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Mateo

Amber’s 18th Birthday

My grip tightens on Amber’s hip as I lead her away from the crowded club, away from the unwanted attention of Grisha. I knew this was a mistake, her wearing that tight black dress guaranteed to turn heads. But then she looks up at me with those captivating blue-green eyes, and my reason for agreeing to this outing becomes crystal clear.I'd move mountains for her. It's that simple.

While Amber may have harbored feelings for me her entire life, it's undeniable that I've caught up to her. What started as a platonic affection for my best friend's sister has transformed into something far more intense. I resisted at first, fearing Roger's reaction or the morality of loving someone I watched grow up. But now, my resolve is dwindling. My gaze lingers on her beautiful face, every detail etched in my memory, as my hand remains firmly on her hip.``Who were those guys?"

"No one you need to worry about," I assure her, hailing a cab.``Well, the way you practically dragged me out of there makes me think otherwise.

"Suppressing a grin at her tone, I opened the cab door. "Get in, Amber. We're going home."She hops in, almost making me groan when she bends over, revealing the curve of her ass. Once we're settled in the backseat, I give the driver our address, noting the nervous glance he gives me upon hearing my gravelly voice and seeing my expression. Amber is the only one who can coax genuine smiles from me. Since the fire, I haven't been myself, but she has always had that effect on me. She's irresistible. As if to prove my point, she scoots closer to me until our bodies touch.Amber's been trying to get close to me for years, but now that she's eighteen? I'm powerless to resist.

She stays close until we reach our apartment building, where we reluctantly part ways. With Amber staying over more often, knowing she's just across the hall has made things... interesting, to say the least.I pay the cab fare, noticing a few guys eyeing Amber. I pull her against me, giving them a warning glare that sends them scurrying away. She laughs softly as I guide her inside.

"Remind me to give Vitorio a piece of my mind for buying you that dress," I grumble, pressing the elevator button.She glances down at her dress, then backs up at me. "You don't like it?""No, I don't. It attracts too much attention."Exiting the elevator, she walks past me with a small huff.

Turning to face me, hands on her hips and that mischievous smile on her lips. I close the door and fold my arms, waiting for her next move. She doesn't keep me waiting long."Maybe I'll start dressing like this every day."

I advance a step nearer. “You won’t wear that dress again.”

She offers an innocent shrug, though her smirk contradicts her words. “It was a gift from Vitorio; it would be impolite not to wear it.”

Despite knowing how harsh my voice can be, I growl, “You’re not stepping out of this penthouse in that dress again.” But she remains unfazed. Amber has never been intimidated by my rough voice or scars; she sees beyond them to the real me.

“You’re trying to provoke me, Amber, but it won’t work.”

She arches a brow. “No?”

“No. Now, take off the damn dress and put on those thick pajamas you wore last week.”

She has the audacity to laugh before closing the gap between us, mere inches separating our bodies. With that same smirk, she teases, “If you don’t want me to wear this dress, you’ll have to take it off yourself.”

“Amber.” My tone is a mixture of growl, warning, and plea for her to go easy on me. But she ignores all three, placing her hands on my waist and meeting my gaze with those captivating eyes that never leave my thoughts. Lately, those thoughts have been incessantly filled with desire, threatening to drive me insane.

“Why do you resist me, Mateo?”

“I’m not fighting you.”

Her brow furrows right before a hurt look crosses her face. Withoutthinking, I cup her face in my scarred hands and caress her cheek with my thumb. I can’t stand the thought of her in pain, and I hate that I’m the cause of it right now.

“Is it because you don’t want me?” Her voice is nothing more than a whisper, but she might as well be screaming it at me.

“What?”

Her eyes meet mine. “I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. At first it was just a childhood crush, but it never went away. It’s just gotten stronger, and then as I got older it changed into something more, and it kills me every time you try to push me away. Every time I see something flash in your eyes that I think might be desire or love, I get my hopes up, but every damn time you pull away from me. You close yourself off from me, Mateo, and it’s killing me. I want the truth. After all we’ve been through, you owe me that.”

Her fingers dig into my waist as she searches my eyes. “Do you feel anything for me?”

My heart fucking breaks at seeing her like this. She looks like she’s seconds away from crying, and I can’t stand it. Resting my forehead against hers, I let out a shaky breath and whisper, “Yes.”

