Page 53 of Veil of Vengeance

Her eyes widen before she darts toward the chair farthest away from me. Once she settles, she looks at me with a strange expression, but it’s gone before I’m able to decipher it. ??

“Thank you,” she says softly. My jaw clenches, and I shake my head.

“What for?” I murmur.

“For taking care of me while I was sick.” She fiddles with her hands.

“It wasn’t for your benefit. You’re no use to me dead,” I say, and she flinches. A flicker of guilt settles in my chest, but I quickly put it out. I grind my teeth to stop myself from retracting what I said. She’s the fucking enemy, no matter what she makes me feel. ??I clear my throat before speaking.

“What do you know about your cousin?” I ask her. She tilts her head. It’s subtle enough that it’s barely noticeable, but I notice it.

“Which one?”

“Giuseppe.”

She stiffens for a second before trying to appear relaxed. I narrow my eyes.

“Not much, except that he was initiated a couple of weeks ago.”

The lie rolls off her tongue so well, if I didn’t know better, I would’ve believed her. I stand abruptly and stalk toward her. ??

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Valentina. You don’t want to fuck with me,” I warn. Her face twists in disgust.

She sneers, “You don’t scare me, Emiliano Folonari. Especially a man who can’t even look at a woman after kissing her.”

I trap her in her seat with my hands on the sides of the armchair. My face is inches from hers. I take in her eyes, flushed cheeks, shaky breaths, my gaze stopping on her lips.

“You want to bet that I can’t look a woman in the face after kissing her?” I challenge. She clenches her jaw, not answering me. ?“Answer me, ragazza mocciosa,” I purr in her ear.

A shiver racks her body. Without a thought, my tongue darts out and sucks her earlobe into my mouth. I tug on it lightly before letting it go. As my nose trails down the side of her slender neck, she makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat, but she doesn’t move. I pause, stepping back abruptly, running my fingers through my hair. She stares up at me, confused and unsure. I should leave the room before I do something that I’ll regret…or worse yet, not regret at all.

“I’m leaving,” I mutter. ??

CHAPTER 15

VALENTINA

My nails dig into my palms as I try to think clearly, but my thoughts remain a foggy mess. I debate whether to stop him or not. He’s the enemy, the man who took me from my family and disrupted my entire life. But it’s not like I had any choice in what I was going to have to do in that godforsaken house.

Fuck it, this is the only chance I have at any semblance of control over my life. With a jolt, I get up my steps, unsure Do I really want to risk everything just to have my first time under my own conditions? Yes, yes, I do. I bite my lip, taking hurried steps after Emiliano.

Once he’s an arm’s length away, I reach my hand out and tug on his shirt. He stiffens with his hand on the doorknob, but doesn’t turn around. ??

“I don’t think you know what you’re doing,” he rasps.

“I want this,” I whisper to his back. He’s quick. He turns around and grabs me by the throat, pinning me to the wall next to the door. His eyes are dark, assessing me. My throat flexes under his grip, and he squeezes tighter.

He brings his face next to my ear, whispering, “What is it that you want, exactly?”

“You’re really going to make me say it?” I run my tongue across my lips.

“You either say it, or I’m walking away,” he threatens.

I place my hand on his abdomen, and he tenses for half a second before pressing up against me.

“I want you,” I murmur.

“You want me to do what?” He runs his nose along the side of my face, making me shiver.

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