Chapter 190: Chapter 190: The Warning Tony Couldn’t Ignore

Dear readers,

Good news! We finally managed to resolve the side story publishing issue. 🎉

The side story for Craving Him: Addicted to His Voice will be available in about one hour from now. The first 10 Chapters will be uploaded, so be sure to check back later.

Thank you all so much for your patience, support, and love. I truly appreciate every single one of you.

Once you’ve read the first 10 Chapters, please don’t forget to leave your comments and share your thoughts with me. I would love to know what you think about the side story, your favorite moments, and how you feel about seeing these characters again after all this time.

Your support and excitement will help motivate me to upload the next batch of Chapters even faster. So if you enjoy it, let me know! Depending on the response, I’ll be bringing you the next Chapters very soon.

Thank you once again for staying with me on this journey. I can’t wait for you all to dive back into the world of Craving Him: Addicted to His Voice.

See you in one hour! I’m sorry for putting the note first.❤️

***********

"You dared to lie to my face and claim my boyfriend went out to cheat on me, you absolute fool! Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

The dining room went silent. Mark and Tony stopped eating, their eyes turning sharply toward Kevin in pure disbelief.

The heavy, judgmental stares from everyone at the table bore down on him, and the sudden shift from predator to prey caught him completely off guard.

Panic flashed across Kevin’s face as his composure began to crack. His aggressive posture vanished, replaced by a wounded, desperate expression.

"I-I was joking, Adrian!" he stammered quickly. "I didn’t mean any of it, I swear. It was just a joke."

He turned pleading eyes toward the head of the table. "Matteo... please, say something."

Matteo leaned back in his chair. "You were joking, Kevin?"

His voice was calm, but the cold fury behind it was unmistakable.

"My brother and I were having a private conversation in the living room yesterday before you showed up. The moment you joined us, you overheard part of that conversation. Mark and I then went up to the rooftop to continue talking in private."

His gaze hardened. "You took the little bit you overheard, twisted it into a disgusting lie, and deliberately fed that to Adrian. And now you’re standing here calling it a joke? What kind of fucking joke is that?"

Kevin immediately dropped his aggressive attitude and slumped back in his seat, putting on a wounded expression.

"I’m sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking with a perfect imitation of deep hurt. "But I came to your house as a guest, Matteo... you shouldn’t let me be treated this way. I was honestly just teasing your boyfriend. I never meant any harm by it. I didn’t think a little lighthearted teasing would turn you all against me like this."

The sheer vulnerability in Kevin’s voice was so convincing that even Adrian felt a sudden, brief pang of guilt in his chest. For a split second, he wondered if he had truly overreacted and handled the situation too harshly in front of everyone.

Sensing the suffocating tension, Mark finally broke the silence, his tone measured. "Regardless of whether you call it a joke or a tease, Kevin, you shouldn’t have said something like that. If Adrian didn’t trust Matteo completely, your ’little joke’ could have caused a massive, destructive problem between them."

Kevin rubbed a hand across his face, looking deeply embarrassed.

"I already said I’m sorry," he muttered.

Then he looked straight at Matteo, disappointment written all over his face.

"I just... never expected Adrian to speak to me like this in front of everyone while you sat there and let it happen."

He shook his head.

"I really thought we were friends, Matteo."

Matteo stared back at him.

Mark sighed and waved a dismissive hand. "Look, enough. Let’s drop it for now. Everyone sit down and eat your breakfast."

"No," Kevin muttered, shaking his head as he pushed back his chair and rose from the table.

"I’m not hungry anymore."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and hurried out of the dining room.

The moment Kevin was out of earshot, Tony slammed his fork down onto his plate. He turned sharply to the head of the table, his eyes blazing with frustration. "This is wrong, Matteo. You should have controlled Adrian."

Matteo’s jaw tightened, his voice dropping into a dangerous warning growl. "What the hell did you expect me to do, Tony? Sit back and watch him be sad because of some snake’s lies?"

"You can’t just let him say whatever he wants every single time," Tony argued, his professional instincts clashing with Matteo’s obvious favoritism. "There’s a time and a place for everything, and this wasn’t it."

Mark quickly interjected. "But Kevin was completely in the wrong here, Tony."

Tony let out a harsh, frustrated chuckle, turning to Mark. "Of course you’d say that. What else will you say? You will always stand by your brother, no matter what. Both of you need to stop acting on pure emotion and try looking at this from my angle for one second. Adrian just triggered him. He walked right into Kevin’s trap and escalated the situation."

Matteo looked Tony dead in the eye. "And that’s exactly what I wanted him to do."

