She lashed out, and I caught her wrist in my hand before she could slap my face.
“How many sexual partners have you had, Sophia?” My fingers flexed around her wrist. I should let her go. I knew that, but her skin was still as soft as it had always been.
“That’s none of your business.”
“It is completely my business. How many?” I stressed the last two words.
“One,” she gritted out.
“One.” I mulled the word over. Did that mean one after me or…? “In the last—"
“One partner in my entire life.”
I couldn’t help it. I grinned. One. That meant I was the only man who had touched her. The only man who had…
“Good.”
She ripped her arm away. “Don’t read anything into that, Matteo. It doesn’t mean I was hung up on—“ Her eyes darted to the door like she was scared her brother would be listening in. “The man I lost it to. He was an asshole.”
Mockingly, I clasped my hand to my heart.
“So let’s discuss this. Obviously, you will have everything you need: a home in one of my houses or apartments, and everything else. I have something ready for your arrival, but if in a few months that doesn’t suit you, we can discuss it. You will need to stay in the citybecause it will be easier for me to visit you. And I have set aside a very generous allowance for—"
Leaning forward, she cut me off. “What do you mean ‘visit me’? If I agreed to this, and I haven’t done that yet, why wouldn’t we live together?”
Confusion pinched her eyebrows together.
“I’m sorry, but you know well enough how these things go, Sophia. You’ve never been a stupid woman. Why would I live with my mistress?” Shaking my head, I carried on. “Now there are going to be certain rules. But I can be—"
“Wait a second.” She threw up a hand and jumped to her feet. “What do you mean, mistress?”
I stared at her, taking in her self-righteous indignation, and I realized she didn’t know the deal her brother had made on her behalf.
“I was told—" Her voice shook with anger, “I am going to kill him.” Hands clenched at her side she took a step toward the door. Jumping up, I barred her way. My hands closed around her soft hips.
“You were told I wanted to marry you, right?” Throwing back my head I laughed. “Oh Sophia, poor poor, Sophia. That wasn’t the deal. I’m not going to marry you. I’m going to take you as my mistress.”
Chapter Five
Sophia
Mistress.
That’s what he had said. I was here to discuss being his mistress.
Which meant my brother had lied to me, because there wasn’t a chance in hell that he didn’t know.
Mistresses were scum in our world. Well, maybe not to the men who kept them, but they were shunned, gossiped about and never seen in polite society.
I hadn’t been raised to be a mistress, and I valued myself too much to be one now.
Rolling my wrist, I forced him to let go of me. “How dare you.”
Every atom of my being wanted to try and slap him again, maybe even throw a punch, but I also knew he was too fast to allow that to happen. Plus, he would be ready for that. I had no misconceptions. I knew all of my emotions were right there on my face.
“How fucking dare you.” Twisting away, I clenched my hands at my sides and stormed toward the window.
I loved this city and hoped the view of it sprawled out under me would calm my anger into something more manageable.
