Page 70 of The Lies We Tell

Tessa had rescued them from her mother’s jewelry box a few weeks after she disappeared. Once it was clear her mother wasn’t coming back.

And she’d gone through her mother’s things in the nick of time too. Two days later, without explanation, her father had ordered everything cleared out of her mother’s bedroom, including all of her clothes and jewelry. Tessa had managed to save the pearls, her grandmother’s engagement ring, and her mother’s favorite scarf.

All she’d brought with her from the compound was the pearls. She regretted not grabbing the rest. Especially since she would probably never see it again.

Slipping the pearls back into the bag, she shoved them beneath her underwear again and slammed the drawer closed. She was an idiot for ever believing for a second her mother was alive. As with everything else, it had been a lie her father told her to get what he wanted. It was her fault for mistaking it for truth.

Matteo wouldn’t be back from Rome until late, but she would wait up for him. She had to, had to do everything in her power to make this right. Her father deserved to pay. Not only for what he most likely did to her mother, but for every transgression against her. Every hit, every slap, every bruise, every broken bone, every ugly word.

She wanted him to experience at least a fraction of the pain she’d endured. It was no less than what he deserved. Payment for what he’d taken from her. It wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough. But she’d have to make do.

Before she slept, she would tell Matteo everything. He might hate her, and she’d have to use every hour between now and then to prepare herself for that, but only he could help her end this.

Her father would get nothing, but Matteo would get Salvatore Antonetti handed to him on a silver fucking platter. Because in three days, Tessa knew exactly where he was going to be and when. And her father would never see it coming.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Climbing the stairs at a jog, Matteo rolled his neck to crack it and nodded at the maids who stepped out of his way before resuming their duties. His wing was empty and quiet, as instructed. He’d left Tessa sleeping in his bed this morning and didn’t want her jolted awake by a vacuum cleaner or eager maid.

Turning the knob, he eased the door in and stepped inside, closing it behind him. She was still asleep, the sun slanting across the foot of the bed, and he smiled. Normally she wore her long black hair twisted in a bun on top of her head when she slept, but this morning it was down around her shoulders and shielding her face from his view.

He’d gotten in well past midnight and found her curled up in the middle of his bed with all the lights and her clothes still on. It was sweet that she’d waited up for him. Or tried to. He’d done his best to peel her out of her clothes without waking her up and slipped into bed behind her.

With the feel of her warm body against his and the way she snuggled into him and sighed, he’d been out in seconds, woken only by the demanding ring of his cell phone. Too much shit to deal with and too little time to deal with it. Maeve was still sick, which left him fielding all the usual phone calls. Sending her back to Ireland when her year was up was going to be hell.

Tessa stirred but didn’t wake, and he crossed the room to set the bakery box next to her on the nightstand. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and wake her up with his cock, but he only had time for a bite of breakfast. And he’d brought her back donuts from his favorite bakery in Rome.

Brushing her hair off her face, he leaned down and peppered kisses from her forehead to the tip of her nose, and finally, her lips. He felt her come awake by degrees, easing into the kiss until she was kissing him back, her hand sliding lazily up his arm to loop around his neck.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” He pulled back to look down at her lips, rosy from his beard. “I brought you a present from Rome.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

She stretched, arching off the bed with her arms above her head. When the sheet slipped down to reveal her breasts, he ducked his head for a taste of her nipple, swirling his tongue around it and then grazing it gently with his teeth. She hummed low in her throat, and he sucked harder before pulling back and letting it fall out of his mouth with a pop.

“Was that my present?” she asked with a grin. “Is there more?”

He chuckled, kissing the side of her breast. “There will be later. Hungry?”

“For food or something else?” Her eyes dropped to his cock, already semi-hard, and he laughed again.

“For food, piccola. Later I’ll feed you my cock all night long.” She smiled, but then it faltered and fell, and he frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I, ah, I tried to wait up for you last night.”

“I know. It was sweet. I didn’t have the heart to wake you, so I just undressed you and got into bed.”

“I gathered that.” She tugged the sheet up to cover her breasts and tucked her hair behind her ears. “But I need to talk to you about something. Do you have a minute this morning?”

He checked his watch. He had a delivery flying into Belgium any minute and two more flying out. Then there was the meeting down at the casinos and another with the contractors for the strip clubs to see if Sienna’s uncle was right and they really were trying to gouge them. And he was still waiting to hear back from Alexei about his plan for taking out Antonetti.

“It’s important,” she said softly.

He leaned in to kiss her lips, cupping her face in his hand and tilting her head back to take it deeper. “Okay, piccola. For you, I have a few minutes. What is it?”

She clutched the sheet tight between her breasts. “Can I get dressed first?”

“Of course.” He pointed to the bakery box. “And eat. Meet me downstairs in the study when you’re ready.”

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