Deadly Nightshade

Chapter 23: The Unexpected Visit

"We haven't been introduced, yet," he walks up to us. Enzo tenses beside me when he gets close and offers him a handshake, "My name is Matteo Capone. You can put the gun down now."

I dismiss Matteo's hand with my arm. "Enzo doesn't take orders from you," I interrupt, "And don't smoke in my house; you know I hate the smell of it." I say this in disgust.

"Come on, babe. Is this how you treat your guest?" He asks me with a smirk, despite the fact that he listened to me and discarded the cigarette on the coffee table. I roll my eyes in annoyance at that action. 

"I don't remember inviting you in." Sarcasm is my best weapon against him. "And stop calling me 'babe.' We're no longer together." I sigh.

At that statement, Enzo took his eyes off Matteo and looked my way. I turned to face him and gently placed my hand on his, saying, "You can put the gun down..." And only then did Enzo lower his gun.

Let me make a quick introduction, Matteo Capone is my ex boyfriend. We were together for 3 years. He was my first love. He is also the leader of the Capone Clan, one of the most powerful families in this business. He has been their leader for a few years now. Matteo is a few years older than me.

"You've changed a lot since the last time we saw each other," Matteo commented.

"Enough with the chit chat, what are you really doing here?" I asked him, and surprisingly, I sounded calm.

He turns around, walks up to my couch, and takes a seat. "I requested a meeting with you, and you rejected me. Honest advice, babe, you really need better security; it was so easy to sneak in here." The way he is sitting makes him look as if he owns the place.

"You rejected my business offer first." I retort, ignoring his last comment.

"You know me better than that, Lea. It was just a petty excuse to see you." He gestures for me to sit down on the couch that is in front of him. I stare blankly at him, but I still turn to Enzo and ask him to leave the room.

"I'll be outside if you need anything," Enzo says before exiting the room.

I take a seat on the couch opposite Matteo. "So, you and your bodyguard? I didn't take you for a girl who would settle for someone like him." He smirks.

The only reaction he receives from me is my glare. Matteo nods his head and continues, "I mean, I kind of get it. You want to live that fantasy of rich girl with-"

"Matteo, please leave if you don't have anything significant to say." My irritation was present in my tone of voice. He chuckles at my sudden outburst.

I suppose he did, after all, elicit a response from me.

He puts his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. I take it that you don't want to joke around. You used to enjoy my jokes, though..."

This time, all I do is just stare blankly at him. To be honest, I can't get my head around the fact that he can act so nonchalantly around me, as if he didn't break my heart and leave my life as if I were worthless.

"On a serious note, the offer that you made is quite shocking," he says, sitting upright. "I didn't think that you would want to do business with me."

"I didn't." I say right away. I am clearly in defensive mode; it is like the walls that I have built in my heart keep rising higher whenever he speaks.

"However, because your clan is one of the most powerful, I don't want to make any unnecessary enemies." I say this after some thought.

Matteo stares at me, the expression that he has on his face right now is one that I have forgotten for a very long time. He has this look on his face, a soft one, one that makes me want to punch him since he is not suppose to look at me like this anymore.