He leaned back in his chair. "How long do you expect me to sit around waiting for him to reveal why he’s really in my house? Kevin was a good friend of mine when we were abroad. I can assure you all that the Kevin I knew back then is very different from the Kevin in my house right now. What changed? I don’t know yet. But I’m not going to sit back and wait forever for answers. I want him to make a move. I want him to act. And the faster he does it, the better."

Tony stared at him for a long moment before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I just hope you don’t end up regretting this, Matteo. We still don’t know who Kevin really is or who he’s working for. By letting Adrian go after him like that, you put your boyfriend directly in his sights and risked exposing our hand."

Tony then shifted his stern gaze over to Adrian. "And you, Adrian... you need to learn how to let things go. Not every insult requires you to bark back and cause a scene. Try to be a man and handle things with a bit of restraint."

With that, Tony pushed back his chair, stood up, and walked away from the table.

Matteo watched Tony leave the room, his dark eyes tracking him until he disappeared. Beneath his protective anger, Matteo wasn’t an idiot—he understood exactly what Tony was saying from a tactical standpoint, and he knew the warning was completely valid.

Sensing the heavy shift in the room, Adrian slowly turned to Matteo. "Baby... did I say something wrong?"

Matteo’s hardened expression softened into instant warmth the moment he looked at his partner. "No, baby. You did perfectly. Everything is fine."

Adrian smiled, relieved, and focused back on his food. Once he finished eating, he turned to Matteo. "Baby, I’m going to head upstairs first."

"Alright, baby," Matteo replied. "I’ll join you as soon as I’m done here."

"Alright, babe," Adrian said, stepping away from the table and heading to their room.

After Matteo finished his breakfast, he walked down to the living room to join Mark and Tony. The moment Tony saw Matteo enter, he stood up, clearly intending to leave the room.

"Stay," Matteo commanded, his voice firm.

Tony stopped, turning back to look at Matteo as the boss took a seat.

"I understand everything you said at the table," Matteo began, looking directly at Tony. "But you need to try and understand my side, too."

"Of course I understand you, Matteo," Tony replied, crossing his arms. "I know you’re trying to make your relationship with him normal. You don’t want to control him or use your power over him. But sometimes, Adrian goes too far. The level of freedom you give him is starting to become a problem. And this isn’t me being jealous anymore; It’s just the truth."

Tony took a step closer.

"Just because you gave him permission today, he forgot himself. Honestly, the problem isn’t Adrian. The problem is you, Matteo. When it comes to him, you completely forget who you are. I’m not saying you shouldn’t love him. I’m saying you need to love him the right way and stop putting him in situations that could put him at risk. You can’t be by his side twenty-four hours a day." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Matteo listened silently, his expression unreadable as Tony continued.

"Adrian was wrong today," Tony added bluntly. "He doesn’t have a single shred of fear when it comes to the consequences of his words. He talks to people however he wants, picking fights for himself. For someone who can’t lift a finger to fight or even knows how to use a weapon, he sure knows how to insult people exceptionally well. That is dangerous."

Mark sat forward on the sofa, looking at his brother. "Tony is partly right, Teo. You need to start setting some boundaries with him. It’s not about controlling him. I know you’re carefully trying not to make it seem like you’re using your power over Adrian, but your indulgence is making his behavior worse. He really shouldn’t have spoken to Kevin like that in front of everyone."

Tony locked eyes with Matteo, challenging him.

"Or are you scared he’ll leave you if you actually put your foot down?"

"Tony, don’t put it like that," Mark cut in before turning to Matteo.

"Look, Teo, I’m not saying you should be hard on Adrian. I’m not saying you should control him or start ordering him around. What I’m saying is that sometimes you need to tell him, ’Babe, I’ll handle it.’ Sometimes you need to tell him no."

His expression softened.

"It’s not about being harsh. It’s about setting healthy boundaries. Adrian needs to understand that some situations are bigger than him and that not every battle is his to fight."

Mark leaned in, offering his brother genuine advice. "Think about it, Teo. Adrian is hot-headed, and right now, he feels entirely invincible because he knows you’re the boss and you’ll always protect him. But in our world, that kind of mouth gets people killed when your back is turned. You love him, so protect him by teaching him restraint. Tell him when he crosses the line. It doesn’t mean you’re a tyrant; it means you care enough to keep him alive."

Both Mark and Tony continued to advise Matteo, breaking down the reality of the situation, with every point centering around Adrian’s long-term safety.

Matteo absorbed their words, realizing they were speaking out of genuine loyalty and concern. He let out a slow breath and nodded. "I understand. I’ll work on it."

After that, Tony and Matteo spent a bit more time discussing other security matters before Matteo...