Jaded Hearts
Chapter 31

Taylor POV

The next couple of days in Sicily passed quickly and peacefully, which I was beyond thankful for.

I met Matt’s grandfather and he was just as amazing as the rest of the family.

And it was adorable to see the way Nonna clung to his every word. They had been married over fifty years, but they still loved each other deeply.

I couldn’t wait to get there with Matt, and I had no doubt that we would.

When we arrived in Rome early Wednesday morning, we checked into our hotel and went up to get unpacked and changed before our first meeting.

I was trying to decide which outfit I had with me would make the best first impression when Matt’s phone rang.

When he started speaking in rapid fire Italian, I tuned him out and continued my search.

Once I decided on the gray fitted vest and pant suit set, Matt walked over and stood behind me.

“Change of plans, beautiful. The Sporazos won’t be able to join us today. They had an incident at one of their sites in the area and they have to get it taken care of.”

“I hope everyone is alright. What will this do for the timeline for this week?”

“Nothing honestly. Saturday was going to be a day for us to explore the city on our own so we can just do that today and pick up with the meetings tomorrow.”

“Well that sounds good. I’ll just put this outfit away for tomorrow and replace something more casual for today. What are we going to do?”

“Whatever you want to. Anything you want to see?”

“I absolutely have to see The Coliseum, and the Trevi Fountain. And when we get to Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel for sure. Oh, and gelato!”

Matt laughed and kissed my nose.

“That’s a lot to do in one day. Why don’t we do gelato, The Coliseum, and the fountain today. I’m sure we’ll get to Vatican City with the Sporazos.”

“I guess. But gelato first.”

“Deal.”

I pulled out a long teal and gray maxi dress and my most comfortable sandals. I didn’t want to feel restricted at all today, so the looser clothes were definitely the way to go.

Once Matt and I were dressed we headed down and began to walk around in search of the best place for gelato.

I pulled out my phone and found a place on Google that looked amazing.

The long line outside the door just confirmed the reviews and I knew we were at the right spot.

After twenty minutes I finally had my sweet treat and was walking hand in hand with Matt to a nearby piazza.

“Tesoro, I need to replace a restroom. Can you wait here for me to get back?”

“Yep. Me and this gelato will just become better aquatinted. I’ll be right here.”

“Okay. Don’t move. It’s really busy here so if you need to leave, call me first alright?”

“I’ll be fine Matt. Go.”

I took a seat and just looked around, enjoying all the sights and sounds buzzing around me. Add the huge white chocolate filled cone of the most amazing gelato ever prepared, and I was truly in heaven.

The area was so unique and beautiful, I was perfectly content to sit and wait.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a face that looked familiar but didn’t really think too much of it. I was thousands of miles away from home, I doubt I knew anyone besides Matt and his family here.

“Taylor? Taylor Adams?”

Wait. I know that voice.

I looked over to where I heard it coming from and to my surprise, I saw Tyson Frederick, one of Morgan’s cousins I grew up with.

Oh, and Tyson had absolutely grown up.

He was well over 6’6 tall with long, neat, jet black dreadlocks down his wide muscular back. His shoulders were strong and broad, and his arms looked like tree limbs. The guy was massive.

He shared Morgan’s same olive skin tone, straight nose, and big light hazel eyes, I guess it was a family trait.

When he saw the recognition in my eyes, he smiled, flashing his perfectly straight white teeth, and rushed over to me, lifting me into a crushing bear hug.

Damn this guy had gotten strong since I’d last seen him.

“Hi Tyson! What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in years.”

“Come on Sunshine, you know it’s always been on my bucket list to visit Rome, and I finally got the chance. What about you? This is a long way from Jade City.”

“It’s is. But I’m not really here for vacation, I’m here for work actually.”

He looked at me surprised that I could have a job that would take me all the way to Rome.

“I thought you were still in school. What kind of job brings you all the way here?”

“I took a semester off for personal reasons, but I took a position with Black Enterprises, we’re finalizing a big deal this week.”

“Wow. That’s impressive. I’ve never been a fan of the company but if they got you to work for them, maybe they are doing something right. Are you here alone, or with colleagues?”

“No, I’m not alone. I’m here with-”

Before I could finish, I heard a deep growl behind me and immediately knew who it was coming from.

“I’d suggest you take your hands off my lady and take a step back.”

I hadn’t even realized that Tyson still had his arms wrapped around my waist and we were standing extremely close. Chest to chest close.

I couldn’t even get mad at Matt for his reaction, it was understandable in this case.

Tyson made some strange huffing sound, like he was blowing air from his nose then looked down at me.

“Do you know this guy, Gorgeous?”

I pulled his hands from my waist and stepped back, clearly, he had no intention of doing it himself.

“I do. This is who I’m here in Rome with. This is Matthew Stone, he’s my-”

“Husband. So, who are you and why were you touching what’s mine?” Matt cut in.