Her gasp is whisper soft, and when I start to kiss along her brow, she lets out the softest moan.

“What about Roger?” I drag my nose along her soft skin, breathing her in like I’ve dreamed about doing. “I don’t want to come between you two.”

“Roger loves you, Mateo, and he knows that you’d never hurt me. Let me worry about him. The others will help smooth things over.”

“Yeah, because Vitorio’s been such a huge help so far,” I mutter.

She gives a soft laugh. “He did buy me this dress, and it did work.”

I pull back enough so I can see her better. “The dress had nothing to do with it.”

“Really? Well that’s good. That means I can keep wearing it.”

“Like hell you will.” My eyes run over the tiny scrap of clothing, and the thought of her walking around in this in front of other men when I’m not around to make sure she’s safe does not sit well with me.I’m about to run through a list of reasons on why exactly she can’t dress like this when I see the smile she’s fighting. I sigh and shake my head.

“You’re fucking with me, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

I let out a heavy sigh, relieved that she won’t be prancing around half-naked anytime soon. Reaching up, she cups my face in her hands and pulls me closer. With her heels on, she’s still shorter than me, but she’s close enough to put our mouths dangerously close. Amber is the only person who can touch me without it making me want to claw at my skin to rid myself of the feeling. It’s pure torture for me to have anyone else’s hands on my body, but with her, it doesn’t bother me. For a brief moment, I actually lean into her touch, savoring the feel of her skin against mine.

“I want one more present,” she whispers.

I smile and drag my knuckles lightly along her cheek. “Someone’s feeling greedy this year. I’ve already given you my favorite hoodie.”

“And I love it so much, but I want one more thing.”

“And what’s that?”

Her eyes meet mine. “A kiss. I want my first kiss, and I want it to be with you, Mateo, because I don’t ever want to kiss anyone else.”

My heart races in my chest, and I know I’m on dangerous ground here, but instead of pulling back and putting some distance between us, I lower my head until our lips touch. The truth is it’s also my first kiss. Not being able to tolerate touch makes it difficult to get close to someone, but kissing Amber feels so damn natural, like it was always supposed to be the two of us together.

She lets out a soft whimper when I deepen the kiss and thread my fingers in her dark hair, cupping the back of her head as my hand palms her lower back, pulling her closer. With her body flush against mine, I’m quickly losing my ability to think rationally, and when I slide my hand lower, she jumps up and wraps her legs around my waist, making it impossible for me to not grab her ass as she clings to me like she’s never planning on letting go. I’m more than okay with that.

Her tongue runs along mine, pulling a deep groan from my chest asI hold her tighter. She’s broken through all my defenses, all the damn walls I’ve worked so hard to put up crumble at her touch.

“Mateo.”

The sound of her moaning my name and the way her hips start to rock has me fighting for control. I can’t let this go any further. Not here, not yet. She just turned eighteen for fuck’s sake, and I’m already practically mauling her in the goddamn hallway.

I pull back and rest my forehead against hers, trying like hell to get control of myself. We’re still so close that her breaths hit my lips. I breathe in every one of her exhalations, wanting every piece of her that I can get.

“We don’t have to stop,” she whispers.

I let out a soft laugh. “Yes, we most definitely do.”

“But I don’t want to.” She kisses me again, giving my top lip a soft suck that has my dick threatening to bust straight through my damn pants.

“I don’t want to either, and that’s exactly why we have to.”

“Fine,” she sighs, and I smile at the pouty tone of her voice, “I’ll stop but only if you promise me something.”

“And what’s that?”

“That you won’t go back to hiding from me. We can hide things from the others for now, but you can’t hide yourself from me.” Her fingers trail down the side of my face. “Not anymore.”

“I’ve never hidden from you, Amber. You’re the only person I haven’t hidden from.”

She smiles, and it lights up her whole face. Once again I’m stunned by her beauty, and all I can do is stare. Knowing everyone is going to be at the club for a while to make sure Anatoly and Grisha are taken care of, I carry Amber to the couch and sit down. She raises a brow at me and looks down at the way she’s now straddling my lap. Her dress has ridden up even more, and the sight has me letting out a groan.

“I thought you said we needed to stop.”

“We do.” I say the words, but at the same time I’m pulling her closer until we’re kissing again and nothing else matters.

