Chapter 11

Matteo’s POV

Gala crowds to me, always pretended to be civilized with the majority masked with their usual performances. And tonight was just about to be one of those nights..

Crystal glasses, rehearsed laughter, polite conversation layered over cold eyes and harsh intentions. Everyone watched everyone. Everyone assessed value, power, lineage, and proximity.

I stood near the center of the room, engaged in conversation I’d had a hundred times before, my face composed, posture relaxed as usual. To anyone watching, I was exactly where I belonged.

What they didn’t see was how often my attention drifted.

Zara stood a few feet away, near one of the marble pillars, fingers wrapped around the stem of a glass she hadn’t touched. She looked calm. Almost too calm for a smart mouth.

Her skin looked pale under the lights, soft in a way that didn’t belong in rooms like this. Brunette hair fell neatly around her shoulders, too perfect to be accidental, too effortless to be planned.

And her eyes? They were the kind that suggested innocence at first glance and intelligence if you stayed long enough to look properly.

She looked delicate. And that was the lie.

There was nothing fragile about the way she held herself, about the quiet composure that never quite tipped into fear.

Her curves were subtle but tempting and too familiar in a way that made my jaw tighten. The same body that had called to me the first night I saw her, the same body that had undone my restraint when I’d least expected it. Soft where she should have been soft, strong where it mattered. A contradiction I hadn’t yet learned how to ignore.

“You’ve been quiet tonight. Is there a problem?” Salvatore said, his voice cutting me off from my deep thoughts of her. “Too quiet for a man in your position.”

“Nothing is wrong,” I replied with a cold expression, chugging down my drink.

“I see, back to what I was saying. Don’t you think you’re consolidating too fast?”

“I’m consolidating efficiently,” I replied. “There’s a difference.”

He tilted his glass slightly, watching the amber liquid shift in it. “Efficiency scares people nowadays Matteo. It makes them feel unnecessary.”

“Then they should become useful.” I snap.

Vittorio Romano, his side man laughed softly beside him. “That’s exactly the problem, Matteo. You’ve made too many men obsolete in a very short time.”

I met his gaze. “Obsolete men make mistakes. I’d rather remove uncertainty early.”

Salvatore studied me for a moment longer than necessary. “For some reason, I’m beginning to think there’s a problem, because your father ruled with presence. You rule with absence.”

“I rule with results.”

“That’s not an answer,” Vittorio said. “That’s a warning.”

I allowed myself a thin smile as I watched his lips curve into a smirk. “Warnings are only useful if I intend to listen.”

Salvatore exhaled slowly. “The Albani family has been moving shipments through Trieste for months. I hope you know that?”

“I’m aware.”

“They didn’t ask.”

“They didn’t need to,” I said. “They wanted to see if I’d respond.”

“And will you?”

“I already have.”

Vittorio’s brow lifted. “No retaliation?”

“Not yet.”

Salvatore nodded slowly. “That restraint will be mistaken for weakness for a man of your status.”

“Only by men who confuse noise with power.”

A pause settled between us and without a word, I looked away from them. Knowing that they were men who understood silence the same way I did.

Salvatore’s gaze drifted past my shoulder minutes later and then he gestured to someone behind me.

“You brought family,” he said.

I stiffened imperceptibly.

I didn’t need to turn to know who he meant.

“Plus she already has company” Vittorio said, clinking their glass lightly against mine and my eyes slid back to Zara instinctively.

That was when I saw him.

He was tall, well-dressed, mid-thirties perhaps. Confident in the way men became when they believed money and charm made them untouchable. He approached her with an easy smile, posture relaxed, voice low enough to seem respectful.

Too respectful. Zara stiffened almost imperceptibly. I felt it in my chest. I excused myself from the conversation without thinking, turning just enough to watch.

The man said something that made her smile politely. A practiced smile at that. The kind woman learned early, almost too yet noncommittal.

He leaned closer and my jaw tightened. She took a half-step back. But he followed, invading her space like he was entitled to it. His gaze dragged over her, with a smirk on his face.

And in seconds, anger swirled in my veins alongside something dark that stirred beneath my ribs.

I told myself it was instinct. Protective. Familial. That lie lasted all of three seconds.

I watched him gesture toward her dress, say something that made her expression falter and her fingers tightened around her glass.

“No,” I watched her lips.

He laughed. That sound snapped something in me. I crossed the room before I even fully realized I was moving.

“Is there a problem?” I asked cutting them off from whatever the hell they were talking about.

The man turned at the sound of my voice, surprised and recognition dawned almost immediately.

“Ah,” he said, smiling wider. “Matteo. I didn’t realize—”

“She said no,” I cut in. Zara’s eyes widened slightly as she looked between us. “Matteo, it’s fine—”

“It’s not,” I said quietly. The man chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Relax. I was just being friendly.”

I stepped closer. “You were being disrespectful.”

His smile faltered. “She didn’t seem to mind.”

That was the wrong thing to say and I didn’t remember deciding to hit him.

One moment he was standing there, smug and careless, and the next my fist connected with his jaw. The sound was so loud he winced in pain.

The room gasped. He stumbled back, crashing into a table, glasses shattering as he went down. And someone behind me shouted my name.

He tried to stand but I grabbed him by the collar and drove him into the marble pillar behind him.

“Don’t,” I snarled, low enough that only he could hear me, “ever look at her like that again.”

Blood streaked down his lip. Hands grabbed at my arms, voices shouting, but it barely registered. All I could see was red.

All I could think was how close he’d been. How easily he’d dismissed her refusal. Almost instantly, Zara’s voice cut through the chaos.

“Matteo!”

And then, I froze.