Page 45 of Found in Ruin


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“Are you fucking insane?”Nico hisses at me once we’re in his Lambo, waiting for the heavy metal gate at the end of Angelo’s long driveway to open for us.

“What are you talking about?”I ask, the adrenaline leaving my body making me want to laugh.“I thought that went well.”

“Angelo Ferro is a certifiable psychopath,” Nico says.“I thought I mentioned that to you a few times.”

“You did.But like he said, he’s rethinking stuff now.”

Nico scoffs and floors it as soon as we clear the gate.

“Yeah, about how best to get rid of us quickly and quietly.”

I shake my head even though he’s not looking at me, but at the road ahead, his eyes very wide.“It’s fine.He’s not gonna kill us.”

Nico just scoffs again and doesn’t say anything.Just as well, because I couldn’t tell him how I know I’m right.I just know I am.If anything, we just made our way even closer into Angelo’s inner circle.Probably because his path is the fastest path to ruin.That’s why I’m so certain I’m right.

Because my ruin won’t come before what I want the most is within grabbing distance.And revenge for my family is still what I want the most.

Chapter32

GIANNA

I don’t thinkI’ve ever tried on and discarded as many outfits as I did getting ready for this dinner.By the time I was done my entire queen-sized bed was just a pile of clothes—Prada, Gucci, Versace, you name it, piled on like it was just a garbage heap.And my shoe closet looked like it had vomited out all my footwear in a moment of sickness.Despite all that, I’d decided I absolutely don’t have enough clothes to wear and already made plans with my sisters to go shopping this weekend.

In the end, I decided on simple, ivory silk slacks and a strappy top woven from gold and silver thread.I paired it with a gold shawl, gold shoes and a gold handbag.

“You think you might’ve overdone it on the gold there,” Chiara said as we met up in the foyer at ten minutes to eight.

“Not even close.”

What I meant when I said that I don’t have enough clothes is that I don’t have enough golden ones.I love the nickname Matteo has for me—Goldie—and I mean to live up to it in all ways.

My heart jumped to my throat as we stepped into the hallway and Matteo’s eyes locked on me, shining brighter and brighter as he took me in from head to toe.

Rafaelle, Tony, and Lorenzo were also there, all wearing black suits, the jackets not quite hiding the gun holsters.Quite a turn out for a simple dinner.But all I saw was Matteo.Even as we left the building and the men walked a respectable distance behind us.He looked the best out of all of them in his black suit.

Now we’re seated in a private room of the new upscale Italian restaurant I chose, three waiters falling over themselves trying to make sure we have everything we need before we even think we need it.

The three of us are seated, the men are standing along the wall, and every time I steal a glance at Matteo, my heart rate picks up even more.Even though it hasn’t stopped thundering in my throat since I first saw him tonight.

I wish he was sitting across from me.I wish we were alone.Somewhere where we had all the time and privacy in the world.Away from anything and anyone trying to hold us apart.

I’m having trouble eating because of all the heat, emotions, and racing heart issues he’s giving me.My palms are clammy, my heart wants to bang right out of my chest, and I feel naked under the covert looks he’s giving me.Looks that caress my face and skin almost better than his hands would.I’m also having trouble following the animated conversation my sisters are engaged in.I’ve gone to the bathroom twice since we got here.But he hasn’t followed.Tony did.

Maybe the third time’s the charm.

I stand up, grab my purse, mutter that I need to go check my makeup, ignore Chiara who tells me I look as shimmery gold as when we first got here, and leave the room.

I don’t even have to look back to know he followed this time.

The heat in the small, windowless hallway went up by a thousand degrees and my back as I walk to the ladies’ room feels like I’m walking through the desert at noon.

He follows me right into the restroom, shutting and locking the door behind.The cool marble against my bare back as he pushes me against the wall feels divine after the hot tension of the past couple of hours of only being able to look and not touch him.

His kiss is like a sip of cool water on a hot day, like the medicine I needed, like the only drink I will ever need from now on.

It’s urgent and intense, sending my heart racing in a whole different way as my whole body responds.Shivers run down my arms, my nipples rise and start throbbing, silently begging for his touch and my pussy is pulsing with stark need for his touch, such as I’ve never imagined possible.If he were to rip my clothes off and take me right here and now, I wouldn’t protest.And I certainly wouldn’t try to stop him.

And as the kiss intensifies, I very nearly start ripping his clothes off.But I settle for running my hands down his wonderfully muscled arms and back.So nicely shaped.So hard and powerful.His thigh finds its way between my legs, and I can’t help rubbing against it.The wonderful friction very nearly makes a tiny orgasm rise to the surface, and the deep moan that escapes me, mid-kiss no less, is nothing I’ve ever heard myself utter before.