I should be angry that she lied about being sick, that she danced half-naked for a club full of men. Instead, I’m fucking mesmerized by the way the spotlight catches in her now pink hair. The perfect color for her.
“You wanted to dance,” I say, voice low as I take a step toward her. “Dance for me, Little Thief.”
She’s a vision in her stage of undress, my suit jacket hanging open to reveal the perfect curve of her breasts, nipple piercingscatching the light. The contrast of her near-nudity with the formal black of my jacket makes my mouth water.
But it’s her hair that keeps drawing my eye. That shocking, defiant pink that frames her face like a warning sign.
“I love what you’ve done with your hair,” I add, reaching to touch a strand. “It suits you.”
Her eyes flash, dark and dangerous. Without warning, she jumps down from the stage, closing the short distance between us with a thud that seems to shake the floor. The jacket flutters open wider with the impact, but she doesn’t bother closing it as she storms toward me.
“Fuck you.” The words tear from her throat, raw and jagged. She pushes into my personal space, all heat and fury and perfect, perfect chaos. “Don’t you dare act like this is normal. Like you didn’t send me to meet your ex without a single fucking warning.”
I blink. “My ex?”
“Tony,” she hisses, pushing a finger into my chest. “Or should I say, Antonia?”
I absolutely fucking hate when my cousins are right. But it’s nothing compared to how much I loathe knowing that Raven’s been avoiding me due to a misunderstanding I unknowingly created.
“Tony isn’t my ex,” I say carefully.
“Bullshit.” She’s close enough that I can count her eyelashes, see the gold flecks in her eyes that burn with righteous anger. “She knew you. And you… you said you love me, Matteo. You said it when you were inside me.”
My heart pounds harder at the memory. I said those words, and I meant them. I still do.
“And then you use me like a fucking errand girl,” she continues, hands balling into fists at her sides. Her entire bodytrembles with the force of her rage, pink hair falling in disarray around her flushed face. The sight is magnificent.
“That’s not what happened,” I growl, my control slipping. “Tony isn’t my ex. She’s a contact. An informant. Someone who had information I needed.”
“Then why didn’t you just say that?” Her voice cracks, something raw and vulnerable bleeding through the anger. “Why didn’t you tell me who she was instead of just sending me into that bathroom blind?”
I run a hand through my hair, frustration mounting. “I didn’t think it would matter to you.”
“It mattered to me!” Her voice rises, filling the empty club. “It mattered because I thought it was a date. An actual date with a man who said he loves me. And instead, it was just another job.” She laughs, but it’s not a joyful sound.
Her words hit like a physical blow, and for a moment, I’m speechless. She thought it was a date. She wanted it to be a date. Something about that knowledge makes my chest tighten in a way that’s unfamiliar and almost painful.
The heat of her body radiates against mine as I step closer. “The Tony thing was just unfortunate timing.”
“Unfortunate timing?” She laughs, the sound sharp as broken glass. “You knew she’d be there. You arranged to meet her.”
There’s no denying she’s right. Just as there’s no simple truth. It’s messy because I didn’t fucking think. I’m the one who made it complicated. “Yes,” I admit. “I needed that information. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t also a date.”
Sighing, I decide to be completely honest.
“It was a date for me, Little Thief.”
Her chest heaves with each breath, anger and something else—hurt, maybe—making her eyes glitter like polished obsidian.
“You might haveneededthat information, Matteo. But youdecidedit was more important than just being honest.” Sheinhales sharply. “I know who you are, and unlike Piper, I don’t shy away when shit gets complicated or bloody.”
Her voice’s rising again, and each syllable is dripping with disdain.
“But I refuse to be your pawn,” she screams, her nostrils vibrating. “You broke into my apartment and blackmailed me. And then… then you started whispering sweet nothings in my ear. What’s really pissing me off is that I believed you. That’s how stupid I am.”
My measured breathing is the only thing keeping me from grabbing her, from silencing her accusations with my mouth on hers. I watch her come apart before me, all that glorious chaos spilling out, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“I love you,” I say simply.