Great. Now I’ve got to deal with this male dominance bullshit when I just wanted to eat my gelato and watch the pigeons.

“I’m a friend of Taylor’s. We grew up together and were catching up.”

Matt pulled me by his side and stepped closer to Tyson.

“You should learn to catch up while keeping your hands to yourself.”

Tyson looked at Matt then over to me and smiled.

“Sunshine didn’t tell me she was married, did you, Gorgeous? I didn’t even see a ring. You can see how a guy could make the mistake don’t you? Seeing such a beautiful woman sitting here alone…seemingly unclaimed. How long have you two been married?”

The way Tyson said “married” it was obvious that he was calling bullshit.

Matt growled again which made Tyson lift an eyebrow, accepting the unspoken challenge.

I needed to stop this before these two did something stupid.

“Alright guys, that’s enough of all the macho crap. Matt, Tyson is Morgan’s cousin. We all grew up together and I haven’t seen him in a few years. He just happened to notice me when he was walking by. Small world, I guess. Tyson, this Matt, my husband and boss.”

I really wanted to say “fiancé” but I wasn’t going to contradict him in front of another man. Especially with all the testosterone filling the air. That was a bad idea, and I wasn’t stupid.

“Right. Matt, I’m sure Black Enterprises pays you well enough to get this exquisite lady of yours a ring. Otherwise you’ll have a lot of suitors at your door begging for her attention. Mrs. Stone, it was nice to see you again. Maybe we can grab dinner or drinks when we’re both back home. I’ll hit up Morgan for your information.”

Before he left, Tyson leaned forward to k**s my cheek. Matt made a move beside me, but I grabbed him before he could go any further.

I could feel him shaking with rage under my hand and I didn’t understand why he was behaving like this.

“We need to go back to the room so you can shower. I can still smell him on you.”

I turned to Matt and pulled his face down.

Black and green eyes, Logan was on the surface.

What the f**k was I missing?

“Matt or Logan, whoever is in control in there, what is the issue? Are you upset that another man hugged me? Nothing inappropriate happened.”

Matt shook his head and closed his eyes.

“It’s not that another man touched you, it’s that he did.”

“What do you have against Tyson? You two didn’t seem to know each other so why do you hate him?”

“I don’t know him, I know his kind. You need to stay away from him.”

This was pissing me off now. I had known this man all my life, he was a good friend. Now I needed to stay away from him?

“Let’s go to the room and get you cleaned up.”

Matt reached for my hand and I jerked it away, making my melting gelato fall to the ground.

“No, Matt. What is your problem? I need to wash his smell off me? Seriously? He hugged me for fifteen seconds. It’s not like we were f*****g and sweating all over each other!”

“Careful with that mouth of yours, Taylor.”

Okay, maybe that was a bit much.

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t necessary. I just need you to tell me what’s going on. Please.”

Matt sat down on the bench and let out a deep breath.

“Tyson is a shifter, babe. A dangerous one.”

“A shifter? No he’s not, we grew up together. I would have noticed something like that.”

“Your track record with shifters isn’t the best, Taylor. You didn’t know Drew or I were wolves until you were told.”

“Fine. But Tyson isn’t a wolf. At least I don’t think he is.”

“I didn’t say he was a wolf, I said he’s a shifter. He’s a bear. A werebear.”

***

In an effort to keep the peace, we went back to the room where I took a hot shower to wash the scent of Tyson away.

As soon as my clothes were off, Matt had them sent down to the laundry to be cleaned. He really did not like the smell of bear.

When I was finished, I stepped into the room where Matt was on the phone speaking in what sounded like perfect French to whoever was on the other end.

Once he hung up, he sniffed the air and smiled.

“Much better. Thank you for humoring me, Tesoro. And I apologize for the way I reacted. I just didn’t expect to run into any bear shifters here. Especially ones who call my pregnant fiancé Sunshine and Gorgeous.”

“It’s fine. And he’s always called me by pet names. It used to drive me crazy as a kid.”

“Did you ever date?”

I couldn’t be surprised by the question, it was a legitimate thought for sure.

“No. He’s a few years older than Morgan and me so he never really saw me as more than a kid, or family.”

“But you wanted to date him?”

“Honestly? At one point in time, sure. He was always super protective over me and so sweet, even when he was driving me insane. It was easy for me to develop a little crush on him.”

I wasn’t 100% comfortable with the conversation but I also wasn’t going to lie to Matt. I’d never do that to him, so I’d tell him whatever he wanted to know.

“Did anything ever happen between the two of you? I’m not talking about s*x, I know you saved that part of yourself, but did anything else ever happen?”

“Tyson was my first k**s. I was thirteen and he was sixteen. We were playing spin the bottle and his turn landed on me and it was over in a few seconds. That’s the full extent of our physical relationship.”

Matt nodded his head and ran his hand through his hair.

“Thank you for being honest.”

“Of course, I don’t have anything to hide. Especially from my husband.”

