Chapter 18 - Mr Skittles

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

6 Months Later

~ Gabriella's POV ~

"You're being ridiculous Gabriella."

"I don't think I am."

"You are."

"No, not really."

"Yes."

"No."

"Absolutely-"

"-not."

Matteo narrowed his eyes at me when I finished his sentence while I just stood across the kitchen island from him, refusing to break eye contact.

There was no way in hell I was backing down.

"This is screwed up."

"No, what's screwed up is the fact that you can't just listen. It's simple." Matteo shook his head at me, putting his mug of coffee down on the counter which was between us.

"Well you didn't ask me first and its my damn house."

"Well I had no choice! My mom is allergic to cats, she just got the all clear from her cancer I'm not about to put her through this."

"So I have to look after it? A damn cat I don't even want? Why didn't you think of your mom before you bought it?" Ignoring his comment about my mom I nodded my head before I finally moved from my spot, going to the other side of the kitchen where Mr Skittles was chilling, watching the two of us argue.

Picking the baby kitten up I held him in my arms as I walked over to Matteo. "Look how cute he is, how was I supposed to say no? There was nothing I could do."

"Maybe you could have just walked the hell out of the pet shop? Why would you even go in there in the first place?" I rolled my eyes at him as he leaned against the counter, resting his elbows on it as he watched me hold our new kitten.

"I saw him through the window, okay? I've always wanted a cat, so I bought it before-"

"Before common sense could catch up with you?"

"Exactly." I nodded my head causing Matteo to laugh even though he really was pissed off. I suppose he did have a point, but I had no where else to take Mr Skittles. I had to give up the lease on my apartment (I cried for three days when that happened) because I couldn't afford to keep paying rent for it and not actually live there. So now I'm permanently living at home again but my mom can't have cats in the house.

So Matteo was my answer.

"Gabriella I don't even know how to look after a cat."

"It's not rocket science. Make sure you feed it and give it water, clean the litter tray everyday, take it to the vet regularly-"

"Does it look like I have the time for that?" I let out a sigh before putting Mr Skittles on the floor again, allowing him to roam around Matteo's kitchen.

"Fine, I'll do you a favour and take him to the vet, but you owe me."

"He's your freaking cat!" When he shouted he gestured over to Mr Skittles who was already staring straight back at Matteo because of the loud noise.

"Don't scare him Matteo." When I glared at him, Matteo just shook his head and walked out the kitchen, leaving me standing there with a frown.

I really thought he'd be more excited.

I let out a sigh before going over to Mr Skittles and sitting down on the floor next to him. Matteo had a heated floor everywhere downstairs so it made a lot more sense to sit on it too.

"At least you're happy that we're together." Mr Skittles meowed at me as he came closer to me, sitting down next to me on the floor. I sat there for a while, stroking the kitten while I scrolled through Instagram on my phone, showing him some of the funny memes I found.

I know deep down he appreciated that.

After a while I started to hear some shuffling coming from the front door and a few moments later I heard two sets of footsteps walking to the kitchen. I lifted my head up and my eyes landed on Angelo who was staring at Mr Skittles in confusion.

"What's that?"

"A furry piece of-"

"Matteo!" Before he could get that last word out I put my hands over Mr Skittles' ears. "That's not very nice."

"Yeah Matteo, that's not very nice." Angelo agreed with me in a teasing tone, sending Matteo a smirk who just rolled his eyes in response.

"Why are you here? I thought we were meeting tomorrow."

"We are, but I came to give you this and to remind you about tomorrow. You need to babysit for Jordan." Angelo put a folder on the counter, sliding it across to Matteo as he spoke.

"Oh, about that, I have-"

"Yeah, she said you would try and get out of it. You got no choice bro." Matteo let out a defeated sigh causing me to laugh which only made him glare at me.

So he's still angry about Mr Skittles.

"Well, I've got things to do, so I'm gonna go. Don't forget, you need to be there at 6." Angelo pointed at Matteo before he left the kitchen and moments later the front door slammed shut.

"So you're baby sitting?" I rose an eyebrow at Matteo, sending him a smirk when he looked at me. "Shut up, I'm not talking to you."

I held eye contact with him for a moment before I nodded.

"Fine." I stood to my feet, brushing off the invisible dirt off my jeans before I started walking towards the kitchen door.

"I guess you're okay with no sex too then."

A few seconds after the words came out of my mouth, Matteo was next to me and he grabbed my hand, pulling me to a stop. "Maybe we can come to some sort of agreement."

"Hmm?" I rose an eyebrow at him titling my head to the side, giving him a smirk while he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I'll keep the stupid cat."

It's that easy girls.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"So why am I helping you babysit?" I was busy making cheesy pasta for Jordan's sons, Leo and Mario, while Matteo attempted to feed Caterina some tomato pasta since she didn't like cheese.

"Because I love you and I couldn't stand the thought of being away from you for too long." He glanced over at me sending me a wink when I made eye contact with him, before I let out a small chuckle.

We've been fine since our little argument yesterday after we made up twice in Matteo's bed. Matteo was the only one who really got annoyed during the argument, but I didn't mind the making up process, so I was okay with it.

