Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 240(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
“Am I correct in assuming that's why you’re here? That’s why you wanted to meet me so fucking badly?” He ground his teeth, his gaze traveling up and down my body with a look of utter contempt.
“I–I don’t know why I’m here.” It wasn't a total lie. I knew my intentions coming here, but now, standing in front of Matteo, I was questioning every single damn thing.
A scowl crossed his features, and I felt my heart drop into the very bottom of my stomach.
“Don’t fucking lie to me, little girl.”
As long moments stretched by without either of us speaking, I knew there was no other option than the only one he was offering—to be honest—because he already knew why I was here.
Like a sadist, he wants me to say the fucking words.
I wiped off the perspiration that was forming on my brow. Looking down at my outfit, humiliation filled me with the thought I could have pulled this off.
Had I really thought that I could convince Matteo—a damn crime lord—of anything by wearing revealing clothing? I lifted my gaze and found him still watching me.
I licked my lips and saw how his gaze dipped down to watch the act.
The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk, and I took a moment to stare at how the material of his suit jacket stretched across his shoulders. His muscles were clear, and I let the thought of what this big, massively muscular man would look like with no clothes on.
I could just imagine all those hard, defined muscles straining and flexing as he moved. I could see the tattoos peeking out from the expensive material that covered him, and I thought about how much ink covered that olive-toned flesh.
I couldn't breathe. I couldn’t catch my thoughts as I watched him walk, stalk… saunter closer. And then, he was once again right in front of me, and I was staring up at his big, hard body. His gaze landed on my eye. The one that had a black and blue bruise covering the side. The one I wasn’t able to fully cover with makeup.
His jaw clenched, the sound of his teeth grinding together loud in the small confines. When he looked into my eyes, I saw this darkness in them that had me sucking in a sharp breath because a sliver of fear washed over me. This was the look of death. This was me staring into the eyes of the Devil.
I froze. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Matteo lifting his hand. Instinctively, I flinched away, and I saw that fire in his eyes grow to an inferno.
But he didn’t strike me. He cupped the side of my face, his thumb stroking right under the edge of the bruise under my eye. Gently. God… so gently.
“Who did this to you?” His voice was so low I felt chills of ice race up and down my spine.
I shook my head but wasn’t sure what I denied.
Matteo leaned in close, his mouth now by my ear, so I felt the warm tendrils of his breath teasing the shell. “You’ll fucking tell me who did this to you, and you’ll tell me now.”
I closed my eyes and shivered for reasons other than nervousness and fear. I shivered because the feeling of his body pressed so intimately to mine made me feel things that tightened parts of me no one had even seen or touched before.
“It’s nothing,” I finally said, my voice whisper thin.
His breathing increased slightly, but he didn’t respond. He just kept stroking his thumb gently over my cheek before pulling back and staring into my eyes.
“I know who fucking touched you. I can see the truth in your eyes whether you utter the words.” After a second, he backed away, and I sucked in a deep lungful of air.
I didn't know what he saw in my expression, but whatever it was, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and he chuckled.
“Careful, Amore,” he said, low and gruff. “I can see you thinking about me fucking you, and I may just do that in this piece of shit, dirty warehouse.” He grinned. “And I’m the type of bastard who wouldn’t care if you cried because I was making you my whore.”
I saw something in his eyes, this flicker of something I couldn’t decipher. But it somehow softened his words, made them less ugly and violent.
And before I knew it, Matteo was standing right in front of me. A small sound left me. Maybe a gasp. Maybe an inhalation of breath. Either way, I couldn't control myself right now.
“Use your words, Sunshine.”
The way he used that endearment made something flutter in the most intimate parts of my body, a feeling I’d never experienced before. It scared me, made me a little frightened of how much I liked it. But I hated him saying something that could be so sweet.