He laughed and that beautiful smile of his was placed back on his face.

“Yeah, that did happen. I got a little territorial, my bad.”

I looked through the drawers for some clean clothes and let my mind wonder.

If Tyson is a werebear, does that mean Morgan is one too?

She never said anything about being a shifter and I know she wouldn’t keep something like that from me.

I needed to talk to her and figure this out. If Matt felt they were so dangerous, I wanted to be sure Morgan would be safe.

“So, who were you just talking to on the phone?”

“That was Jean Pierre, he’s a guy I met in college. He’s here on vacation with his wife but they had to leave early due to an emergency at home. He wants to meet the woman I won’t stop talking about, so we were trying to set up a date for the four of us when we get back.”

“You said you were still working on French. That sounded pretty damn perfect to my uneducated ears.”

“Eh, I’m a fast learner. Now hurry up and get dressed. I know you wanted to see The Coliseum today.”

“I do. And you owe me another gelato.”

***

Matt POV

I have never been more territorial in my life. I think that because of Taylor being pregnant it brings out a different side to me where I feel the need to protect her and the baby even more.

Morgan having a bear shifter for a cousin worried me as well. That meant that she was likely a werebear, or partially one.

“Tesoro, have you spoke to Morgan?”

“No, not in a couple of days. Why?”

“Aren’t you curious about if she’s a bear or not? How closely related are her and Tyson?”

“I believe their paternal grandfathers were brothers. So close enough I guess.”

“They have the same light hazel eyes. Almost all of the werebears I’ve ever met have those eyes, Taylor.”

“Yeah, but only one of her eyes are hazel. The other is brown. My shifter radar may be s**t, but I know Morgan. She wouldn’t keep something like this from me.”

I had to agree. I knew everything about Kade and Xander, that was what it was like when you were best friends.

“Maybe she doesn’t know. I have to tell Kade though, whether she knows or not.”

Taylor stopped walking and looked at me.

“What is there to tell? You don’t know for sure if she’s a bear, and even if she is, why would it matter?”

“You’re right, I don’t know for sure. But I know her cousin is, and that she could be. And it matters because she is my best friends’ mate. Wolves and bears don’t have the best history, so he has the right to know.”

“But what it breaks them up? She’s finally happy, I don’t want to ruin that for her Matt.”

“They are mates. Bear or not, she was made for him and that won’t change. But I have to tell him. Please tell me you understand.”

She pulled and twisted her bottom l*p before slowly nodding her head.

“I understand. And I’d do the same thing for her, without a doubt. You call him and I’ll call her.”

We both took seats next to each other on a bench and pulled out our phones.

It took a few rings but Kade eventually picked up sounding winded.

“Hey man, did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, I’m just out for a jog. I could use a quick breather though. How is Rome and the meetings?”

“No meetings yet, they were delayed a day. And Rome has been interesting to say the least.”

Kade knew me well. He knew something was up without me even having to say it.

“What’s happened? Is Taylor alright?”

“Yes, she’s alright. She’s actually pregnant, and my fiancé. So, I’d say she’s better than alright.”

“Oh s**t! Congrats man, I’m happy for you two. Another baby to add to the bunch, I see Uncle Kade’s work is never done.”

“I guess not. But that’s actually not what I called for. We ran into a shifter earlier today. A bear shifter. And he knew Taylor, they grew up together.”

“Seriously? Why would Taylor be friends with a bear? Did she know?”

“Nah, she is zero and three for detecting shifters. But that’s not the crazy part. The crazy part is that this guy, Tyson, is Morgan’s cousin. Their grandfathers were brothers. And Tyson has those same light hazel eyes we know bears to have.”

“Just like Morgan. Matt are you telling me I’m mated to a f*****g werebear?”

“No. What I’m telling you is that you’re mated to someone whose cousin is a werebear. I don’t know what Morgan is, but I still wanted you to know.”

I heard Kade sigh on the other end and whisper a few curses under his breath.

“I’ve got to go replace Morgan and figure this s**t out Matt. But thanks for letting me know, I appreciate it.”

“Anytime man. And don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“How could I? I’m in love with her, she’s mine.”

“Glad to hear that. I’ll talk to you later.”

We clicked off and I looked over to Taylor who was staring down at her phone.

“Did you talk to Morgan?”

“No. It went to voicemail. Now she’s going to be complete blindsided when Kade asks her about her family. I just hope that I haven’t ruined her life.”

“You haven’t. If anything, you’re helping her. If she is a bear, she should know about it. You’re helping her replace out who she is.”

She looked at me and smiled.

“Kinda like you and your alpha b***d huh?”

“Yeah. Just like that. We may be surprised to learn the truth, but it’s hard to be mad when you discover you’re so much more than you ever thought.”

“Okay. I’m sure she’ll call me back later, so I’ll just wait and see how it goes.”

“That’s a good idea. Now let’s continue with our tour. All of Rome is waiting to meet you.”