Page 49 of The Lies We Tell

She didn’t want to potentially miss a call from her father, but she didn’t want to let him know she was leaving the country with Matteo either.

“Right now. My meeting is tomorrow, and we’ll come back the day after.”

She blinked. “But I’m not packed.”

“I had the maids pack a bag for you.”

Tessa’s eyes dropped to his hand when he held it out to her. “Why didn’t you tell me about this last night?”

“My mouth was busy doing other things to you last night.” He pulled the door open and nodded to Maeve before leading Tessa to the elevators. “And I wanted to make sure I’d be able to get you a passport in time.”

She looked down at the document in her hands. “Santoro?”

“In case your father is tracking your movements.”

“Can he do that?”

Matteo pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “If he wanted to. Hence the fake passport. Don’t worry, piccola. You’re safe with me.”

The drive to the airport was quick, and the SUV pulled alongside a small jet idling in the private aircraft section. A woman dressed in a navy blue and white skirt suit stood at the bottom of the stairs directing two men carrying bags back and forth from a second SUV.

Matteo climbed out first and then helped her from the car, nodding at the flight attendant, who greeted them both by name. Shaking her head when he gestured for her to go first, Tessa gripped the railing on both sides and followed Matteo up. He ducked to enter the plane ahead of her, and she paused before taking a deep breath and doing the same.

Tessa stumbled to a stop, and her breath caught in the back of her throat. She couldn’t help but stare. The short, wood-paneled hallway opened into a wide seating area with plush leather chairs lining either side of the aisle. She counted four chairs clustered around a small table and two more beyond opposite a sofa with a closed door directly ahead of her and a small kitchen area behind.

Matteo claimed one of the chairs facing her, watching her with a bemused expression. “Never been on a private jet before?”

“I’ve never been on any kind of plane before,” she breathed, taking the seat across from him and marveling at the china coffee service and tiered tray of finger sandwiches on the table between them.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket when it rang, Matteo checked the readout and set it on the table without answering. “Did you take the train on all your family holidays?”

Tessa leaned back in the chair, caressing the soft leather and refusing to meet his gaze. “I’ve never left Sicily. My father wasn’t one for family trips. At least not with me. He and my mother went to New York once, though.”

When she glanced up, Matteo was watching her intently, eyes never leaving hers even as the flight attendant boarded, closing and locking the door behind her.

“Your bags are all loaded, Il Signore,” the woman said. “We should be ready for takeoff in about twenty minutes. Can I get you anything in the meantime?”

“You can take this.” Matteo gestured at the coffee service and sandwiches. “And bring us two glasses of Prosecco.”

“It’s a little early for alcohol, isn’t it?” Tessa wondered.

“Never too early to celebrate.”

Tessa raised a brow. “Celebrate what?”

“One of many firsts for you on this trip.” His phone rang, and he ignored it again. “The plane ride, leaving the country, seeing Paris.”

“You’ve already given me several firsts.”

Matteo gave her a questioning look, but she waited until the flight attendant set their glasses on the table and left before continuing.

“Blow jobs, sex, sex in public, sex in a…well, all the different places we’ve had sex, really.”

He paused in his reach for his glass, eyes darkening. “Tessa,” he said, his voice so low and gravelly it raised goosebumps over her skin. “Are you telling me you were a virgin the first time I fucked you?”

She bit her lip, unsure if the truth would be in her best interest. It was hard to tell whether the offhanded confession had upset him.

“Well, I…um…technically. Yes. You’re the first man I’ve ever slept with.”

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