“No,” I lied.
Reaching between our bodies, he touched my tender flesh, and I winced.
“Liar. How much did I hurt you?” Not waiting for an answer, he flipped the silky blankets off me and lifted himself off enough to stare at my naked body.
“It hurt a little but—“
“I never want to hurt you. I should have been more careful.” Tender fingertips touched my thighs. “I made you bleed.”
“That’s normal, and we both know it. I’m fine, Matteo, honestly. You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to. I’ve wantedyou to be my first for so long. I don’t regret a single moment of it.”
“Your first and your last, Sophia.” There was a flash of white teeth in the half-light as he smiled. “Stay here.”
Completely naked, he stood up and stretched.
It gave me the perfect opportunity to look at him. At his wide shoulders and narrow waist. He even had one of those triangles of muscles that drove women wild.
“Where are you going?” I asked. I didn’t want him to go anywhere. What I wanted was for him to bring that sculpted body back into bed and crush me into the mattress with it.
“I’m going to get a wet washcloth and clean you up, Sophia. I should have done it before. I should have looked after you.”
I reached out a hand. His met mine in the air, and our fingers entwined.
“I can shower.”
“We can shower,” he countered with a grin. “But I’m going to look after you first. I’ll always look after you, you know that, right? Because I fucking love you, Sophia.”
I nodded.
He loved me.
“I love you, too.”
“Good, and soon we won’t have to sneak around anymore.”
From his hastily discarded clothes, his phone rang, and a line appeared between his dark eyebrows.
“I need to get that.”
Falling back onto the pillows, I sighed. “I know.”
“I’ll take it in the bathroom, but don’t move.” Leaning over me, he pressed his lips to mine for a second and then walked away.
The bathroom door shut quietly, and then the sound of the shower starting filled the room.
It was business then. He had the shower on so I wouldn’t accidentally overhear the conversation. It was always the same with my parents and brothers. I lived in their world and had to follow their rules, but that didn’t mean I was privy to everything.
I was so used to it that it didn’t really bother me at all. Matteo would one day be head of his family.
The don.
Just like my brother would be.
And I would be a wife. Matteo's wife.
Finding my purse, I pulled out my own phone and my heart skipped a beat.
There were so many missed calls and messages. Some from unknown numbers, most from my brother.
