Stolen Queen (Dynasty of Deception #4)

30. Matteo

30

MATTEO

I leave Ava sleeping, not wanting to wake her when she’s under the weather. I jot down a note to let her know I’ll be back later. I’d rather have stayed with her, but the family needs to get the Rinella situation under control.

I enter the D'Amato estate and head to Elio’s office. Lana and Lazaro are already there.

"Matteo." Elio nods as I take a seat instead of my usual stance against the wall.

“So what’s the big emergency?” Lana asks, sipping the coffee she holds. “I’ve got a meeting at ten.”

“Do you want to do the honors?” Elio asks me.

Lana and Lazaro both look at me, their brows furrowed in curiosity.

I clear my throat. “I have Ava Rinella. She’s under my protection.”

Lazaro laughs. “I knew it.”

Lana’s jaw drops. “What? Have you had her the whole time?”

I nod.

Her head swivels to Elio. “And you knew?”

“No,” he says with a shake of his head. “Not until the other night.”

“What about you?” she asks Lazaro.

He holds up his hands in defense. “I didn’t know, but I’m not surprised.”

The disbelief on her face quickly morphs into frustration as she processes what I've just revealed. "You've had her this whole time? Are you out of your fucking mind, Matteo?”

“Probably, but I couldn't let her father sell her off to Nardone.”

Lana throws her hands up in exasperation. "And you thought kidnapping her was the solution? Do you have any idea what kind of danger you've put us all in?"

"Lana," Elio starts, but she cuts him off with a sharp gesture.

"No, don't you dare try to defend him," she snaps at her brother. Her gaze sweeps over all of us. "This is exactly the kind of reckless behavior that's going to get us all killed. First, you break off the engagement with Ava. Then Lazaro does the same. And now Matteo's gone and kidnapped her?"

There’s no response to that because it’s true.

"Do you boys ever think about the consequences of your actions? Or do you just assume everything will work out because we're the D'Amatos?" She throws her hands up in the air. “My brothers, all fucking idiots.”

“I’m not your brother,” I say, as if that will get me off the hook.

The glare she gives me makes me recoil. Then she whaps me on the back of the head. “Of course you’re my brother. And you’re as stupid as these two.”

I grin.

“What are you smiling about?” she demands, clearly annoyed that I’m not taking her more seriously.

“That you think of me as your brother.”

She rolls her eyes. “For God’s sake.”

“Maybe we can get back on point about what we need to do next,” Elio says.

Lana shakes her head. “Why bother when the three of you are determined to do everything possible to piss Rinella off?”

“I didn’t do it to piss him off,” I say.

“He’s in love.” Elio waggles his brows in a rare show of teasing toward me. I really am like a brother.

Lazaro laughs again. “I knew it. I even asked why we didn’t set her up with Matteo.”

“I’m not a D’Amato.”

Lana shoots me a look. “You’re pissing me off again.”

“The point is, she’s not just under Matteo’s protection, but ours now too.” Elio says it with authority. He means for them and the rest of his men to honor his vow to protect her. It means more to me than anything Elio’s ever given me.

“I take it Rinella doesn’t know?” Lana asks.

“Not yet. That’s why you’re here. Since you think we fuck things, up you can help us decide the next move.”

“Can we say we just found her?” Lazaro asks.

I shake my head. “I’m not hiding from what I did. That fucker hits her.”

Lana flinches, and I hate that I probably just brought up a memory of when she was tortured by the asshole who killed their parents and nearly killed Lazaro.

“And you all know Nardone. She won’t stand a chance with him. So…”

“So you kidnapped her?” Lana asks.

Lazaro frowns. “How? Did you walk right into the house and take her?”

“Not quite, but I will say Rinella’s home isn’t as secure as he thinks. She kept sneaking out, and I kept being there to make sure she didn’t get herself killed. Finally, I just brought her home with me.”

“I always thought there was more to her than she revealed.” Lana’s voice suggests she’s proud of Ava’s daring behavior. Then she narrows her eyes at me. “Have you fuck?—”

I hold a hand up. “Yes. I have. But it’s not like the others.”

“I told you, the guy is head over heels,” Elio says. “But back to business. I’m thinking the best course of action is to bring her here. She’ll be better protected and not have to spend her days alone in hiding.”

“We can give her Matteo’s old room,” Lana says. I’d lived in the house until a few years ago when I felt like it was stifling my night life.

“What about Rinella?” Lazaro asks. “We’ll need to increase security. He seems to think he can barge in anytime he wants.”

“Yes, but it will be because we’ll be informing him that Ava is with us now.”

We all gape at Elio.

“If it were that easy, we could have already done that,” I say.

“It’s not a negotiation.” Elio has that look of lethal authority. “If he needs compensation, we’ll find a solution, but she’s with us.”

Gratitude fills me. “Thank you.”

“He’s getting what he’s always wanted,” Lana says. “She’ll be in the family. He’s such a fucking whiner.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying all along.”

The reality of what we're doing hits me. We're essentially taking Ava into the family, and my heart swells. Yes, she’ll still be under house arrest, but this is a fucking big house and there’s a lot of people. I can already see her making friends with Piper and Diana.

"When do we move her?" I ask, eager to get Ava under the protection of the entire family.

Elio checks his watch. "We should go now. The longer we wait, the more chance there is of something going wrong. Lana, go to your meeting. Lazaro, come with us. We should have a few men around as backup."

“I’ll set it up.” Lazaro pulls out his phone and leaves Elio’s office to make the calls.

Minutes later, I climb into the car with Elio and Lazaro and drive toward my penthouse. I’m tense but excited that soon, she’ll be safe under the protection of all my family.

"You know, Matteo," Lazaro says from the back seat, “I liked her when I met her. I got the feeling she really wanted to marry me…well, not me, but as an escape, you know?”

“I did too,” Elio agrees.

“I felt bad having to end the engagement,” Lazaro finishes. “But I’m fucking happy that she’s with you since you’re the one who’s been pining for her.”

“I haven’t been pining.” Have I?

“You know, now that I think about it, Lana mentioned that you were different around Ava a few times,” Elio states.

“I am not. What the fuck? Is this hassle Matteo day?” I don’t like being teased.

“That’s what brothers do,” Elio says, putting his hand on my shoulder. All of a sudden, being teased doesn’t feel so bad.

As we enter the garage, Lazaro asks, "So, what's the plan once we get there?"

"We go in, explain the situation to Ava, and bring her back to the estate. Simple as that."

"And if she's not thrilled about the idea?" Elio raises an eyebrow.

“She will.” At least I think she will. My sense is she wants to stay with me, which is good, because I don’t plan to ever let her leave.

Lazaro claps a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Brother. We've got your back."

I park the car and we head up in the elevator to my penthouse. As we exit and head to my place, I’m feeling so fucking happy that this whole ordeal is about to come to an end. Well, maybe not an end. But we’re getting closer.

I unlock the door and push it open.

“Matteo, watch out!” Ava cries out.

Before I can pull my gun, I see Rinella and two other men in my place, one holding Ava back.

"Well, well, well," Rinella drawls, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "What do we have here? The prodigal D'Amatos and their loyal dog, walking right into my trap."