Chapter 159

Ethan

“I didn’t think you’d agree to meet with me,” I said.

“Believe me, neither did I,” Stasia admitted plainly.

The moment I found out that Layla had returned to the Marcellos, I asked Aldo for Stasia’s number. I reached out to her with the hopes that she would be willing to talk.

As I suspected, my curiosity did end up outweighing my fear of knowing the truth.

I’d asked Stasia to meet me at one of the local bars in town. I made it there before her and took a seat at one of the front tables. I tried my best to push down my anxiety as the minutes ticked on.

Ten minutes had passed and I almost got up from the table to leave but I immediately stopped when I saw Stasia walk through the door. That same familiar feeling filled my chest. Warmth and twinging magnetic pull that made me want to close the distance between us.

She came wearing a fitted dark green dress and an oversized leather jacket that looked like it once belonged to a man, much less her.

Her hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, allowing her angelic features to be fully seen. She truly was breathtaking.

She took her seat across from me and practically every guy working at the bar came rushing over to take her drink order. Stasia seemed unfazed by the amount of attention she was attracting while I, on the other hand, struggled to deal with an overwhelming feeling of irritation.

Every single pair of male eyes turned in her direction and all she had done was sit down.

Was I seriously feeling jealous? Jesus Christ, I didn’t even know this woman. I need to pull myself together.

Staisa settled on a single gin and tonic and pressed back into her seat. I noticed that she had a hard time keeping her eye contact with me. I didn’t think it was because she was nervous but rather uncomfortable.

The muscles in my stomach clenched with distress, knowing that I was the cause of it.

“So, what exactly is it that you wish to know?” she asked meekly.

“Right,” I cleared my throat. “I was hoping you could tell me what Matteo—what I was like back then.”

She raised her brows. “You’re certain you wish to know this?”

I nodded my head and raised a single hand. “Just, if you could, refrain from telling me about any...crimes I may have committed.”

Her mouth pulled into a smug grin. “I’ll do my best,” she slithered.

The bartender rushed back with her drink and carefully placed it down in front of her. “Please let me know if I can get you anything else,” he said with an all-too-charming smile.

“Thank you,” Stasia purred.

Beneath the table, my hands were curled into tight fists. Had I still been holding my beer glass, the damn thing would have surely shattered.

Goddamnit, Ethan, relax! This woman doesn’t mean anything to you. You don’t even know her.

“Matteo was...Devoted to his family,” she began. “If someone so much as made a passing threat against the Marcellos, needless to say, he wouldn’t have stood for it. He was ruthless and unyielding when it came to his enemies. He never seeked all that violence and carnage but he knew how to handle it.”

I nodded my head not wanting to miss a word.

“Matteo had his softer moments too. He really loved animals. He always went on about how he wanted to own a group of dogs someday.”

This made me smile. Funny enough, I also had an extremely soft spot for dogs.

“Was it not a fan of people in general?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” she said. Something mystifying crossed her eyes. “But that’s what made gaining his attention all the more special. Matteo was highly selective about things. Houses, cars, liquors—”

“Women,” I interjected.

Her lips broke out into a stunning smile. “Exactly.”

I watched Stasia lift the short glass tumble up to her mouth. She took a tentative sip before placing the glass back down. My eyes kept getting transfixed on her pouting lips which were perfectly shaped.

What really caused my heart to skip several beats was when the pink tip of her tongue licked along her bottom lip. Something was stirring within the caverns of my chest. It caused a fiery heat to engulf my heart and lungs.

I wanted this woman. I wanted her in a way that only a hidden part of myself could fully understand.

“How did we come to know each other back then?” I asked.

Stasia’s eyes suddenly filled with something resembling vulnerability.

“When Eva and I had turned twenty-one, our family decided to take a trip out here to the East Coast to visit some of our relatives. There had been a party planned; however, I was quick to discover that the event was meant as an engagement party. My engagement party. My parents had arranged for me to be married to a man that I had never met.”

My eyes grew wide as my mouth twisted into a vile sneer.

“Fucking what? An arranged marriage?!”

Stasia merely shrugged. “I left the party in an outrage and went to the nearest bar I could find. While I was sitting there, feeling sorry for myself, a handsome man came walking through the doors.”

“Matteo.”

She nodded and took another sip of her drink. “You asked me why I was so upset and I, for some reason, confessed everything to you even as a complete stranger. You couldn’t believe it either. I felt so betrayed by my own family for what they were trying to do.”

I instinctively glanced down at her hands and spotted no ring, not even a ring mark. Clearly, she wasn’t currently married.

“What did I do?” I questioned heatedly.

I meant to ask ‘What did Matteo do’, but hell the lines were starting to blur between the two of us. I felt just as outraged as he probably did all those years ago.

Her tone was filled with caution. “Are you sure you want to know?” she asked.

I hesitated. With the look she was giving me, it was clear enough what the answer was. My gaze fell to the table as a wave of uncertainty washed over me. The idea of me killing someone made my skin crawl.

Suddenly, I was met with the reassuring warmth of Stasia’s hand. She had reached across the table to rest her hand over my arm.

“You need to understand, my would-have-been fiance wasn’t a good person,” she said softly. “What you did was considered merciful for what would have lied in store for me had that marriage happened.”

She took in a tremulous breath. Her eyes glazed over with a thin sheen of tears. She tried to play it off by blinking them back and hiding behind a smile.

My voice grew rough. “When exactly are you heading back to California?” I dared to ask.

“Probably within the next day or so,” she answered.

My stomach churned. “So soon,” I rasped.

“Now that I know what truly happened to Matteo, I suppose I’m free to head back with a clear conscience.”

“What if you stayed?” I prompted. “I know that me being a police officer doesn’t exactly fit well into your particular lifestyle, but...”

“Ethan.”

Why did that name sound so unfamiliar to me now? I was beginning to feel as lost and stranded as when I came out of that car accident all those years ago.

I raised my hand to press it to the side of my aching head. I clenched my eyes shut, fighting back the swelling pain that circled my skull in a vise. Before I knew it, a word had slipped past my lips.

“Anastasia,” I mumbled.

A sharp gasp caused my body to freeze. Instantly, I opened my eyes to find Stasia gaping at me with a stunned expression on her face.

“Only Matteo ever called me by that name,” she whispered.

A slow, captivating smile curved her lips. It felt like a promise for the future. Perhaps, our future.