Pictures of Cedric Grover are spread on a desk in front of Matteo. His new assistant Nova is holding a file that has the details of the man whom Matteo wanted to be gone.
"Boss, he works for us. His bar is used as one of our hubs to finalize our weapons deals. He is loyal to us but is a known womanizer. He is known for his skills to seduce a woman, no matter if she is interested in him or not. Now his eyes are set on Hera Wilson, his neighbor and a waitress in his bar" Noah read the details of Cedric.
Matteo is looking at Cedric's picture with a thoughtful expression. It has been three months since the day Sussane stabbed him and Hera unintentionally gave him a new life. He was discharged from the hospital a week ago. Reed and Mia insisted that he needs rest, as his surgery is major. Mia has a way with her words, which compelled him to stay in NY for longer than he wanted to. Even though he would never speak it out loud, he is feeling much better now than he felt a month ago. At least, health-wise.
But emotionally, he is angrier and his thirst for revenge only grew bigger. He knows where Sussane is and what she is doing now. If she is thinking that she could escape from him after what she did, she will be disappointed. He moved his pawns and set the drama in motion. Now her suffering will begin.
But he can not ignore Hera. The girl who helped him. He doesn't like to be indebted to anyone. So he decided to help her even though she doesn't want his money. He will straighten up things for her and then he can leave her to her fate. That's why he paid her house mortgage. He has now opened a trust fund in her name for ten million dollars, and he will lie to her that it is a gift from her diseased mother. Then she will be happy and he can forget about her.
But he didn't like the look on Cedric's face that morning. He realized that he is going to be a problem for Hera. Sussane killed every ounce of kindness along with his emotions and conscience. But he just couldn't ignore Cedric, who might be Hera's potential rapist.
"I want him gone Nova," he instructed with finality. But Nova hesitated a little.
"Boss, I don't think Frederick will like this. Cedric is his nephew" he shared.
Nova is acquainted with Matteo for years now. But never has he seen the other man like this. The man who is sitting on the other side of the desk is angry and it is scaring Nova. Matteo is a killer machine even before he changed. He used to scare him even then. But now, this new side of Matteo is making him feel terrified. He is getting a feeling that he is standing in the presence of Reed Carter and Nero Vitiello at once.
Matteo gave a calculating look at Nova.
Killing Cedric is child's play. He is not scared of pissing Fredrick either. But his mind went back to Reed's cryptic comment.
'California needs a new boss '
'Something is brewing here. Moreover, I need Fredrick now. Delaying Cedric's death will benefit me ' he decided.
"Alright. Then make arrangements. I will stay with Hera Wilson. Arrange a meeting with Frederic" he instructed.
Leaving Hera alone is not good for her. So he decided to become her guardian until he could devise a plan to kill Cedric.
Nova is confused. He is not understanding what is running in Matteo's mind. If he was his usual self, he would have asked him what is going on. But now, he couldn't dare to open his mouth and question Matteo, the new CEO of the Carter and Gonsalves construction company.
"Yes, Boss" he simply decided not to anger Matteo.
On the other hand, Hera is still reeling in shock hours after she found out that someone paid the mortgage for the house. She racked her mind to think about one person who is kind enough to do that for her. But no matter how hard and how long she tried to picture one such person, she came back empty.
"All of this is too good to believe. I was trying everything I could to save this house but failed. Now, I learned that someone did it without my notice" she thought out loud with wonder.
Just then, a loud knock sounded on the door. She is so lost in her head, that she opened the door without seeing who it is.
"Hello Hera" Cedric drawled.
His voice made her nostalgic and pulled her out of her head. She blocked his path and did not allow him to walk inside the house. She is smart enough to know that it is not wise to let him inside at this hour.
"What do you want?" she snapped with irritation.
Cedric masked his anger.
"I came up to check upon you. With everything that happened this morning, I was worried about you" he lied and placed his hand on her shoulder. She glared at his hand, which made him withdraw it promptly.
"I am fine" she muttered and tried to close the door in his face. But he didn't let her.
"Hera, don't be like this. You might not believe me, but I only have your good intentions at heart" he tried to walk past her inside the house. But she did not let him.
"I don't need a person who doesn't have the minimum common sense to not disturb a girl in the night as my wellwisher. Now leave" she said firmly.
Cedric is now frustrated. He wanted to push her inside and have his way with her for the night.
"When she is telling you to leave, you should," a voice said from behind him, which made the fine hair on his body stand. His heart began to pound with fear, just by listening to that voice.
