazie ,” I said, nodding to him.

“All of the men you surround yourself with are so intense,” Stella breathed against my back. She wrapped her arms around my waist, and we watched him walk off. “They’re all so capable. The kind of men you can trust to take care of anything.”

“I surround myself with only the best.”

“That’s why you chose me!” She pinched my ass and took off for the bedroom.

Grinning, I went behind her, scooping her up from behind and keeping her pressed against my body. I stuck my nose in her neck and started to nibble on her. “You chose me, le stella di mare . I had no choice. My heart has always been yours.”

“What does that mean? Le stella di mare ?”

“Starfish.”

“I love those.” She sighed and deflated at the same time. “How do you say shark in Italian?”

“ Squalo .” I bit at her neck, and she laughed.

“I’m your stella di mare and you’re my squalo .”

“We both belong in the water.”

She nodded. “Even if we’re different.”

I threw her onto the bed and she bounced, laughing even harder. She stopped laughing when I stalked toward her, our eyes connecting. Her eyelids were so low, they were almost closed. She sighed, a soft sound, splaying her arms and legs on the bed, and then she offered me her neck.

As summer usually did in Sicily, the heat melted the minutes, hours, and days like a fine gelato. And before it came down to droplets of days, I decided to take Stella on a surprise trip to Lampedusa, the southernmost island in Italy. It had soft sands and azure water.

When Stella saw it for the first time, from our private boat, she narrowed her eyes and sighed. “It looks like the boats are flying, Teo.”

I dove into the water, coming up a few minutes later, shaking the water from my hair. I grinned at her and held my arms out. She looked uncertain, but then she smiled, flung her big sunhat off, held her nose, and gave a whoop! as she jumped from the boat. Her shark was there to chase her in the water when she started to surface.

We ate fresh seafood from the water.

Explored the island on bikes.

Hiked.

But we spent most of our time on the boat or in the water. One day, I dismissed the men protecting us so we could go further out into the water. Stella sunbathed naked at the softest time of the day, right before the stars came out. We made love underneath them, her breath mine and mine hers.

It was hard to leave, but I had other plans for her.

Two days later, we were in the groves, and Stella was on the bike Mac had brought over. I held the bike, giving her pointers on how to keep her balance.

“It’s kind of like the Vespa but not,” she said.

“No, the Vespa helps keep your balance, but on this—” I moved the handlebars a bit “—you’ll have to keep your balance yourself.”

She looked forward, a fierce look on her face. “I can do this,” she said, and it sounded like she was mostly talking to herself. Then she looked up at me. “Are these things really necessary, though?” She pointed to her head and then her knees.

“Yeah,” I said, refusing to budge on the helmet and the elbow and knee pads.

“Okay.” A slow smile spread on her face when music started to play. “Where’s that coming from?” She waved her hands back and forth to the beat, then started to sing along to “Buona Sera.”

“Probably one of Mac’s aunts. This place is wired for lights and music.” And a lot more, but I didn’t want to get into that too much. I didn’t want to ruin the illusion of safety without barbwire, so to speak, that the property provided.

“Can we ride in the evenings? After I learn? Mari said that’s her favorite time to ride.”

“ Sì .”

“Then you’ll teach me how to drive a car?” She looked up at me with such expressive eyes—eyes that ensnared me and brought me to the stars.

Fuck me. I was so fucked.

“Yeah. Then we’ll learn how to drive.”

“Yes!” she said quietly as she squeezed the handlebars, ready to roll.

It took her a few tries, but once she got it, she was almost unstoppable. She wanted to ride all over the property, and we did. And after she learned how to drive on the property, she drove us to the beach. Another car had parked so fucked up, my brothers and I decided to move and straighten it so that Stella could park.

She was laughing her ass off, wheezing for breath, not able to drive.

“You just moved that car!” she managed to wheeze out as she moved out of the driver’s seat. “That tiny little car.” Then she started up again, especially after Marciano made a toy car noise with his mouth.

She lost her breath again later, after our day at the beach. We were out eating, the sun sinking into the water, when I handed her a box

“Matteo,” she breathed, wanting to touch the jewelry inside, but hesitating.

“It’s yours,” I said.

“A star, starfish, and a shark’s tooth.” She smiled while I set the necklace around her neck.

I’d called our personal jeweler and put in an order for a design that included the star, starfish, and shark’s tooth. Sistine did this by creating a three-layered necklace. The small diamond star hung right above the starfish, and the starfish, made from more diamonds, hung above the shark’s tooth.

Stella gazed at her wrist after I set a starfish bracelet around it. It looked like the starfish was hugging her. It had diamonds in it too.

She leaned her head against mine and closed her eyes. She pulled me close, so close, our hearts seemed to beat against each other’s. She couldn’t speak, so she let her heart do the talking to mine.

I drove on the way home, the convertible top down, the warm wind whipping around us. Mia had given Stella a scarf and taught her how to tie it so her hair would stay down. Stella turned the music up and sang, “Baby I’m Yours,” to me as we took twisting and turning roads. We parked and watched as the moon seemed to take up the entire sky over the Mediterranean. Its silver reflection rippled over the dark water.

“Is life always going to be like this with you, Matteo Fausti?” Stella whispered, resting her head against my shoulder as I entwined our fingers. Stella’s new jewelry glinted when she moved, but none shone as brightly as her wedding rings.

