Page 32 of The Lies We Tell

“You sound surprised.”

Tessa shrugged, fingering the edge of the pages. “When I asked Sienna about it earlier, she didn’t know anything about it. I thought you’d gone back on our deal.”

He stilled. Since when did she talk to Sienna? And why would she mention her mother? “I wasn’t aware you two spoke.”

His answer made her frown, and she tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. “She came to talk to me. To apologize for Luca.” Her eyes were defiant when they met his. “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to talk about my own mother.”

“I never said you couldn’t,” he replied, shifting slightly to face her.

“If you’re not actually going to help me find her, why are you keeping me here?”

“I’m not keeping you here, and I am going to help you find her.”

“Well, I can’t exactly leave on my own.” She pursed her lips, staring into the fire. “It’s been two weeks, and I’m no closer to finding her than I was when I left Syracuse. How do I even know you’re actually looking?”

“Because I said I’m looking,” Matteo snapped. “Why the hell would I lie to you about that?”

“I don’t know. According to my father, you’ll say whatever you have to say to get what you want.”

On a growl, Matteo moved closer and reached for her wrist, tugging her into his lap and wrapping his arm tight around her waist when she struggled against him.

“Let’s not put any stock in what your father says about anything,” he said, voice low. He skimmed his hand up her arm and across her shoulder, tracing his fingertips gently down the column of her throat. “I told you I’m going to do something, and I will. My assistant is looking into your mother’s disappearance. She has been since I corroborated your information about your father’s dealings in Spain.”

She swallowed, her throat bobbing under his fingers, and he shifted to trace the line of her jaw. “Turns out it’s not that easy to find a woman who’s been missing for nearly a decade.”

“What if she’s dead?”

Matteo’s gaze slid up to meet hers, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He hooked his hand around the back of her neck and brought her closer, biting back a groan when she shifted in his lap and rubbed her ass against his cock.

“Then we’ll find that out too, and you can decide what you want to do next.”

“What if I want to leave?” Her gaze dropped to his lips and lingered there.

“Then I’ll take you anywhere you want to go,” he promised, but he wasn’t so sure.

The idea of not having her here, of not being able to touch her or taste her or hear her voice again, felt wrong somehow. Before the thought could take root, he brushed it aside. It wouldn’t do him any good to get weighed down by the impossible.

He was still fighting a war, and she was the daughter of his enemy. Despite what he wanted to believe about her, Luca was right. He didn't know if he could trust her. But he didn’t have to trust her to take her to bed.

“Did you sleep well last night?” He pressed a kiss to her jaw. “After you came for me?”

She blushed a pretty shade of pink, and he kissed the apple of her cheek.

“I slept like a baby.” She captured her bottom lip between her teeth, then slowly released it. “I wouldn’t mind a repeat performance.”

He grinned, nipping her jaw and nibbling up to her earlobe. “Is that right?”

“Mmm,” she murmured when he slid his tongue over the sensitive spot behind her ear. “We could just start from the top and work our way down.”

“Sounds good to me,” he replied, slipping his hand under the hem of her sweater and pushing up until he closed his fingers around her nipple. “But maybe we can add a few new things to the list. Because I want to see if I can make you come just from playing with your nipples.”

She groaned in his ear, and he squeezed his fingers tighter, giving it a gentle twist. He wanted to make her vibrate with need and beg him to slide inside her. He wanted to watch her face as she came for him over and over, savor the way her body responded to him.

“I’ve never tried that,” she said, breath catching. “But it would be a shame not to.”

He chuckled. “A complete shame. We should—”

The shrill ring of his phone silenced his invitation, and he bit off a curse. He was forever being interrupted at the worst possible moments with her. She slid off his lap before he could ask, and he picked up his phone from the coffee table. Alexei.

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