“Dude, you there?”
“Yeah. I need Rachel McConaughey’s number. Can you text it to me and let her know I need a favor?”
Rachel McConaughey heads one of the top female global clothing brands, and she recently expanded her line to include shoes, bags, and lingerie. The Accardi clothing brand is one of the best-selling male brands, and the twins have the best contacts in the industry. Rachel helped Joshua out recently when he needed stuff for his wife, Gia, and she was happy to accommodate, so I’m hoping she’ll be amenable to doing me a favor too. I’ll make sure it’s worth her while, paying handsomely for the personalized service.
Valentina deserves the best, so she’s getting the best.
If I didn’t have to keep her hidden, I’d take her to the store so she could pick items herself. But that’s not an option. I can’t parade her nonstop around the city and expect to keep it a secret.
“You got a woman we don’t know about?”
“It’s complicated.”
Caleb chuckles. “It usually is. Okay. Consider it done, but you owe me, Maltese.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything less.” After ending the call, I grab Valentina’s clothes and head to the bedroom. My stomach is queasy again, and I hope I’m not coming down with a bug.
My breath stutters in my chest when I enter the room, discovering Valentina curled up in the bed fast asleep. Glossy ink-jet hair fans aroundher head on the pillow. She must have blow-dried it before climbing under the covers in her underwear. That hideous blue dress she was wearing is draped over the end of the bed, and I’m adding it to the pile for burning.
Carefully, I perch on the edge of the bed and watch her sleeping like a bona fide creeper. She looks even younger in slumber, with her fingers clutching a silver locket around her neck, and for the first time, I consider how wrong it is to crave her. She’s almost twenty years younger than me, and I’m old enough to be her father. That should be enough to deter me, but it isn’t. My blood is alive, singing a song that’s just for her, and my fingers twitch with an insurmountable urge to touch her. In my head, a voice is urging me to claim her, and I don’t think I’m strong enough to resist.
I wanted her to myself, and now I have her, I’m not holding back.
Very carefully, I reach out and finger the ends of her hair, being careful not to wake her. Air trickles out through her slightly parted pillowy lips, and I can’t resist dusting my mouth lightly and quickly over her tempting one. She tastes of mint and cherries and the natural floral scent wafting from her body.
She’s so perfect, and I have never craved another human as much as I crave her. If she were awake, I would eat her alive, and it would not be enough.
It’d never be enough.
I’m not sure I’ll ever get my fill of this woman.
I’ve been deluding myself into thinking a few days would satisfy me.
Valentina stirs a little, and I hold myself still, my face hovering just above hers, raking my gaze over every beautiful part of her. Her olive skin is so perfect, unblemished and untainted, and I’m struck dumb by her beauty and the innocence that clings to her in sleep. The elegant curves of her face are begging for my touch, and it’s becoming harder and harder to deny what I want and need.
Yeah, I’m definitely fooling myself if I think this is temporary.
What I’m feeling is not temporary.
It’s not just lust either.
I want to smother her, cherish her, protect her, love her.
My thoughts terrify me like I’ve never been terrified before.
Especially because they feelright.
I’ve made up my mind. I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off, but I’ll figure out a way.
I’m not giving her back.
She’smine.
Consequences be damned.
10
VALENTINA
