Chapter 25

Matteo’s POV

The Angelos firm occupied an entire floor of glass and skyscrapers, the kind of place designed to intimidate before a word was even spoken.

Everything about it screamed control and power, and the whole place was flooded with men dressed in black.

I hated it already.

The boardroom doors slid open smoothly when I walked into the hallway, revealing a long polished table, black leather chairs, and a wall of windows overlooking Milan’s financial district as usual.

My men followed me in. Luca to my right, Enzo behind him, and Marco lingering closer to the door. Angelo Moretti the man of the hour was already seated at the head of the table.

He rose when he saw me, smile obviously forced, as his eyes remained on me. “Matteo.”

“Angelo.” I didn’t offer my hand immediately. I mean, power wasn’t something you gave freely; something important I learned from my father, Theo Ferraro.

A couple of minutes later, we sat. Folders were slid across the table. Coffee was poured but left untouched. This was supposed to be a formality, the kind of deal that got discussed in hushed tones and finalized without drama.

Weapons routes, port access. Mutual protection. Legacy business.

Angelo cleared his throat. “Before we proceed, there’s been a… development.”

I leaned back slowly, fingers steepled. “Go on.”

He exchanged a glance with one of his advisors. “My family has concerns.”

Luca stiffened beside me as if bothered.

“Concerns?” I repeated calmly and then Angelo nodded. “About exposure.”

The word apparently landed wrong but I ignored it. Focusing on the main reason for the meeting.

“Our operations are discreet,” I said. “Always have been.”

“No one is questioning your competence,” Angelo replied smoothly cutting me off. “But perception matters.”

I tilted my head. “Then say what you want to say.”

He sighed, folding his hands. “You’ve had… distractions.”

The room went cold in an instant as all eyes stared directly at me, making me freeze in my spot staring back at them too.

But Enzo spoke up breaking the silence. “We don’t conduct business based on rumors.”

Angelo smiled thinly leaning forward at his end of the table. “Rumors have consequences when they start circulating among enemies.”

I leaned forward, resting my forearms on the table as well. “You think I don’t know how this world works?”

“I think,” Angelo said with a brow raised, “that you’ve allowed something personal to bleed into the public eye.”

My jaw tightened as I glared at him.

“Careful,” I warned tightening my fists around the edges of the table in front of me.

“One of my men sent me a video,” Angelo continued. “Taken downtown, a confrontation. You're intervening.”

Luca swore under his breath but I signaled him to stay put as I adjusted in my chair as well. Waiting to hear the damn thing he had to say.

“You’re withdrawing because I threw a punch?” I asked incredulously.

“No,” Angelo said. “Because you threw it over a woman.”

Silence slammed down and I rose slowly from my chair. “You don’t get to discuss my private affairs.”

“You made them public the moment you stepped out of your car,” he shot back. “That girl, she’s young and already catching the eyes of the other men around, so that you know,”

“She is under my protection,” I said coldly cutting him off.

“That’s exactly the problem.”

My fists clenched at my sides. I glared at him, not giving him the chance to even finish. “You’re questioning my authority.”

“I’m questioning your judgment,” Angelo corrected. “And I will not align my family with a man who can be manipulated through sentiment.”

Luca stood abruptly. “This deal benefits both sides—”

“The deal is off,” Angelo interrupted, standing as well. “For now.”

“For now?” I repeated.

He nodded. “Clean up your house and then we can talk.”

The audacity of that, made my stomach tighten from disgust. Irritation was boring into my veins as I watched his lips move.

“You’re making a mistake,” I said quietly and Angelo met my gaze. “Or I’m avoiding one.”

And then to my greatest shock, he just walked out. Leaving my men and I to an empty boardroom, just like that.

The doors shut behind him, echoing through the room like a gunshot and I turned slowly to Luca and the others.

“What the hell was that?” I roared, slamming my palm against the table so hard the glasses rattled.

Luca flinched at the end of the table. “They just blindsided us.”

“Embarrass, you mean?” I snapped. “In their own boardroom.”

“We didn’t know the video circulated that far though,” Enzo said.

“That’s your job,” I barked. “To know.”

Marco leaned in close to me from behind, whispering into my ear. “We’ll recover the alliance another way.”

“There is no other way,” I said coldly. “The Angelos control half the ports we need,” I added, a bit frustrated that I had to go through this.

I grabbed my jacket and stormed out, almost instantly. The bar downtown was loud enough to drown my thought and that was where I decided to spend the rest of my night.

I drank like I was trying to erase something. Letting Whiskey burn down my throat hours later, numbing the edges, blurring the fury in my chest into something heavier.

“Slow down,” Marco warned, as he gave me a tap on my arm.

I laughed bitterly in seconds, not even glancing at him. “They think I’m compromised.”

“You’re not,” he said firmly and I stared into my glass. “Then why does it feel like I am?”

He gave no response and instead, Marco took me by the arm leading me out of the bar, and forced me a couple of minutes later.

Home felt distant as I stayed restless in the car. My brain fuzzy from all the excess glasses I had.

Just when we arrived a couple of minutes later, the stairs blurred beneath my feet as I climbed, one hand gripping the railing.

When I walked in, light spilled from the kitchen and then I looked up. Just when I did, our eyes met.

Zara.

She stood there with a glass of water, hair loose, she had on her night robe, eyes lifting to meet mine.

We froze.

I tried to speak but failed in between as the world tilted and I stumbled but she caught me surprisingly.

Her arms wrapped around me instinctively, her back hitting the counter as she steadied my weight, and the glass behind her shattered on the floor.

We stayed like that for a second. Her blue eyes wide, my hands gripping her arms. No words. Just tension lingering in the air and we didn’t move.