Page 128 of Masked Hearts

Pierre, Mattia, and Kaia are all standing around the kitchen counter chatting, all turning silent as we enter the room.

“Well…” Pierre says apprehensively.

“You said he was probably dead,” Theá practically yells at her brother.

“I didn’t know, I swear. Well, at the time I’d known for a while that he was alive, but Kylian did quite a number on him, so we had to wait for him to heal.”

“And you.” I point at Mattia. “Why didn’t you tell me that you knew she was safe? We had a deal.”

“Our deal was that I would do everything in my power to keep her safe, which I did.” Mattia raises his hands in defence.

“And how did you end up wrapped up in all of this?” I ask Kaia as I take a seat at the counter, pulling Theá to sit on my lap.

I don’t miss how everyone’s eyes track our movements, or how even Theá stiffens before relaxing.

A smile settles onto Kaia’s face as she observes us. “Ambrose called in a favour.”

“So he knew, too?” I look around the room, flabbergasted that they manage to keep this a secret from us.

“Everyone knew. Even Natalia, Val, and Selena,” Mattia admits.

I scoff and toy with the end of Theá’s braid. “You’re all a bunch of con artists. This was someOcean’s Twelvetype of plan.”

“Oh my God, thank you for recognising that. That was my inspiration,” Mattia says as he takes a bow, and everyone in the room starts laughing.

The conversation continues as Theá starts asking more questions about the details of the plan. And all I can think about is how I finally have my world right back where it’s meant to be. Her with me.

“I like your hair like this,” I whisper into her ear and watch as goosebumps run across her skin, a sight I haven’t seen for weeks. Even just the thought of her being this close to me has me feeling like someone set fire to my skin.

They sayabsence makes the heart grow fonder. I’ve always thought that saying was stupid—until right now. I’ve missed her so much that even this physical contact has every single one of my nerve endings firing off rapidly.

Her sweet scent is drawing me in, and I’m so enamoured by her that I start tracing lines all across her skin, not hearing a single word of the conversation happening around me.

I want more. More of her skin on mine. More of her attention. More of her. I want all of her.

I rise to my feet abruptly, and everyone’s eyes fall to me. “We’re gonna head to bed.”

“We are?” Theá asks as I wrap her hand in mine.

“Yeah, we have an early flight home tomorrow.”

“Home? I thought this was going to be home?” She freezes in her spot.

“Oh no,tesoro,our home is Tevici,” I smirk and pull her along after me until we reach the wing of guest rooms. “Which one is yours?”

She pauses, visibly unsure about something, and a part of me worries if this is all too soon. Have I moved too fast in trying to get back to this moment? “We don’t have to do anything. I just want to be near you.”

“It’s not that,” she pauses, biting her lip.

“Then what is it?” I cup her face, forcing her to meet my gaze.

“I can’t leave with you, I have to take care of Noelle now and make sure that she’s okay. I fear my father will find her with how reckless Noelle can be sometimes, not to mention her naivety.”

A soft chuckle slips past my lips, and she shoots me a glare.

“Tesoro,I don’t know what made you think we’d leave her here alone; she’s coming with us. I would never leave your sister behind.”

“But she’s not your responsibility, she’s mine.”

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