Matteo POV
Matteo softly ran his fingers over Elizabeth’s upper arm—her head on his chest—quietly listening while she confided in him. Matteo had always had the feeling that Elizabeth had been hiding something—something from her past, but he could never have guessed it would be this dark.
"When I was seven, I really wanted a little dollhouse for my birthday. I talked about it for months, even drew pictures of it. But when the day came, my father barely glanced at me before handing my brother the latest video game console. They didn’t even remember my birthday." She spoke quietly, running her fingers over his chest. Matteo thought about his own childhood, and how birthdays had always been richly celebrated, with family and lots of presents.
“They used to throw Nicholas these lavish birth
