The Shadows We Keep

CHAPTER SEVEN

Matteo's pov

What the f**k was I doing?

Saving the daughter of Gabriel Russo, Faking her death, and then taking her with me to my home in Los Angeles. All of these are like ingredients to a disaster that was going to blow up in my face in the future.

I looked over at her, and saw she was already sound asleep. Her brows were furrowed together as if she was having a bad nightmare. I'm not surprised, because things like what happened to her, stays in your mind forever. There was no fixing it. My eyes trailed to the burn scars on her neck, and I felt the ripple of rage run through me. The time spent with Gabriella, made me realize she wasn't a bad person, she was the direct opposite of Gabriel, but yet she still had to suffer for his sins.

"Great." I muttered as I looked away. "You had one mission, Matteo, but instead you had to save the girl."

I leaned back in my seat, and sighed. I was already too deep in this to turn back now.

Gabriella stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She looked disoriented for a moment, but then her hand found mine, and a faint smile played on her lips.

"Hey," she whispered, her voice husky from sleep.

"Hey." I replied, trying to sound nuetral.

She let go of my hand to rub her eyes. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours." I said, glancing at my watch.

She nodded, and sat up. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah."

She nodded again, her gaze drifting to me. "Thanks, Matteo."

"Sure." I said and looked away, feeling a weird pang of guilt.

Before she could say anything else that'd make me question my motives, the flight attendant's voice came over the intercom, announcing our descent into LAX. Gabriella's face lit up with a faint smile.

"I've never been to Los Angeles." she said. "It was always part of the places I wanted to visit."

"Well, you've gotten your wish."

"I wanted to see it." She said, her voice low. "I wanted to live in it."

The ripples of rage washed through me again, and I found myself promising to find who did this to her, and making him pay, dearly. She was full of light, and a future, and he took that from her.

"You're going to live in it." I said. I know I was promising her almost the impossible, and it made me wonder just how much I cared about her.

I pushed the thoughts away from my mind,and focused on her. "Once everything has died down completely, I'll take you around Los Angeles. You don't need to see it to feel it."

She gave me a small smile, her grey eyes glassy. "Okay."

As we disembarked from the plane, I could sense Gabriella's nervousness. She clutched my arm tightly, as she glanced around, triggered by any sharp sounds around her.

After a couple of minutes, we finally reached the arrival halls, where Vinnie, my right-hand and best friend, was waiting for us.

"Matteo." His eyes drifted to Gabriella, but didn't hint at any surprise. He was good at that, masking his emotions. But even I wanted to hear what he thought about me bringing Gabriella back with me, it was a total derail of my plans.

I handed him our luggage. "Vinnie, this is Gabriella."

"Nice to meet you." Gabriella said, her eyes darting around as she tried to figure out where he stood.

"It's a surprise meeting you, Miss Russo." He replied, giving me a pointed look.

I subtly tapped my index finger on my eyebrow, and then gestured slightly to Gabriella.

"Figured." He said, glancing at her again. "The car is parked right outside."

"Let's go." I said, guiding Gabriella outside.

****

"Are you going to keep being silent or you're going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Vinnie asked once we were settled in my study.

When we got to the manor, Gabriella was still exhausted, so I had one of the maids take her upstairs to freshen up and get some rest.

I leaned back into my chair with a sigh. "It's not what it looks like."

"That is Gabriella Russo. From what I heard she's supposed to be dead, alongside her family." He headed to my liquor cabinet. "Was that you?"

"You of all people should know killing the wife and burning their house wasn't in the plan."

"Neither was bringing his daughter here."

He poured brandy into two glass cups, and headed for my desk. "I was gone for a couple of months, and this is what happens."

"Someone got to him right before I got there." I said, collecting a glass from him. "The person had a really strong ass grudge because Gabriel and his wife were beaten to pulp and dead, as for Gabriella, she was shot, blinded, and left there burn alive."

"Christ." Vinnie muttered.

We had both seen more than a fair share of messy in the world, and yet sometimes, even somethings were just too much.

"I had a choice, kill her and put her out of her misery, or save her and see what I can get out of it. She's Gabriel's sole heir. Even with his empire in complete ruins, there's still something that could be salvaged. Things that belong to my father."

"I really hope you're right." He said, not looking convinced by my words.

"I am."

He took of sip of his bourbon and closed his eyes. "This is some good stuff. There was hardly any back at Italy."

"How's your mother?"

"She's fighting." He tried to smile, but I could see the tension in his features. "The doctors say she's not even supposed to still be alive. I'm glad she stopped the treatments when she said she wanted to, it saved us some kind of time."

My jaw tightened as I thought about what he was going through, watching the only thing he had dwindle away. "If there's anything you need, brother. Don't hesitate."

"I know." He gulped down the rest of his bourbon, and slammed the glass on the table. "If you do get what you want, what are you going to do with her?"

That was a question I had been avoiding since I picked her up in those flames. I kept telling myself that all this was to get my revenge no matter what, but the longer time I spent with her, I was losing sight of my plans.

"I'll deal with that when the time comes."

"I know you probably hate her guts because of her father, but how about you don't accidentally kill her yet."

Only if he knew…

"I won't." I replied, and stood up. "I need some rest. Between staying away on a 12 hour flight, and stressing about a dead man, I need sleep."

"Do you think she's going to figure who you are though?" He said, getting to his feet. "I mean, I doubt it, since she can't even see you."

"She's blind, not dumb. But, I also doubt it too. From what I gathered while talking to her, she has never been interested in her father's world. She hates the mafia, and she even moved to another city because of it."

"And yet his demons still found her." He replied, clamping my shoulder. "I feel bad for her already."