Force of Forever (All In #0.5)

“I panicked,” he shared softly. “I thought about my parents and what they didn’t teach me. I thought about the love they didn’t know how to show us. Maybe they didn’t even feel it. I wondered how I’d know how to give what I’d never been given.” An ache spread through his jaw. He had shit to work through, and it had taken him accidentally becoming a parent to see that fact clearly. He already wanted to be better. He wanted todobetter than his parents had. “All of my inadequacies petrified me. Like, what did I have to offer you besides financial support?”

He glanced over, fearfully, where her dark eyes stripped him further. “Are you serious?”

“I don’t know how to be a partner, Pia, or a parent. I know how to be a leader. That’s all.”

She snorted, as if Matt was not sharing his deepest fears. “You are full of crap, Mattias Geier.”

“Excusez moi?”

“Think about our dates. The sights, food, coffee, comfort,ironing? You knew what I’d need and you delivered, and I don’t think your attentions were solely because you wanted to get laid. You’re a natural partner. Believe me.”

Matt wanted to believe her.

“Doesn’t mean I wasn’t calling you mean names for the past month.”

Matt chuckled. He’d expected—deserved—no less. “Fair enough.” He glanced at Pia again. “I need you to know that even if every day of my life from now on is vastly different than anything I had planned, I do not regret our night in Paris. I will never regret meeting you, Pia. Dating you. Sleeping with you.”

Her lips pursed. “Me, either,” she admitted, clearly grudgingly. “How long until we get to this surprise destination of yours?”

His stomach crashed like a rogue wave. He had so much to tell her. So much to prove.

“Another thirty minutes.”

She sighed, snuggling back into the seat. “Guess I’ll get comfortable. How are things at OrbitAll?”

He shared what he could about his company and its launch, partial truths to tide her over until their destination. They filled the rest of the time with easy small talk, and Matt realized that the drive had been the most pleasant time he’d spent since Pia had left his flat more than two months before.

He was nearly out from under the clouds.

Pia got quiet as he navigated them through Malibu, the swanky beachside community known for its population of celebrities. He drove past the famous public beaches and surf spots. He felt her gaze collide with the side of his head more than once, but Matt stayed silent.

They followed the winding Pacific Coast Highway with the sparkling ocean as the backdrop until he took an abrupt left. Into a driveway.

“Whose house isthis?” she asked, craning her neck at the sprawling Mediterranean villa.

“Yours.”

Pia turned to him slowly, shock painted on her face. “Shut the fuck up.”

Matt, a bundle of nerves himself, laughed a little too hard. “Truthfully, I hope that it can be ours.” Then he took both of her hands in his so he could capture her full attention. “You were right to call me crazy, because this house is part one of my apology. This house is meshowingyou that I’m here for you. Not in Paris, not in Victory. Here.”

“You really are insane,” she breathed.

“I know. The house is yours until—if—you say it’s ours.”

Pia just stared at him. “Really? Like, this is for real? Not a prank? My brothers aren’t here, right?”

Matt shook his head. “My family still does what equates to arranged marriages. The happiness is hit or miss. You and me, Pia? Fuck, I’ve been enamored with you since the first second I saw you. I’ve been happier even justthinkingof you than I ever have been before. That’s why I’m willing to risk being called crazy. I’m willing to give us a try, road bumps and all, if you are.”

She shook her head as if to clear it. “Wait, really? Sorry, but I have to keep asking.”

“Yes. Now come see.”

Matt had thought watching Pia take in the sights of Paris had been satisfying. Thrilling, at times. But watching her take in the different features of her new home dug deep enough in his heart to leave scars.

She loved the courtyard that looked and felt like a jungle, full of gnarled trunks and drooping branches. She named all the koi fish in the pond after Marvel characters. Inside, she gaped at all the open windows and squealed about the smell of the ocean.

“You did say you were missing the beach,oui?”