Bound To My Mafia Stepuncles novel Chapter 159

Chapter 159

Arta First Person POV

The mall was loud and bright, full of chatter, music, and the sound of people moving from store to store. Chiara and I had already been to three clothing shops, and she still had the energy of someone who had just arrived.

I tried to keep up, but my body still felt sensitive. Matteo had dropped his black card into my hand this morning with that smug look on his face. “Go crazy,” he said. “But not too crazy.”

I had nodded like a good girl, but my mind wasn’t on the shopping. Not really.

All I could think about was the way his hands had moved over me earlier. The way he touched me like he had all the time in the world. How calm he had been, even with Chiara just a few feet away. That smug, quiet control that made my legs weak. My body still remembered. It was like my skin hadn’t cooled down yet.

“Earth to Aria,” Chiara called, holding up two dresses. “This blue one or this red one?”

“Blue,” I answered quickly. I hadn’t even looked at them properly.

Chiara rolled her eyes. “You didn’t even look. What’s going on with you? You’re all floaty and weird.”

I smiled and grabbed the nearest dress off the rack to distract her. “Just tired,” I lied. “You’ve made me walk like five miles already.”

That worked. She laughed and pulled me toward the next store, her voice full of excitement as she talked about something she saw online and how she needed new shoes to match her dress.

We hopped from store to store. Tried on clothes. Took silly mirror pictures. At some point I bought a pair of sunglasses I didn’t need, just because they made me look like a celebrity. Chiara was nonstop, but I didn’t mind. Her energy made things easier.

–

Chiara was in her element, pulling me from one display to the next like a kid on too much sugar. We tried on clothes we didn’t need, laughed too loudly in the changing rooms, and took mirror selfies just because we could. She made me try on a red dress that clung too much to my curves, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how Matteo would’ve looked at me if he’d seen it. My face got hot just thinking about the way his hands felt on me earlier, the way he didn’t even care that someone was in the same house how calm and in control he was, while I could barely breathe. Every time I blinked, I felt it again, like his touch had left something behind in my skin. I kept catching myself zoning out in front of store windows, lips pressed together, my legs slightly pressed too tightly. Chiara didn’t notice. She was too busy picking out skirts and tossing jokes at me. I smiled and nodded along, thankful for the noise, the crowd, the bright lights – anything to distract me from how good i felt to be wanted the way Matteo wanted me. It was stupid. And crazy. But I didn’t want it to stop.

Eventually, we settled at a café in the middle of the mall. It had soft chairs and little marble tables. We each ordered iced drinks and somethi sweet. Mine was a cookie I didn’t touch.

I leaned back, my legs stretched out under the table, trying to enjoy the quiet. I could still feel Matteo’s hands on me. Still hear the way he whispered in my ear. Still see that look on his face when he said-

“Hey.”

Chiara’s voice pulled me out of the memory.

“What?” I blinked at her.

She leaned in slightly, her voice lower. “Don’t look now. I think we’re being followed.”

I laughed, thinking she was joking. “Followed? In a mall?”

“I’m serious,” she said, eyes sharp. “There’s this guy. Behind you. Been standing there for a while.”

Chapter 159

The air suddenly felt colder. My smile dropped.

“Who?” I asked, straightening.

“Don’t turn around too fast. He’s sitting at the bench near the shoe store. Black hoodie. Jeans. He’s just… staring.”

I slowly turned, pretending to adjust my purse.

And I saw him.

He wasn’t doing anything, not really. Just sitting there, like any

On me.

shopper. But his eyes were on us. Not blinking. Not distracted. Just fixed.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify