Page 53 of Stolen Vows
I scoff and flip to a page with more inventive descriptions.She flinches, shakes her head, and covers her breasts with her arms.
“You misunderstood.It’s not—”
“I didn’t misunderstand and neither did your father.You told him—”
“I didn’t!”
“Then what is this?Why would you write such damning things?You can’t claim some preteen idiocy.This is too meticulous for that,” I snarl.
“I…” She lifts eyes shimmering with tears and regret and curls in on herself.“I never meant for anyone to see it.I wrote it because Sienna told me to.She said—”
Itskand cross my arms over my chest.
“Don’t try and blame your cousin for this,” I warn.
Valentina and Sienna, my brother’s only child, were two peas in a pod.They were always together.Always giggling.Always sweet.
“I’m not, I swear.I totally forgot all about this until you showed it to me.It was a preteen secret between Sienna and me.”She takes a deep breath and pushes her hair back before returning her arm to her chest.“During our last sleepover at your brother’s house, I told her you were my first crush.She freaked out and said we had to perform an exorcism, so I had to write all my thoughts about you in a journal so we could burn it at camp.Only then would I be free of the curse and we could continue being friends.”
I analyze every nuance of her delivery and find no traces of deceit.
“Your father told me you confessed,” I say.
She shakes her head.
“I never mentioned anything to him.Ever.I gave the journal to Sienna the day before camp, but then my dad said I couldn’t go.That was the night you didn’t come back with him.He said you were a traitor, and Sienna swore she burned the journal.I was glad it was gone and erased it from my memory,” she says.
All the stray pieces fit into place with her explanation.She wasn’t feigning ignorance to sway my emotions; she honestly had no clue her father used the journal as an excuse to slice me and our decades-long friendship into pieces.
Relief flows through me before guilt, bitterness, and fresh hatred infect my veins.
Pietro Denaro used his daughter as a weapon.I did, too.
No more.Valentina deserves better.
Her father will never touch her again.
And if it takes me a lifetime to make up for the pain I’ve caused her, then I’ll devote every waking moment to her.
She’s mine.My wife.Mia paperotta.My future beyond revenge.
My redemption.
Chapter 15
Valentina Luciano
I shrink into the chairwhen he steps forward.He slips his arms under my knees and behind my back and lifts me into the air.Torn between covering myself and not falling, I hook one arm around his neck and keep the other barred across my chest.
He ignores my antics and holds me tight against his chest.My heart pounds against my sternum as he stalks into the hall, leaving the safe open and the journal on the end table.I shiver as the cool air wafts against my exposed skin, and my sore pussy throbs at his casual display of strength.
He carries me through the bedroom and into the walk-in closet.I swallow and blink in disbelief.Masculine clothes fill the right half of the space.Suits, sweats, casual wear, shoes of all sorts, and different accessories.It all looks normal.
The things filling the left side of the closet are not suitable for wearing outside of the bedroom.Strappy, glossy, lacy, skimpy—none of them offer full coverage.
Dirty thoughts fill my mind, and dark desire heats my blood.I yearn to experience the sense of power I felt when I wore the gifts he sent me.The blue panties were the first ones he saw me wearing in the flesh.How intense would it be to have his eyes directly on me instead of through a camera?
I avert my eyes, but by the wicked gleam in his stare, I fail to hide my interest.
