by Maisey Yates
And he knew one thing for certain in that moment. That no matter how blinded he was by anger, he would never hurt Alessia. He would never hurt his child. No, his emotions, not his mind, told him emphatically that he would die before he let any harm come to them.
That he would give everything to keep them safe.
He had been so certain, all this time, that his mind would protect him, but it had been his heart that had demanded he do whatever it took to save Alessia Battaglia from harm. It had been his heart that had demanded he spend that night in New York with her.
And it was his heart that was crumbling into pieces now. There was no protecting his defenses, because Alessia had slipped in beneath them years ago, before they had fully formed, and she was destroying them now from the inside out.
Matteo put his head on the steering wheel, his body shaking as pain worked its way through him, spreading through his veins like poison.
Something in him cracked open, every feeling, every desire, every deep need, suddenly acute and sharp. It was too much. Because it was everything all at once. Grief for the boy he’d been, for the man his father had become and what the end had done to both of them. Justification because he’d done what he had for his whole family. To free everyone. To free himself. Guilt, anguish, because in some ways he would always regret it.
And a desperate longing for redemption. A desperate wish he could go back to the beginning, to the start of it all, and take the path that would form him into Alessia’s white knight. So that he could truly be the man she’d seen.
Alessia. He thought of her face. Her bright smile. Her tears.
Of meeting her eyes in the mirror at a bar, and feeling a sense of certainty, so deep, so true, he hadn’t even tried to fight it.
And he felt something else. A light, flooding through his soul, touching everything. Only this time, it wasn’t brief. Wasn’t temporary. It stayed. It shone on everything, the ugly, the unfinished and the good. It showed him for what he was, what he could be.
Love. He loved Alessia. He had loved her all of his life.
And he wasn’t the man that she should have. He wasn’t the man he could have been if things had gone differently.
But with love came hope. A hope that he could try. A hope for redemption. A hope for the future.
For every dirty, broken feeling that he’d unleashed inside of him, he had let loose the good to combat it.
He had never imagined that. Had never believed that there was so much lightness in him.
It was Alessia. His love for her. His hope for their future.
He might not be the man she’d once imagined. He might not be the man he might have been in different circumstances. But that man was the one that Alessia deserved and no less.
So he would become that man. Because he loved Alessia too much to offer her less.
Matteo picked up his phone, and dialed a number he rarely used if he could help it. But this was the start. The start of changing. He was too tired to keep fighting, anyway. Too tired to continue a rivalry he simply didn’t want to be involved in. A rivalry created by his father, by Alessandro’s father. They both hated those bastards so what was the point of honoring a hatred created and fostered by them?
No more. It had to end.
“Corretti.”
“It’s Matteo.”
“Ah, Matteo.” Alessandro didn’t sound totally thrilled to hear from him.
“How is everything going? In terms of unifying the business?”
“Fine.”
“Great. That’s not exactly why I called.”
“Why did you call, then? I’m a little busy.”
“I called because I want to make sure that as we unify the company, we unify the family, as well. I … I don’t want to keep any of this rivalry alive. I’ve been holding on to some things for far too long that I need to let go. This is one of them.”
“Accepting my superiority?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
Alessandro paused for a moment. “You aren’t dying, are you?”
“It feels like it. But I think it will pass.” It had to. “I don’t want to carry things on like Carlo and Benito did, and I don’t just mean the criminal activity. If we have a problem, I say we just punch each other in the face and get it over with, rather than creating a multi-generational feud.”
“That works for me.”
“Good. See you at the next meeting.” He hung up. It wasn’t like he needed to hug it out with his cousin or anything, but he was ready to start putting things behind him. To stop shielding himself from the past and embrace the future.
A future that would include Alessia.
Alessia looked up when the Ferrari roared back onto the grounds. She was standing in the garden, doing her best to at least enjoy the waning sunlight. It was better than the whole dissolving-into-never-ending-tears bit.
Matteo left the car in the middle of the drive and strode into the yard, his eyes fixed on hers. When he reached her, he pulled her into his arms, his expression fierce. Then he lowered his head and kissed her. Long. Deep. Intense.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, her face wet, tasting salt from tears. She didn’t know whose. She didn’t care.
She didn’t want to ask questions now, she just wanted to live in this moment. When they parted, Matteo buried his face in her neck and held her tight. And she held him, too. Neither of them moved, neither of them spoke.
Emotion swelled in her chest, so big she wasn’t sure she could stand it. Wasn’t sure she could breathe around it.
“I love you,” he said. “I have never said it before, Alessia. Not to anyone. Not to a woman, not to family. So when I say it, I mean it. With everything I have, such as it is. I love you.”
A sob broke through her lips and she tightened her hold on him. “I love you, too.”
“Still?”
“Always.”
“You were right. I was afraid. I’m still afraid. But I can’t hide anymore. You made it impossible. I want to be the man worthy of that look you used to give me. I want to be everything for you, I don’t just want to take from you. I was content to just take that light you carry around in you, Alessia. To let it warm me. But you deserve more than that. So I’ll be more than that. I’m not everything I should be. I’m broken. I’ve done things that were wrong. I’ve seen things no man should have to see. But I will give you everything that I have to give, and then I’ll reach deep and find more, because you’re right, you deserve it all. And I want you, so that means I have to figure out a way to be it all.”
“Matteo, no, you don’t. You just have to meet me in the middle. And love will cover our shortcomings.”
“Just meet you in the middle?”
“Mainly, I just need you to love me.”
“That I can do, Alessia Corretti. I’ve been doing it for most of my life.”
