Page 67 of My Ghost

“I’d rather prefer red wine if you have it, please,” she quips, voice amused.I shrug and go to retrieve a bottle of red wine from the wine refrigerator and put it in front of her with a glass and a corkscrew.She can damn well open it herself since she should be the one living here.

Once I have my steaming cup of coffee, I sit on a stool in front of her and deeply breathe in the grounding aroma of freshly brewed coffee.I brace for whatever she has to say.She doesn’t wait for long.

“I asked Matteo to come to talk to you,” she starts.

I don’t reply.Here it is, the moment she will tell me to scram.The worst part is that she doesn’t even look flustered, as if my presence doesn’t threaten her in the slightest.She must be sure of her position in Matteo’s life.Humiliation makes my face burn, even though I try to keep my mask.

“You seem to think that he and I are dating,” she goes on, smiling when she sees my frown.“We are not.Not at all.”

I inhale sharply, my mind blanking out.“B-but… I saw him, and you…” I mutter in confusion.

“Yes, the other night you saw him come out of my apartment, but it was not what you seem to think.He is helping me on a…private matter.And I asked him to tell you why, but he is stubborn, he says he won’t drag you into this.So I’ll tell you myself.”

I remain silent, letting her continue while my brain tries to catch up.

“Matteo is investigating the disappearance of my girlfriend.”

My jaw drops to the floor.I hadn’t seen that coming.

“You’re…” I start, then the main information slams into my mind.“Your girlfriend disappeared?What happened?”

Her eyes cloud over with sadness and worry.“I don’t know, she never came back from work a few weeks ago and no one has seen her since.Matteo is doing what he can to locate her, but so far nothing.”

“I…I’m sorry,” I mumble.God, I have misinterpreted everything and now I must seem like a total heartless bitch.I let my head drop on the counter with a groan.Shame crawls up my neck as I lift my head to apologize.“I am sorry for thinking that you and him… For lashing out at you.God, I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t worry, he should have told you right away.He is my friend, but I must say that he can be a bit stubborn sometimes.”We both chuckle at that.

“Have you known him for long?”I ask after a few beats of comfortable silence of each of us sipping our drink.

“Four years.He saw me in the street when I got kicked out from my former job because I refused to…accommodate a male client who got too insisting.I was alone and frightened.Matteo gave me a place to stay and hired me, although I told him that I refused to let men touch me.He told me that if anyone touched me without my consent in his club, male or female alike, I should tell him so he could take care of it.”

“That sounds like him,” I murmur and look down into my now empty cup, feeling my heart melt.Goddamnit, this man…

Jade reaches over the counter to take my hand and squeezes softly.“He’s crazy about you.Anyone with eyes and ears can tell.”

My eyes snap up to hers and I find them locked on me, a smile playing on her lips.

“A-about that I don’t know…” I stutter, “but he is crazy, that’s undeniable.”I finish with a sheepish shrug.

That has her snort, and suddenly we end up laughing uncontrollably.After I’m able to breathe again and have wiped away the tears from my eyes, I stand to retrieve a wine glass and hold it out to Jade so she can pour me some.

We talk like old friends for over an hour before Matteo comes back in.When he sees us sitting and talking, his shoulders drop as if in relief and he walks over to me to cage me in from behind, nuzzling my neck until I am too distracted to keep track of the conversation.

Jade excuses herself with a sly smile and a wink my way, and leaves after she assured Matteo that she said what she had to say to me.Then she is gone, and I am alone with him.He swivels the stool around so that I am facing him and looks into my eyes, expression serious.

“Is everything all right?”His eyes roam over my face.

I nod, suddenly overwhelmed by his presence, by the scent of his cologne, by the heat radiating off him.But most of all, it’s the look on his face that undoes me.There is something raw and unguarded in the way his dark irises are locked on mine, as if I was the only thing existing and I held all the answers.

I slowly reach out, my fingers trembling as they tangle into his hair.He goes still beneath my touch, as if afraid to breathe, afraid this might vanish if he moves.I pull his face down to mine and kiss him, trying to convey everything I can’t say into that kiss.All the longing, the fear, the pull that’s been tearing at me since the first time our eyes met.The ache of wanting him, the maddening tenderness that’s somehow crept in between the chaos.And love, terrifying and real.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Erin

“What’s going on in that head of yours?”Matteo’s deep voice rumbles through his chest where I have been drawing lazy circles for the last ten minutes.

I pause, trying to find the right words.“I was…thinking about this.About us.”