Page 45 of Blood Debt
He clears his throat. “Don’t throw anything.”
“That depends.”
He lifts his gaze. “Were you serious about having the maid as a lover?”
I go still.
He keeps talking. “Because I walked in on you last night. On the bed. You on top of her.”
I lean forward, elbows pressing into the desk. My fingers steeple under my chin.
“Jealous, Matteo?”
He rolls his eyes. “Curious.”
I study him. His posture is relaxed, but there’s a pulse of something sharper beneath it. Loyalty, yes. But more than that—concern.
He finally adds, “Your father would not approve.”
“Since when do I seek his blessing for who I fuck?”
“It’s not about that,” Matteo says quietly. “It’s about what she is.”
The room falls into silence for a beat.
And I remember. She’s not just a maid. She’s a cop.
The edges of my memory sharpen. Her controlled movements. The way her eyes scan without looking. Her submissive act a little too practiced.
For a second, I’d forgotten.
I lean back again.
“And when do you think she’ll make a move?” I ask, voice calm.
Matteo’s face returns to neutral.
“I assigned her light housekeeping,” he says. “Your bedroom, dressing room, your study—like you asked. She’s careful, but she’s curious. It won’t take long.”
“She’ll go lurking soon,” I murmur.
“She already lingers.”
I nod.
Outside the window, the vineyard stretches into gold and shadow, the late sun washing over the rows like fire.
Matteo shifts his weight. “If we catch her…what then? Do we finish her?”
I don’t answer immediately.
I let the words settle between us, like dust.
Then I shake my head slowly. “No.”
“She’s a threat.”
“She’s a question,” I correct. “We find out who sent her. Who trained her. And why they needed to pin a fake trafficking case on us just to get close.”