I lose myself in her—the taste of her, the feel of her body against mine and the softness of her lips, the sound of her whimpers, the sweet scent of her, and the way she’s gently grinding against my cock. It’s all I can think about. She consumes every part of me, leaving no room for anything else. The memories of the fire that killed my mom and sister and would’ve taken my own life if not for Vitorio no longer haunt me, the rage I feel towards my dad for starting the damn fire because he was drunk leaves me, and the painful memories of my burnt body disappear. Nothing else can exist when Amber is kissing me. She chases it all away.

I don’t know how long we stay on the couch kissing, but it doesn’t feel nearly long enough when my phone buzzes, forcing me to break away.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” I dig my phone out of my pocket and read the text that Vitorio’s just sent.

If you’re naked, get dressed. We’re on our way. P.S., You’re welcome for buying Amber that black dress.

“Fucker,” I mutter with a laugh before showing Amber the text.

“Unfortunately, we’re not naked.”

I smile and cup the back of her head, nuzzling my nose along her neck. I breathe her in and kiss a line along her throat.

“I do love the dress,” I admit. “I just don’t want you wearing it for anyone but me.”

Her fingers run through my hair, and I hear the smile in her voice when she says, “Deal. The black birthday dress is officially just for you.”

“Thank you.” I give her neck one last kiss. “Please go put something else on before they get here.”

Smiling, she gives me another kiss before leaving my lap and heading towards the room she always stays in, the one she chose that’s right across from mine. While she’s changing, the front door opens and my brothers walk in. Amber and Roger are the only two who are actually blood-related, but we’re a family all the same.

Vitorio walks in, scanning the room with a big smile on his face. Leviis right behind him not looking nearly as happy.

“Everything go okay?” I ask.

Vitorio laughs. “Yeah, Anatoly and Grisha are no longer a problem.” He looks over at Leviand laughs again. “Someone’s just grumpy because they didn’t get to kill anybody.”

“Maybe if you hadn’t hogged it all,” Levimutters, plopping down on the couch next to me so he can start setting up the new gaming system he bought for Amber.

Vitorio grabs a bag of chips and sits down on the other side of me. “I offered to let you kick him. It’s not my fault you didn’t take me up on it. Plus, I’m going to let you beat me in the racing game, remember? Fun times are headed your way, Lev.”

Levilaughs and shakes his head, clearly unable to stay pissed at Vitorio. Hell, no one can stay mad at him for long.

He leans in closer to me. “So, did you give Amber a special present while we were gone? Did you make her birthday a memorable one?”

I’m just about to tell him to fuck off when Roger says, “Much more appropriate, Amber. Now I can relax and not worry about my baby sister.”

I look over to see Amber standing near the hallway and realize how wrong Roger is. He may not need to worry about her being in danger, but there’s a lot of things I want to do to his sister that I’m guessing he’d probably never forgive me for. Her face is freshly scrubbed, and she’s wearing her plaid, flannel pajama bottoms and the red hoodie I gave her earlier. She’s just as beautiful as she was with makeup and wearing that tiny dress, and all I can think about is getting her back in my lap.

“Yeah, Roger’s never going to pick up on this,” Vitorio whispers, eyeing the way Amber and I are looking at one another. “Super subtle.”

Donny breaks the silence by setting a bottle of vodka on the coffee table in front of us and several glasses. “Now we can really celebrate your birthday, Amber.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to feel bad about kicking your ass on yourbirthday,” Vitorio says. “You’re an adult now, so that means no more going easy on you.”

Amber laughs and walks over. Grabbing the remote Levioffers her, she sits on the floor in front of me and leans her back against my leg. It’s not quite as close as she’d usually come, but it’s also not so unusual that it’ll draw Roger’s attention. I need to talk to him soon about his sister, but I don’t want to get into it tonight. Right now, I want to watch my girl kick everyone’s ass, and that’s exactly what she does.

By the time we all fall asleep, we’re more than a little drunk, all of us sprawled out around the living room. Pizza boxes litter the coffee table with a few bottles of vodka and the nearly devoured cake. Amber crawls onto the loveseat where I’m laying on my side and snuggles up against me, pulling the blanket over the two of us. Draping my arm over her, I pull her closer and bury my nose in her hair.

“Happy birthday, Amber,” I whisper, kissing her neck as my eyes close.

“Night, Mateo,” she whispers back, and falling asleep with her in my arms feels like the most natural thing in the world.