CHAPTER 7

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The Romano estate loomed like a fortress, guarded by men armed to the teeth. Inside, the conference room was bathed in shadows as Antonio Romano and Alessandro De Luca sat at opposite ends of the long mahogany table, silent and calculating. Their eyes never left each other, each man waiting for the other to make a move.

Alessandro broke the silence first, his voice low and calm. “My men say the warehouse went up in flames at midnight. It wasn’t us.”

Antonio took a drag from his cigar, letting the smoke curl around him. “And my men reported an explosion at the docks an hour later. We didn’t touch your shipment.”

A tense pause stretched between them, both men too proud to admit they might have been played. Antonio set his cigar down, tapping his fingers on the polished wood.

“This isn’t our fight,” he said finally. “Someone else wants us at each other’s throats.”

Alessandro’s lips curled into a grim smile. “You think I don’t know that? But until we find out who, we’re sitting on a powder keg.”

Antonio’s gaze hardened. “Agreed. We need to contain this before it blows up in our faces.”

While the fathers schemed and plotted, Matteo slipped away from the meeting. He couldn’t stand the suffocating room, where old grudges festered despite their truce. He needed to breathe, to burn off the restless energy thrumming under his skin.

He grabbed his bike keys and stormed out of the estate, ignoring his cousins' questioning looks. The roar of the engine drowned out his thoughts as he sped through the city, his destination clear: the south warehouse. He had to see the damage for himself, to feel something tangible instead of the rage simmering in his gut.

As he approached the scorched ruins, he caught sight of a lone figure in the glow of the streetlight. Even from a distance, he knew it was her—Valentina. Her long brunette hair glinted in the dim light, cascading down her back in waves. She wore her signature leather jacket, tight jeans hugging her hips and accentuating her slim waist and round ass. Even with the smudges of ash and grime on her boots, she looked effortlessly lethal and undeniably gorgeous.

She didn’t turn as he approached, but he knew she’d heard him. She always did.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he growled, dismounting and striding toward her.

Valentina didn’t bother to look his way. “Scoping out the mess your boys made,” she replied coolly, tracing her fingers along a charred metal beam.

His jaw clenched. “My boys didn’t touch this place. But you wouldn’t believe that, would you, principessa?”

Her emerald eyes finally locked onto his, daring and dangerous. “Trust a Romano? Please. You’d burn down your own house just to point the finger at us.”

He stalked closer, his presence dominating the space between them. “Funny. I could say the same about you. Always so quick to pull the trigger without thinking.”

She scoffed, pushing off the beam and stepping right into his space, her chest almost brushing his. “I think plenty, Matteo. Like how satisfying it would be to put a bullet between those cocky eyes of yours.”

He smirked, leaning down until their noses almost touched. “Big words for a girl who couldn’t pull the trigger last time.”

Her hands shot out, grabbing his collar, and he barely had time to react before her lips crashed into his. The kiss was brutal, all teeth and fury, and Matteo didn’t hesitate to take control, slamming her back against the metal beam. Her gasp was swallowed by his mouth as his hands pinned hers above her head.

“Still got that fire, huh?” he whispered against her lips, his breath hot and rough.

Valentina glared at him, struggling against his hold just to prove she could. “Maybe I’m just testing your restraint.”

He laughed darkly, his mouth tracing a line down her jaw to the sensitive spot beneath her ear. “Restraint? Don’t test me, Val. You’ll lose.”

She twisted her wrists free and shoved him backward, but he barely stumbled before catching her around the waist, spinning her to pin her against a half-burnt pillar. Her jacket slipped down her shoulders, revealing a bare expanse of skin that made his mouth water.

His lips attacked her neck, biting and sucking until she moaned, the sound vibrating through his chest. Valentina’s nails raked down his back, and he felt the sting even through his shirt. His hands found her waist, tracing the curve of her hips before gripping her ass and pulling her flush against him.

“Fuck,” she gasped, grinding against his hardness with just enough force to make him groan.

“Careful,” he rasped, yanking her shirt up over her head. Her lacy black bra barely contained her breasts, and he couldn’t resist cupping them, thumbing her hardened nipples through the fabric. “You keep that up, and I’ll take you right here on this filthy ground.”

Her smirk was wicked. “Maybe I like it dirty.”

He didn’t waste another second. His hands slipped under her thighs, lifting her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. His mouth trailed down her chest, teeth grazing over the swell of her breasts as she arched into him.

Valentina’s hands fumbled with his belt, yanking it free before undoing his jeans. He helped her shove them down just enough to free himself, then tugged her jeans and panties down her thighs, not caring if they tore in the process.

With one hand holding her ass and the other gripping her hair, he thrust into her, hard and unrelenting. The guttural moan that ripped from her throat was pure music to his ears. He moved ruthlessly, their bodies colliding in a frenzy of need and fury.

Her nails scratched his back, and she bit down on his shoulder to muffle her cries. He didn’t care who heard them—didn’t care if the whole damn city knew he was fucking Valentina De Luca against the ruins of what used to be his.

The pressure built inside them, fierce and overwhelming, until Valentina’s walls clenched around him, her orgasm tearing through her with a muffled scream. Matteo followed, burying himself deep as his release took over, leaving them both gasping for air.

They stayed like that for a moment, tangled together, breaths mingling and heartbeats pounding. When Valentina finally met his gaze, her smirk was back, though softer this time.

“You still hate me?” she asked, her voice laced with amusement.

He pressed a rough kiss to her lips, biting down just enough to make her whimper. “Every damn second.”

She chuckled, untangling herself and fixing her clothes. “Good. Hate makes it hotter.”

Matteo watched her saunter off, her hips swaying like she owned the world. As he fixed his belt and caught his breath, he couldn’t help but wonder how many times they’d play with fire before one of them got burned.