Her lips gently part, and I slide the melon into her mouth and onto her tongue until her lips close around the fork. I watch her swallow the piece of melon and lick my lips because everything she does makes me so damn hungry for more.
I pick up another and feed it to her.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I reply. “I’m feeding my wife because she won’t feed herself.”
“Ridiculous,” she says as I shove in another piece of melon.
“Is it? A husband is supposed to take care of his wife, remember? And even if you are too busy trying to kill me to have breakfast, I’ll make sure you eat properly.”
I add another piece of melon just for the sake of it and watch the droplets of juice roll down her lips, tempting me to lick them up. God, her skin would probably taste like melon too.
I place the fork down and lean in so close she shudders and closes her eyes, almost as if she’s expecting me to kiss her. Instead, I whisper, “If you can prove to me you can behave and try not to kill me, I’ll give you more freedom.”
When I lean away again, she sucks in a breath and says, “Deal.”
Suddenly, Franco storms inside again, crushing our moment. “I’m sorry for interrupting, sir, but it’s important.”
“What is it?” I grumble as I step away from Stella.
“It’s the Agostinis. They’ve targeted one of your restaurants!”
My eyes widen. “What?”
Lucio. That bastard still can’t stop wrecking everything.
“Does he have a death wish?” I seethe.
“One of your men called and said he has taken one of the servers with him, a woman,” he says.
That bastard.“He’s trying to take someone else as payment.”
Suddenly, Stella grabs my arm. “You have to save her.”
Her sudden insistence makes me do a double take.
“I know what he’s like. You have to get her out of his grasp,” she adds.
I nod, then waltz off. “Franco, let’sgo.”
STELLA
I’m left all alonein his giant mansion, and I stroll around to try to entertain myself, while his guards stare at me from every corner. I don’t know whether to feel safe or spooked by their presence. They listen to Matteo, but now that he isn’t here, how do I know for sure they won’t disobey his orders? How do I know they’ll keep me safe?
I avoid them as much as I can while perusing his house, pilfering through his library to find a book to read. I’m not allowed to have my phone yet, so things can get boring pretty quickly. When I’ve finally found something I want to read, an old copy ofWuthering Heights, I walk back upstairs and head into my own room, where there’s a guard stationed outside.
I nod at him and go inside, then close the door.
It’s locked from the outside.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
I feel safer here than out there with them all by myself. Leticia and Sarah have left the house to do some shopping, so I must be the only woman left in this godforsaken house.
I peel away the bandages that Matteo wrapped around my hand and look at the scab that remains. The wound healed quite nicely, but every time I touch my skin, I can still feel his hand running over it, giving me goose bumps.
Sighing, I sit down on my couch and open the book, but I keep reading the same page over and over again, while my mind has already trailed off. I wonder what Matteo’s doing now—if they’re hunting Lucio, or if they’re just trying to get that lady back home safely and out of their grasp.
