I rush through the door and toward the stairs, intending to hide my mortification in my room.
"Valentina!" Alessandro's voice rings out, but I keep moving.
Adriano appears at the top of the stairs. "Where's the fire, little sister?"
I brush past him without slowing, my shoulder bumping his.
I can't face either of them right now.
Not with the evidence of what just happened still burning on my skin.
The door to my bedroom slams behind me, and I slide down against it until I hit the floor.
Only then do I allow myself to break, pressing my hand over my mouth to muffle the sound.
How could I have been so stupid?
So naïve to think that Cristian would risk everything for me?
The humiliation burns like acid in my stomach.
One minute he'd been touching me, making me feel things I'd never imagined possible, and the next, nothing.
Just duty.
Loyalty to everyone but me.
In a few weeks, I’ll be Maksim’s wife.
I’m sacrificing for my family, and all I want is one moment of happiness, of pleasure before I enter a lifetime of unhappiness and suffering.
Seriously, is that too much to ask?
I close my eyes as my humiliation in the car comes back to me.
I can still taste his kiss.
Feel the touch of his fingers.
What a foolish, stupid girl I am.
I'd thrown myself at him like some desperate virgin, which is exactly what I am.
I'd wanted to give myself to someone worthy before Maksim could claim me, but all I've done is humiliate myself in front of the one man I truly wanted.
Before tonight, I'd been kissed exactly twice.
Once by Roberto Gallo at sixteen, who left me wondering what all the fuss was about.
The second time by Marco Ricci at a charity gala last year as he tried to use me to angle for a connection to my family.
Neither prepared me for Cristian.
How his lips moved against mine.
The feel of him hard under me.
The reverent way he touched me, like I was something precious.
