Page 98 of His Tesoro

Sienna moved the pot to the top of the stove. I stood again, this time moving slowly, but my dizziness had passed. I busied myself with the pasta preparations.

“That smells so good,” Sienna said, looking over my shoulder at what I was doing. “I think we need to have lunch together every day.”

I grinned. “I’m not sure Matteo would be thrilled with that arrangement.”

“We can’t all bend to his will,” she said, rolling her eyes. “By the way, how did he react to seeing Leona?”

“He wasn’t particularly thrilled, but he didn’t do anything to her.”

Sienna smirked. “Don’t worry, Leona can hold her own.”

I bet she could. But I still wouldn’t tell Matteo I’d found a card with her phone number tucked inside my purse.

“How are things going between you two?” Sienna asked.

I blushed. “Matteo and me? Good.”

“If he wasn’t my brother, I’d be demanding all the dirty details because that blush says it all.”

I laughed. “No dirty details, promise.” I hesitated before adding, “He did give me a gift this morning.”

“Ooh, what is it?”

“Umm… an entire closet full of jewelry,” I mumbled, my face heating further. Would Sienna think it was too much? That I didn’t deserve it?

Sienna gasped. “Can I see?”

I nodded and she took off for the closet while I finished up lunch. Her eyes were bright when she returned.

“Damn, my brother did good. Well, whoever he hired to pick that stuff out did good. You’ll look amazing in all of it.”

“You think I should really wear it? It all seems so… excessive.”

“That is the point,” Sienna said with a wink. “You’re in the Mafia now. We live for excess.”

“Did you and Sienna have a good time today?” Matteo asked.

We were curled up on the couch. It was almost midnight, but neither of us wanted to go to bed. He’d only gotten home a few minutes ago, and I wanted as much time with him as possible.

“We did. I made pasta and she invited herself over for lunch every day from now on.”

Matteo scoffed, trailing his hand over my hip. He must have turned up the heat when he got home because I was comfortable in a cami and lace boy shorts, and he was shirtless. I trailed my fingers down the tattoos on his chest. I’d looked up what the words across his chest meant in Italian: family, honor, loyalty. I wondered how I fit into that equation.

“Why did you give me a closet full of jewelry?” I whispered.

“I didn’t. It’s just the back wall.”

I pinched his nipple and laughed when he jumped. He gave me a hard smack on my ass but couldn’t hide the way his lips twitched.

“Why?” I asked again.

“Because you deserve it.”

“It’s too much.”

“No, it’s not. Don’t argue with me, tesoro.”

I pressed my smile into his chest. “Okay, miliy.”

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