“No,” I answered honestly. “This is just a reprieve from the wars we’ll face. But.” I turned to her and took her face in my hands, using my thumb to stroke her lip. “That’s why it’s important for us to absorb these times, truly feel them, so they give us strength to face whatever might come.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head against mine.

“Do not close your eyes, my Stella,” I said in Italian. “You are the light in my life.”

Maybe she didn’t understand my words, but she understood. She turned forward and gazed at the moon, but all I had to do was look at her to see the light she was seeing. She brightened my entire world. I couldn’t take a breath without her taking one.

One the way back to the villa, both of our phones rang, but we didn’t answer.

We only answered to each other.

And this was our time. Our time to set the stage for what was to come in our life.

After we parked behind the gates to the property in Modica, we walked hand in hand toward the villa we were staying at, Stella leaning into me, our bodies needing to be close.

I stopped short, setting Stella behind me, when I noticed a shape in the shadows. The shape detached, and Noemi held her hand up.

“Don’t shoot, or tackle me,” she said in a rush. “And in my defense, I tried to call! Both of you.”

Stella and I glanced at each other. When we looked back at Noemi, she was grinning.

“I’m so happy you have a secret language now, but I need to talk to you both. You know I wouldn’t even bother to ask if I didn’t think this was important. I sent Stella’s picture to some people I know, and a HUGE—” she made a gesture with her hands “—studio fell in love with Stella and is considering turning one of my manuscripts into a movie! Stella the leading lady!”

Noemi didn’t squeal, but I could tell she was holding in some tremendously strong emotions.

“Wait!” Noemi held a hand up. “Before either of you say anything. I know you were about to start the rest of your honeymoon in Europe, but you live in ITALY. You can tour Europe whenever. You were supposed to go to America soon, right?”

Stella nodded.

“Maybe, just…go with me to Los Angeles for the meeting first? Then you can take care of whatever business waits in Louisiana. Then pick up your honeymoon where it left off? I mean…seriously. Opportunities like this one don’t come every day. Trust me.”

“Carlo Bondi,” I said.

Carlo Bondi was one of Italy’s most famous film producers. My family knew his well. My great-grandfather broke bread with him. Nonno still kept in touch. Carlo Bondi had always been in love with Noemi’s mamma, Gigi, but it was more of a family sort of love. Carlo was famous for saying he had eyes like a camera, and since the camera loved Gigi, so did he. If I wasn’t mistaken, Carlo was one of Ciccio’s godfathers.

Noemi nodded. “Carlo’s interested, but he keeps his films in Italy. He’s producing the documentary. Though he did say he was interested in a meeting with Stella for future projects. He was really excited about it. Said Stella gave him Gigi Dolce vibes.”

Noemi’s passion was her work. It was all she mostly thought about and talked about. She left no room for anything else. That was why I’d thought it was odd that she came to the beach with us. It all made sense in that moment, though. She was trying to work up the nerve to ask.

“Will you go out with Oscar?” Stella asked out of the blue.

Noemi opened her mouth, then closed it on a snap. She hadn’t expected Stella to ask that.

Me fucking either.

“What?” Noemi made a face.

“You said you wanted to,” Stella said. “At the beach.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have the time.”

“What about Los Angeles? If we go?” Stella looked at me, then back at Noemi. “You could make time then. I’m sure Oscar will be going with us?” Her eyes pinged back to mine and stayed there.

I nodded. “He’s one of my soldiers. He doesn’t have any attachments. He goes.” I dug deep into my wife’s eyes. “Give us time, Noemi.”

My wife turned away from me, fidgeting some.

Noemi whispered, “Okay,” and then left.

“Talk to me,” I said to my wife.

She sighed, turning to look at me again. “It would be nice to go to Los Angeles. See what it’s all about. It feels like something I’d be interested in doing. But.” She hesitated. “I think it’s time for me to face all that needs facing, Teo. I’m so happy, deliriously happy, but in the quiet times, I hear ghosts. I feel something—” she touched her chest “—clawing at me. Like all the shit I’ve been burying is about to come to the surface, whether I want it to or not. Maybe being in the place I’ve always wanted to go back to will—” she paused, gauging my reaction to what she was going to say next “—tear me open enough to…bring it all to the surface so I’m forced to deal with it.”

All the blood in my veins froze before a mad rush of it thawed them out. My job as her husband was to keep her whole. Not allow anything in this world to tear her apart. And she was telling me—asking me—to sit back and watch while her history would cause a wound that would no fucking doubt leave a scar. I would make sure she came back to me, but I knew it was out of my fucking control how it would change her.

I knew how it felt to almost lose two parents. To think, even with siblings and a big family, that nothing would ever be the same without my mother and father. It changed me, all my siblings, in ways we didn’t discuss. Especially since it would have been Brando Fausti’s decision to leave us if mamma had. I understood it after I’d met Stella, but before, it was a fucking mystery I thought could never be solved.

“Teo.” She squeezed my arm. “I need you for this. I—I can’t make this without you.” Then it seemed like all her strength faded. She fell against me, hiding her face against my chest.

I picked her up, feeling her heavy burdens like they were my own, and carried her inside, feeding her, packing her things, refusing to let her walk.

The next evening, we touched down in Los Angeles just as the sun was setting.

For a place where stars supposedly lived, not even one seemed to exist in the sky.