After I called Leo and Mario to eat their food, Matteo ended up sitting with them and conversing with them while I took over the job of feeding Caterina. This was mostly because he was getting annoyed every time she refused to eat and if she did eat the pasta she spat it out almost straight away.

Yes she was two, but this is why they call it terrible twos I suppose.

"There you go, we're almost done Caterina, just one more bite."

"One more." She held her finger up at me and I nodded, letting out a laugh. "Yes, just one more."

She nodded her head before opening her mouth wide and I put the fork in her mouth. "Yay, we're all done."

When I said the word 'yay' she started clapping her hands with a huge smile on her face. "Juice?"

I shook my head at her as I stood up, turning to face the two year old who was watching me from her seat with a pout. "No juice, just water. You need to sleep soon."

"But..." She gave me the puppy dog eyes which really was just her normal face since she was the cutest little girl. "Nope. But, if you keep it our little secret, I'll give you a cookie."

I leaned closer to her, whispering the words so that the boys and Matteo didn't hear me. When she heard the word cookie she nodded her head and I put my finger over my mouth emphasising that it was supposed to be a secret. She copied the gesture causing me to smile as I took her empty bowl and fork to the sink.

I quickly took a small cookie from the cupboard where Jordan keeps the biscuits for the kids before giving it to her. She gave me a wide smile before she took her first bite. "Is it nice?"

"Yes." She nodded her head causing her messy hair to bounce around as she did.

"What's nice?" Matteo turned his head to look at us while Caterina just smiled, showing the cookie to him which had a small bite taken out of it. "Cookie."

Oh wow.

"Oh, you have a cookie, do you? Where's mine?" He rose an eyebrow at Caterina who just frowned at him before turning to look at me for an answer. Or she was just trying to blame it on me.

"You're not allowed one." Matteo smirked at my response as I crossed my arms from where I was standing next to Caterina. Matteo glanced over at Caterina before he looked at me again sending me a wink.

"We'll settle this later Gab Gab."

I think we all know what that means.

Once the boys had finally eaten, I was busy for the next twenty minutes cleaning up in the kitchen and washing all the dishes while Matteo played with the kids. Once all that was done I just sat in the living room, watching him as he kept them entertained while I also played with Caterina whenever she came over to me.

Matteo has three nephews and two nieces (including Carlotta's children) which is why he's so good with children. He's able to communicate with them really well and he has a cute bond with every single one of them. I haven't actually seen him with Carlotta's children since I haven't spoken to her since that day she blew up at me in the salon but he's told me he gets on with them too.

We've never talked about having children together, I'm not sure why but we just haven't, but I know he would make an amazing father. He's got all this experience that when it comes to his own children I'm sure he'll be there for everything. He'll put everything into raising them.

"Sleep time." Caterina came over to me while rubbing her eyes tiredly, dragging her favourite soft toy on the floor behind her. "Sure, if you're tired princess."

She nodded her head at me while stretching her arms out causing me to smile. I stood to my feet and picked her up in my arms as I carried her upstairs to her room. I helped her brush her teeth and changed her diaper before putting her in her bed.

"You want me to read you a story?" She nodded her head as she snuggled up in her bed. "Princesses."

"Aren't they all princess books?" I glanced over at her shelf full of pink books before looking back at her but she just stared at me with a blank expression.

I ended up picking a random princess story for her but I only managed to read a few pages before she fell asleep. I leaned over from where I was siting next to her bed, stroking her cheek as she slept before I brushed her hair out of her face.

I may not like Adrian as much as Jordan but I couldn't deny the fact that they made beautiful babies.

"Is she sleeping?" I turned my head to look at Matteo who was leaning against the doorframe watching me. I nodded my head before putting the book away and following him into the hallway, leaving the door cracked open slightly.

"Yep, where are the boys?"

"Getting ready for bed. I'm going to put them to bed but I'm sure they'll still be up soon so I'll check on them again later."

He ended up having the check on them twice before they finally did settle down and go to sleep. By the time all three children were asleep and we'd tidied up all their toys, we only had half an hour left before Jordan and Adrian got back from whatever event they had to go to together.

"What shall we do to kill the time?" I let out a yawn as I spoke causing Matteo to laugh. "I did have an idea but I think you're too tired for that."

"If you're idea is what I think it is then there is no way that would happen anyway. Not on your brother's couch." Matteo rolled his eyes at my words and leaned back against the couch. "I would have taken you to the guest room."

Before I could say anything else the sound of someone knocking on the front door echoed around us. "Were you expecting someone?"

Matteo shook his head, a frown on his face as he stood to his feet while I checked the time on my phone to see that it was 9:30pm. It was unusual to have people come straight up the front door since Adrian's house was so secure. Matteo's was aswell, but his security was more covert whereas Adrian had guards by his gate to make sure no one unauthorised came inside.

It probably came with the fact he had children in the house.

Matteo made his way to the front door, unlocking it before he opened the door while I stood a few feet behind him still by the door to the living room.

"Can I help you?" When he opened the door, there were two people standing there dressed in smart clothes. One was a young woman with pin straight black hair and deep red lipstick complimenting her olive skin, while the other was a steely eyed blonde man.

