Like Father (book #1)

| T W E N T Y |

Mariella's POV

I heard Mateo's sleepy groan from the bathroom; apparently, he had finally decided to wake up. And apparently, he had realized that the silk sheets next to him were empty.

I moved out of my hiding spot in the closet, swiftly locking the door and stepping into the bathroom. If there was anything I knew about Mateo, he'd come looking for me immediately.

Quiet shuffling noises came from the bedroom, but I ignored them.

My hands wandered over my lower belly, where a stretch mark covered pouch lied. My bare body stared back at me as I scrutinized myself. How could Mateo have sex with me almost every night when I looked like this? I could barely look at myself, yet he could do it with so much love in his gaze.

He had to be blind. I considered going into the bedroom to convince him to get his eyes checked when the doorknob jiggled.

"Mariella," He growled in an animalistic way.

I hummed, though I was sure he couldn't hear it over his anger. He got angry fast, especially lately. I didn't know what happened when he had to raincheck our date, but I could only assume it wasn't anything good.

It wasn't exactly fair for me to complain, though. A good majority of his anger had been taken out in bed. The handprints bruised on my thighs and hips, and the mini bruises scattered on my neck and chest were enough to attest to that. My cheeks flushed just looking at the marks of love.

Love.

The word only pushed me further back to my original thoughts. How could he love me?

I had blocked out the fact that he continued to say my name, pleading for me to come out. The area between my thighs ached as he groaned, "Baby, please just open the door." He pleaded with me.

I knocked some sense into my brain, throwing a pale blue shirt over my torso. My nipples, which were sore thanks to Teo, poked against the fabric, and my ass was hanging out the hem. there wasn't much time for me to find a different covering, though.

Mateo rammed his body through the white door, effectively breaking the lock.

He immediately grabbed my shoulders, holding me at arm's length as he examined me for any damage. This was embarrassing. He broke our door down just because my dim-witted self couldn't find it in me to respond like a normal person. He deserved a normal person.

My reddened face must have made him come to the conclusion that I was fine as he launched me into his chest. Reflexively, my arms made their way around his neck as he squeezed the life out of me.

Shyly, I tapped his shoulder with my fingertips as it got harder to breathe due to his grasp.

He backed away only slightly, a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry, Bambina."

Grabbing the hand I tapped him with, he placed soft pecks on each of my fingers before looking me in the eyes.

"What's going on, baby? I thought the doctor's visits were working, no?"

They were working, they were working just fine. My nightmares had been reduced significantly. Mateo had called his personal doctor and asked her if she had any business in therapy. Surprisingly, she had minored in psychology in college. She was nice, but of course, she was under the employment of Mateo. I did not doubt that everything I told her would be repeated back to Mateo, and there were some things I wasn't quite ready to uncover to either of them yet.

"No, no, she's great." I shook my head.

His rough thumb ran over my cheek delicately, "What is it then, hm? I haven't woken up to you by me once since we started," he repressed a smirk, a dirty look in his eyes, "you know. You promised you wouldn't leave me again."