"You should leave if she wants you to" Hera peeked at the man who came to her rescue. His face is hidden under the cloak of darkness, but his well-built physic is not. He is wearing a t-shirt and jeans. His shirt is hugging to his torso like a second skin. He is tall and his body is toned. A sense of familiarity hit her hard when she looked at him as if she has known him her entire life. Her mother's face popped into her mind. She stumbled a step back. Her own heart began to pound harder, and she felt like her mother is back.Cedric on the other hand turned to see the person who dared to interrupt him in the middle after he composed himself from his initial fear."This is between us. Who are you? How dare you interrupt us in the middle?" he demanded the stranger angrily. He erased the distance between himself and the stranger with the intention intimidated him. But Matteo took a step forward, revealing his sharp handsome features. Cedric came to a dead stop when he came face to face
Hera is meddling with her books near her locker. The thousand dollars her new Guardian gave her weighed heavily in her pocket. She never carried so much money in school in her life. This is the first time. After the way, he explained his intention, and the way he made her feel is making her feel strange. Her reaction toward him is strange. For some weird and unexplainable reason, she is feeling safe with him. Which is ridiculous."Earth to Hera. What are you doing here? Don't tell me you are daydreaming now" her best friend from childhood, Olivia said from behind her. Hera looked at Olivia with a sign. "Daydreaming? Are you serious?" Hera asked with a smile and closed her locker door.Both the girls began to walk in the direction of their first class."I don't know. You were blankly looking inside your locker. I thought you are daydreaming about your crush " she teased Hera.Hera laughed and shook her head.Justin Eastwood is their school's star quarterback. He comes from a rich fam
In a posh seven-star hotel, Matteo walked inside a well-known restaurant with Nova in tow. As they walked inside the restaurant, the hotel owner escorted them to their reserved cabin. Matteo is oozing power, which made everyone to move out of his way with fright."This way sir," the hotel owner said with a hint of fear.He led them inside a spacious cabin with plush leather seats with and a big square polished wooden table placed in the middle. As soon as he entered inside the cabin, his gaze landed on Sussane, who is looking at him with wide eyes. She lost all the color from her face. She is sitting in Frederick's lap, and the two of them are sucking each others faces. When Fredrick saw him, he pushed her aside and stood up to greet Matteo. She fell down on the floor, unable to gain her balance in her heels."Matteo" he greeted with a bright smile, but his smile vanished when his gaze met Matteo's cold ones. Fredrick gulped audibly. He looked at Nova, who intentionally kept his eyes
That evening, unable to decide what she should do, Hera decided to go to work again. She is serving customers in Cedric's bar like she usually does. A tight black corset that leaves her midriff and shoulders bare, along with a short black leather skirt is the standard waitress uniform in Cedric's bar. A lot of them try to get handsy with the waitresses. But with Hera, Cedric made sure that no one touches her. It is not because of his kind heart, it's because he doesn't want anyone to touch her when he cannot. "Hera, the boss is looking for you" one of the other waitresses informed Hera after she delivered some vodka shots to a group of rowdy teenagers. As Justin is one of them, she felt relieved to escape from his lust-filled gaze for a few minutes. On the other hand, Matteo arranged a bodyguard to safeguard Hera in his absence. When Matteo went back to Hera's home that night, he found it empty. 'I heard that she is not the typical teenager who loves shopping and partying. But w
"What is your name?" When Matteo ignored her and began to walk away, she quickly caught up to him and began to walk backward in front of him. Whatever his reasons might be, he protected her today from being violated. Unlike others, he seems to be unaffected by her looks, which she liked. He is a little grumpy, but that is amusing to her. On a whole, she is beginning to like her guardian. She relaxed her guard around him. "You don't have a name?" she teased when he refused to share his name.Matteo gave her a blank look but otherwise did not comment.But Hera is not angered or upset by his attitude. In fact, she began to think that he is cute."Hmm, no problem. You remind me of a cute and grumpy teddy bear. I will call you teddy" she is trying to get a reaction out of him.Matteo glared at her antiques."What? You don't like it? How about Scotty, Albert, or Scooby...." she began to give options, much to his irritation. He realized that she will not shut up until he tells her his nam
That night, just like Matteo, Sussane couldn't forget about everything that happened in the restaurant that afternoon. Everything kept playing in her mind on a loop. She realized how much Matteo has changed. For some reason, she liked this new him. The hard cold glare he has cast her way made her core clench with want. She remembered their long nights together in the past. "Matteo Gonsalves, I want you to be mine again. I had you once, but foolishly I choose the safe option and betrayed you. But I can see that I still affect you as I used to in the past. Nothing changed. We can still be together. I just have to make sure to cast my spell again and make him forget about what I did in the past" she thought to herself with a smirk. In the lavish three-story villa of Fredrick, Sussane is lying on his bed alone. He went to tend to his nephew, who seems to have gotten into a fight with someone and is injured now. From the moment she saw Matteo again, the need to be his possessed her to th
You are quite a contradiction, Sussane. You say something and do something else. You act one way and tell the exact opposite thing. You fooled me in the past. But now I know better. Leave" he said firmly. Sussane expected him to say that. She came prepared to pacify him. She realized that she has to bring her life back on track. Hurting him was a mistake that cost her more than her career and her dream. She wanted to make everything right again. She will beg if she has to. Staying with Frederick is not something she wanted to continue. "I am really sorry about what I did. Please, just give me another chance. I promise I will be loyal to you. Please" she begged him. Matteo couldn't help but laugh at her words. But his laughter is humorless and empty. Sussane frowned when he began to laugh. But did not say anything about it. "Another chance? Only a man with a death wish will allow a snake to enter inside his house and life again. Sadly I am not that man. Go and search for someone e
Matteo is so busy with the new designs of their project, he forgot the time. By the time he noticed, it was already well past nine o clock in the evening. He wanted to finalize these designs and hand them down to the engineering department. But he is not impressed by any design which his design department submitted. He packed the blueprints and the project details with him so that he can work with them at home. On his way home, his mind went back to Hera. 'I wonder what she ate for dinner ' he thought to himself. On the other hand, Hera is waiting for Matteo. "I have to go now. Looks like I have to wait a little longer to meet your Guardian" Oliva said with a hint of disappointment. Hera gave her a mischievous grin. Olivia was so excited to see Matteo, that Hera was amused. In fact, she came today with the sole purpose to see him. "Looks like you are not meant to meet him at all" she teased her best friend. Olivia giggled at that comment. "The way you speak about him, it spi