The woman lifted her hand, showing Matteo a card as she stepped inside, looking around the house. "My name is Angelina Marchetti and this is my colleague Pietro Romano."

When she was done looking around, her eyes stopping on me for a second as she did, she finally turned to face Matteo was glaring at her for walking past him into the house without permission. "I'm looking for Adrian De Mancuso, is he here?"

"Why?"

The woman let out a small chuckle at his question, before she nodded her head in understanding. "I'm a prosecutor, I work for the government. I just want to ask your brother some questions Matteo."

"How do you know my name?" His eyes narrowed at her while she just continued to smile like nothing was wrong. "I know a lot about you Matteo. Is Adrian here?"

When Matteo didn't answer her, she let out a sigh before turning to face me. "You must be the girlfriend?"

Of course I didn't answer her question, I knew better than to respond - something which just increased her amusement.

"Right, I see. Well, I'll just leave my card for you. When you see Adrian, tell him I stopped by. I would much rather ask him the questions here than be forced to depose him under oath."

When Matteo didn't take the card she was holding out to him I stepped forward taking it instead. Her eyes moved over to me before smiled.

"Thank you Gabriella."

With that she walked out, taking her silent colleague with her. Matteo closed the door quietly behind her although from the glare on his face and the way he was tensed up, I knew he wanted to slam it shut. He was just thinking of the children who were sleeping upstairs.

"Matteo..." Just as I was about to reach out to touch his shoulder he walked straight past me, going back into the living room. Following him inside, I watched as he felt the pockets of his sweatpants before he went over to his jacket and checked those pockets too. When he didn't find what he was looking for he started looking around the couch, under all cushions with the same furious glare on his face before he turned to face me.

"Where the hell is my phone?" I flinched at the volume of his voice as I closed the door behind me, leaning against it to keep my distance from him.

In the past six months that we'd been together I'd only seen him angry twice and both times I couldn't stand it. He got so angry that one time he was screaming down the phone and pacing around the bedroom at 3am. When I tried to speak to him he completely ignored me and then didn't speak to me for the next two days.

"I don't know. Matteo can you just calm down for a second-"

"I don't need you to tell me to calm down, I need you to be useful for once and help me find my phone."

"I'll help you if you calm down. There's children sleeping upstairs Matteo, you need to hold it together." He held eye contact with me for a moment, clearly not happy with what I said but thankfully he didn't argue and instead just went back to searching for his phone.

While he was busy taking the couch apart to find it, I left the living room and went into the kitchen where he had it last when he was on the phone to Angelo. Just as I stepped back into the living room with his phone in my hand he let out a string of angry curse words, tossing a cushion across the room.

Which just happened to be in my direction.

I just about managed to duck in time as he pillow went over my head, hitting the wall behind me. "What the hell is wrong with you? That nearly hit me."

"Sorry." I rolled my eyes at his crappy apology and tossed his phone onto the couch. It didn't matter though because before he could even pick it up the sound of the front door opening and Jordan and Adrian coming inside caught our attention.

Almost instantly Matteo went out into the hallway, going straight over to Adrian who just looked confused at the expression on Matteo's face.

"What happened? Are the children alright?" I could sense the worry in Jordan's voice as I followed closely behind Matteo before I stopped next to her. "They're fine, they're all asleep."

Her relief was short lived before Matteo started talking, relaying the events to Adrian while Jordan and I just stood there.

"I don't know what she wanted Adrian, but she knew a lot. She knew who I was and who Gabriella was without me saying anything."

Adrian thought for a moment before eventually spoke for the first time since coming inside.

"She said she's a prosecutor, right? That means she's building a case. The question is, against who?"

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Are you ever going to talk to me?"

Matteo glanced over at me from where he was sitting at the side of his bed, reading something on his phone. "I wasn't not talking to you."

"Really? Because you've not even said two words to me since we left Adrian's house."

"I just did." He couldn't even be bothered to turn and look at me as he mumbled. I rolled my eyes at his response, going over to my usual side of his bed.

"You're being a jerk." I dropped down on the bed dramatically before turning off the light with the light switch by my bed. The whole room went dark as I got in the bed, very much aware of Matteo was now looking at me with a glare on his face.

"Why do you need to do that?"

"I'm going to sleep." I turned away from him causing him to let out a frustrated sigh.

Maybe I was being petty by turning off the lights, but his attitude was annoying me.

Instead of saying anything, he just got up and walked out the bedroom. I listened as his steps went down the hallway before becoming quieter as he went downstairs. First I decided to try and sleep without him but when I ended up lying there for half an hour staring at the ceiling I eventually gave up.

Letting out a sigh I threw the covers off me as I got up, making my way out of the bedroom to go and find my very frustrating boyfriend.

I ended up looking in the kitchen, the living room, his office and even the dining room. Eventually I found him sitting outside in the garden with his laptop and with Mr Skittles lying by his feet.

If he wasn't so pissed off I would have definitely made some comments about that.

"Matteo?" When he heard my voice he turned around to look at me. "You're not sleeping?"

I shook my head as I walked over to him, sitting down next to him on the garden couch, before I

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net