Page 41 of Masked Hearts

She freezes immediately noticing Mattia’s presence and wraps her arms around her chest, making me grit my teeth.

I hate that she’s uncomfortable here when it’s supposed to be just as much my house as it is hers.

“I’ll be downstairs. Text me when you’re ready.” Like the best man he is, he takes his cue and immediately exits, offering Theresa a brief good morning, but barely making eye contact as he does.

“Good morning,” she grumbles, taking a seat on the island.

I slide a cup of coffee over to her, and she stares at me in surprise. “Good morning,tesoro. The fridge is fully stocked. I would stay with you for breakfast, but I have to head out with Mattia for a few hours.” I watch her roll her eyes at the nickname I bestowed upon her last night.

“And what am I supposed to do?”

“What do you usually do?” I rest both my palms on the counter in front of me.

“I don’t know, read, exercise, watch TV.”

“There’s also a pool on the deck.” I point behind her, and her head whips in the direction. “A gym behind the stairs, and as for reading, I had your sister send your books over, so they’re in the library.”

“Library?” Her head whips back, her coffee-brown eyes wide in surprise.

“Yes. After our little encounter on my first night, I noticed how much you enjoy reading. It’s not exceptionally full, but I’m sure you’ll fix that.”

She stares at me, a bit dazed, as she takes in what I’ve just said. She looks adorable, and in all honesty, I can’t help but wonder how much of last night she remembers. “Is there anything else you want to ask me?”I ask.

“You know it’s risky meeting with your family, right?”

“Why do you say that?” I raise a brow, surprised by her giving warning.

“You and your brothers have already played right into his plan,” she says.

Thump. Thump.

My heartbeat picks up again. I stare at her blankly as I try to figure out what exactly her father’s plan could be. This is the other shoe dropping. It has to be.

She rolls her eyes and sips the coffee before grimacing. “God, you Italians are no fun. Don’t you have vanilla syrup or something other than espresso?”

It’s my turn to grimace at her words now. The most I’ll allow to happen to my espresso is for it to turn into a cappuccino or latte, but no syrups.

“No.” I grit my teeth. Of course, my wife wants to commit horrendous crimes against caffeine.

“Anyway,” she pushes the cup to the centre of the island, “since I have to spell it out for you: my father wants more connections. And what do you have, Mr. Perfect? Ample connections. And by choosing to live here in Monaco instead of France, you’ll bring them all right into neutral territory. Usually, my father wouldn’t be able to speak to any of them due to theCosa Nostra’scontrol, but you’ve left the door wide open for fair game.”

Fuck. And here Ambrose thought he was just being petty by inviting so many guests, when in reality, he was giving Gabriel the biggest networking event he’s ever had.

Anddouble fuckbecause even Theresa was smart enough to figure this all out while we’ve been parading some of our closet connections around.

“Or did they? I chose to move here for my own reasons.”

“And what was that? Because, in case you’ve forgotten, he has men everywhere,” she points out.

Panic surges through me. It’s like the rug is being pulled from beneath me and all my control is lost. Or at least the control I thought I had.

“I know, so I had two choices. Either have him looking over my shoulder every second in that manor or at least have a sense of peace in my own home.”

She bursts out laughing. If it were under different circumstances, I might have thought the sound was rather attractive, but right now, it’s mocking and sends a shiver down my spine.

“What?” I question when her laughter eventually dies down.

“Nothing, I guess you aren’t that perfect after all. All looks and no brains. My God, you are an idiot.”

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