Chapter 107

Gen had made the unwise choice to doze off during the drive to the box. Her eyes snapped open when Matteo swung the car door open outside the very house where they had spent their first nights together. Before she even fully registered what was happening, he had already taken her hand to help her out. Reflexively, she lifted her leg and kicked him square in the chest. Matteo grunted, stumbling backward several steps to regain his balance. His eyes grew wide as she slid over the leather seat to the far side of the car, putting distance between them. Standing with hands on his hips and a fierce look in his eyes, he suddenly lunged forward, trying to pull her out of the vehicle.

When he finally managed to haul her out onto the sidewalk, Gen went completely limp, nearly causing him to drop her. She kicked and screamed, her defiance fueling his grunts and sharp breaths as he struggled to drag her across the pavement. She caught Stephen’s warning about the noise, but Matteo’s wheezy response—“I don’t fucking care!”—only made her fight harder.

One lucky strike was all it took. Right where it hurt the most. Matteo gasped sharply and dropped to one knee. Seizing the moment, Gen scrambled back into the car and locked the door behind her. She watched as he stayed down on one knee a moment longer, catching his breath. Her own breathing rattled through her chest, heart pounding so fiercely it felt like it might burst through her throat. She waited, tense and wary, to see what he would do next. Eventually, he stood and fixed a glare at the locked window behind which she cowered. He tried the door handle, found it locked.

“I want to go,” she shouted through the glass.

“No,” he mouthed back, firm and unyielding.

Gen slumped back into the seat, folding her arms tightly across her chest. She didn’t care if she looked childish; she was determined to stand her ground. Matteo pushed off from the SUV and began pacing wildly on the sidewalk, gesturing with his hands in furious frustration. She didn’t need to see his lips to know he was cursing up a storm, enough to make any sailor blush. Suddenly, he banged on the window, making her jump.

“You can come, but you can’t go into the room with me,” he offered, his voice rough but compromising.