Playing With The Mafia Prince

Chapter 5: Ride

By the time the afternoon rolled up, I’d finished work and classes for the day. I decided to go on a run, if only to avoid Valerie’s badgering. She was trying to drag me off to a party with her, and while I had nothing against parties, I hadn’t known Valerie long enough to go to a party held by her friends alone with her.

I liked her and everything, but it just didn’t feel right.

She could be taking me somewhere dangerous that she might consider normal.

About halfway into my run, the sky decided to open up. I don’t mean drizzle, no, I mean straight up fat drops of rain that plummeted towards the ground. I sighed and picked up my pace, knowing I was going to be drenched by the time I got back to the residence hall.

I briefly considered calling Alex to pick me up, but I dismissed the thought when I remembered he’d gone off to a job interview.

Dev was still in class, and I wasn’t about to make Val leave the comfort of our dorm to come pick me up in this rain.

Just as I had resigned myself to my soaking wet fate, a sporty-looking Range Rover hovered beside me. I ignored the car until it got closer.

It had tinted dark windows, so I couldn’t see who was inside of it.

My heart rate picked up, eyes and ears alert. I’ve heard one too many stories about girls who get snatched off the side of the road with no one around to hear them scream.

I looked around.

Sure enough, the streets were practically empty. Everyone had cleared off to hide from the freak storm.

I was subtly sliding my phone out of my pocket to call 911 when the window slid down.

Matteo’s smiling face appeared, and my breath hitched unnaturally. I blamed it on the workout. Truth was, I’d been having all sorts of reactions to him since he'd approached me in class the other day.

He’d decided to make his seat next to me permanent, much to the chagrin of his fan-girls. He greeted me with a smile every class and was always a perfect gentleman.

I didn’t know what to make of it.

Matteo brought the car to a slow, steady stop, and I stilled as well.

“Hey, curly.”

I was almost too distracted by his smile to notice the nickname. Almost.

“Don’t call me that.” I frowned.

The way his face lit up told me that was the perfect thing to say... if I wanted him to keep calling me that. I rolled my eyes. He probably used it because he didn’t remember my name.

“Need a ride?”

I hesitated. I knew what kind of reputation Matteo had. What if his politeness and charm in class had been a way to get me to let my guard down?

As thoughts raced through my mind, the rain continued to fall, my shirt getting soaked more and more by the second.

“Am I going to watch you suffer under God’s piss for long, or are you getting in?”

My eyes widened. “God’s piss?” I repeated, half laughing and half disgusted.

He just grinned at me and patted the passenger’s seat. I sighed. I knew better than to judge someone based on their reputation.

I’d keep my phone in hand for caution’s sake, though.

I clambered into the warm car gracelessly, making all sorts of squelching noises when my wet clothes met the leather seat. I cringed.

“Don’t worry about it. That seat’s seen worse things than some water,” he dismissed my worries cheerfully.

I narrowed my eyes at his words.

Things like what?

My mind didn’t have time to wander down that particular trail of thoughts, however, because I was quickly distracted by the overwhelming smell of the car.

I inhaled sharply, breathing in Matteo’s signature scent that seemed to be magnified in this small space. I’ve always been a sucker for masculine scents.

I put on my seat-belt quickly to hide my blushing face when I noticed Matteo glancing towards me with amusement. His hand moved towards the radio dial, to turn it up, before he looked at me again.

“Do you mind?” His eyes, like liquid gold, focused on me.

I was all too aware of the fact that I was very sweaty from running, and my frizzy hair probably made me look like an electrocuted porcupine.

I shrugged. “It’s your car.”

“s**t, you don’t say,” he teased, turning up the volume.

I vaguely recognized the tune as an Amy Winehouse song. Matteo tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat.

“Where am I taking you?” He asked after a minute of comfortable silence.

I almost slapped myself. God, what was it about this guy that made me act like an i***t? I rattled off the address quickly, and he nodded, leaning back in his seat.

He had one hand on the wheel, the other resting casually on his gearshift. His posture oozed confidence.

“I have a jacket in the backseat, if you want it.”

“I’m not cold.” Liar.

I was freezing my wet ass off.

“Oh, you’re chattering your teeth for fun, then?” He stretched his arm out and grabbed a black leather jacket from the backseat without breaking his gaze away from the road.

I took it from him with a mumbled thanks. The thing was huge on me. Its sleeves reached a few inches below my hands, and it covered me down to mid-thigh.

“I take it we won’t be sharing clothes anytime soon.”

Matteo flashed a smile. “I don’t know about that. I’ve been told I’d look good in a crop top.”

I felt a spark of respect for him. Most guys wouldn’t be comfortable enough to joke about something that they deemed would undermine their masculinity. Especially not with a stranger.

It was becoming exceedingly difficult for me to associate this light-hearted, respectful guy with the dangerous guy I’d been hearing so much about.

All too soon, he was parking in front of my residence hall. It seemed that the rain had calmed down to a light drizzle.

“Thanks for the ride,” I said, meaning it.

“My pleasure.”

We sat there in awkward silence for a bit. I fiddled with my hands in my lap.

“Did you need something or…” Matteo trailed off, looking and sounding amused.

Oh.

I blinked myself out of the state of stupor that had fallen over me and shook my head. No, I definitely don’t need anything from this unbelievably attractive and artificial man.

I opened the car door.

“Have a good night,” he added once I stepped out.

“You too.”

In a strangely sweet gesture, Matteo didn’t drive off until I had gone into the building.