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Reaching out, I graze my fingers around the tight skin of the wound that has started healing. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, and he turns to his side and reaches around to take my hand into his.
“Don’t be sorry. I admire that you stabbed me. It shows that you have some fight in you.”
“Does it hurt?” I ask.
With a small chuckle, he says, “No. I actually forgot about it until just now.”
Standing, he turns to face me, dropping his gaze to mine, and holy, fuck me sideways. The guilt that I had just moments ago is replaced with red hot desire. I’ve seen this man with hisshirt off before, but with his dark hair a ruffled mess and his hooded eyes watching me, I can’t help but feel the somersaults race across my stomach.
My eyes are drawn to his bare olive-toned skin painted with ink across his chest, leaving the ripples of his eight-pack abs unmarked. Nothing but a fine line of hair trails from his belly button down to his. . .
“I have to get to this meeting,” Matteo grumbles, which draws my attention back up to his eyes. I was spaced out on the deep V-line narrowing its way down his insanely perfect abdomen, which I’m sure he caught onto, as the corners of his mouth pull into a devilish grin and his eyes gleam.
“I shouldn’t be gone more than a couple of hours, and then I’ll come pick you up and we’ll head over to Fifth Avenue to get you a new wardrobe,” he says, thankfully not calling me out on ogling him.
“I really don’t need much. I can just keep washing the clothes I have and wait until the rest of my stuff gets here. Wait. Howarethe rest of my things getting here?”
“I have a few guys going down to Florida in a couple of days to pack up you and your mother’s belongings, and then they’ll drive it back up here. I figured it would be nice if she has all of her things when we find her.”
The fact he thought about my mom makes my heart swell, but I can’t stand the fact we haven’t found her yet. What if she’s hurt? What if I’m wasting time with Matteo when I could be doing more to find her? And then to tell her I’m married and we’ve moved all of our belongings up to New York City? This is a lot.
Matteo tucks his thumb under my chin, angling me up toward him. “Hey, stay with me.” His gaze locks me in place. “Don’t spiral. We’ll find her.”
I only nod because I somehow believe him. Despite the facthe extorted me into marrying him, Matteo’s the only one who’s been willing to keep me in the loop on things from the beginning. I trust what he’s saying.
“I still don’t need to go shopping, though.”
I don’t have much money, and I might not know a lot about New York City, but even I’ve heard of Fifth Avenue. There’s no way I can afford anything there.
“Iwantto take you shopping, Little Lux. Let me buy you some things. Even if it’s just enough until we get your stuff up here.” His voice is so soft. So convincing.
“Fine. But I’m going to pay you back once I get a job.”
Matteo laughs a deep throaty laugh like I’m the best damn comedian there ever was. “You’re not getting a job.”
Pulling back, I say, “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. My wife is not going to work. And you’re sure as hell never going to pay me back for anything.” That soft voice has been replaced with one of certainty. The rigidness of his tone has me immediately second-guessing the life I’ve married into.
I’ve worked my entire life, since before I was even at a legal age. That’s the benefit of living in small towns. You work for small businesses that don’t mind throwing some cash under the table to a teen trying to make a couple bucks. There’s no way I’ll never work again. Who the hell does he think he is?
Rolling my eyes, I get my boxing mitts on, prepared to knock some sense into Matteo. “If you think?—”
But before another word can escape my lips, Matteo slams his mouth to mine, and while I want to fight him and tell him I’m not some housewife who’s going to stay at home all day and spend her husband’s money, the words seem to dissipate around us.
He stops the kiss just as quickly, pulling away just enough to gaze back and forth between my eyes. “The next time I seeyou rolling your eyes at me, it’ll be because you’re about to come the hardest you’ve ever come in your damn life. On my fingers. On my tongue. On my dick. It’ll be your choice, Little Lux. But the next time you roll those pretty brown eyes of yours into the back of your head, it’ll be with my name on your lips while you beg me for more.”
Matteo drops his gaze back down to my parted lips and presses a soft kiss to them before swinging himself off the bed and exiting my room without another word. Without even a glance back.
I want to argue with him, but I also want him to do exactly what he said and make my eyes roll into the back of my head as I scream his name in complete and utter bliss.
What is this man doing to me?
24
LUXTYN
The next couple of hours passed by quicker than I thought they would. I decided to spend the first one soaking in the Jacuzzi in my en suite bathroom and the second one eating breakfast with Izzy, who I’ve decided is my new favorite of the DiMaggio siblings.