“You might not believe this, Matteo, but as you are, you’re my knight in shining armor. You are flawed. You’ve been through unimaginable things, and you love anyway. You’re so strong, so brave, so utterly perfect. Well, not perfect, but perfect for me. You’re the only man I’ve ever wanted, the only man I’ve ever loved. And that will never change.”
“How is it that you see me, all of me, and love me, anyway?”
“That’s what love is. And you know what? It’s not hard to love you. You’re brave, honorable. You were willing to cut off any chance at having your own happiness to try to protect the people around you. To try to do right. You’re the most incredible man I’ve ever known.”
“Quite the compliment coming from the most amazing woman. Your bravery, your willingness to love, in spite of all you’ve been through, that’s what pulled me out of the darkness. Your light won. Your love won.”
“I’m so glad it did.”
He put his hand on Alessia’s stomach. “This is what I want. You, me, our baby. I was too afraid before to admit how much I wanted it. Too afraid I didn’t dese
rve it, that I would lose it. I’m still afraid I don’t deserve it, but I want it so much.” He leaned in and kissed her lips. “I’m not cold anymore.”
“Never again,” she said.
He wrapped his arms tight around her and spun them both in a circle. She laughed, and so did he. Genuine. Happy. Joy bloomed inside of her. Joy like she’d never felt before. Real, true. And for her. Not to keep those around her smiling.
“We agreed on one night. This is turning into a lot longer than one night,” he said when they stopped spinning.
“It is,” she said. “All things considered, I was thinking we might want to make it forever.”
“Forever sounds about right.”
EPILOGUE
THE CORRETTIS WERE all together. But unlike at the funerals that had been the most common reason for them to come together in the past, unlike Alessia and Alessandro’s wedding-that-wasn’t, there was no veiled animosity here at the celebration of Teresa’s birthday. And not just Teresa’s birthday, but the regeneration of the docklands. The culmination of a joint family effort. Of them coming together.
After the big ceremony down at the docklands, they’d returned to the family estate.
They had all sat down to dinner together. They had all talked, business and personal, and not a single punch had been thrown. And it wasn’t only Correttis. Some of the Battaglias, Alessia’s siblings, were there, as well.
Matteo considered it a resounding success.
After dinner, they all sat in the garden, lights strung overhead, a warm breeze filtering through. And Matteo felt peace.
“Hey there.” Alessia walked away from where she’d been talking to his sister Lia and came to stand beside him, their daughter, Luciana Battaglia-Corretti, on her hip.
“The most beautiful women here have graced me with their presence. I am content,” he said, brushing his knuckles over Alessia’s cheek and dropping a kiss onto Luciana’s soft head.
Matteo looked at his wife and daughter, at his family, all of them, surrounding him. That word meant something new now. The Correttis were no longer at war.
He bent down and extracted Luciana from her mother’s arms, pulling his daughter close, the warm weight of her, her absolute trust in him, something he would never take for granted.
Alessia smiled at him, her eyes shining, her face glowing. “The way you look at me,” he said. “Like I’m your knight in shining armor.”
“You are,” she said. “You saved me, after all.”
Matteo looked around one more time, at all of the people in his life. People that he loved. “No, Alessia. You saved me.”
Read on for an exclusive
interview with Maisey Yates!
BEHIND THE SCENES OF
SICILY’S CORRETTI DYNASTY
with Maisey Yates
It’s such a huge world to create—an entire Sicilian dynasty. Did you discuss parts of it with the other writers?
Yes, we had a loop set up for discussion, and there were a lot of details to work out. And every so often messages would come in with the funniest subject lines I’ve ever seen.
How does being part of a continuity differ from when you are writing your own stories?
I think it takes a little bit to attach to characters you didn’t create from scratch, but in the end, for me, I work so hard to find that attachment that I think continuity characters end up being my favorite.
What was the biggest challenge? And what did you most enjoy about it?
I think getting to the heart of my hero. Just because you’ve been given an outline with characters doesn’t mean you’ve been given all the answers. In Matteo’s case he was hiding something very dark and it was up to me to dig it out of him. I love a tortured hero, so this was right up my alley.
As you wrote your hero and heroine was there anything about them that surprised you?
Hee, hee … This goes with the above. Yes, Matteo surprised me with the depth of the darkness in him. I think Alessia surprised me with her strength. Every time she opened her mouth she had something sassy to say.
What was your favorite part of creating the world of Sicily’s most famous dynasty?
I loved the family villas, the idea of old-world history and beauty. I love a country setting.
If you could have given your heroine one piece of advice before the opening pages of the book, what would it be?
It’s never too late to try to claim your own independence … but next time maybe do it before you’re walking down the aisle.
What was your hero’s biggest secret?
Oh, now, see, I can’t tell you that. I’d have to kill you. He’s a very good dancer, though.
What does your hero love most about your heroine?
Her strength, her ability to love and feel in spite of everything she’d been through. He feels like he’s on the outside, looking in at all that light and beauty, unable to touch it.
What does your heroine love most about your hero?
The man beneath the cold exterior. The man who has braved so much pain and come out the other side standing strong. The man who gave so much to free his family from their father.
Which of the Correttis would you most like to meet and why?
Matteo. Because he’s a sexy beast. I can’t lie.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
® and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
First published in Great Britain 2013
Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
THE CORRETTIS: SCANDALS
© Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. 2013
A Hunger for the Forbidden © Harlequin Books S.A. 2013
Special thanks and acknowledgement are given to Maisey Yates for her contribution to Sicily’s Corretti Dynasty series
eISBN: 978-1-472-01567-9
Table of Contents
Excerpt
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Copyright
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