Page 157 of Valentino

Slam.

“Is this what you’re here for, Anna?”

Huh?

Tears threaten, what does that mean?

Slam.

I snap out of my arousal fog at the tone of his voice.

What the hell is going on here?

He holds himself deep and nearly rips my hair out by the roots as he comes hard into my body.

I lie on my stomach, the pillow blurs as tears fill my eyes.

He leans over me and puts his mouth to my ear from behind. “The first cut was the deepest,” he murmurs. “But it was the second cut that broke my fucking heart.”

Huh?

He gets up and leaves the room and I’m left alone…. With my tears, and my used body.

And not an ounce of love from him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Three hours later.

The ceiling stares down at me as my conscience gnaws, for hours I’ve lain here and tossed and turned while wondering what to do, and so far I’ve come up with only one answer.

I have to tell Valentino…. Does he already know?

His behavior toward me tonight has been so out of character.

If I don’t tell him about that stupid phone I’m just putting him in danger…all of us in danger.

We were supposed to be in a safe place tonight and yet somehow a phone was slipped into my pocket. Was it by someone who worked at the restaurant or was it something much more sinister, someone we were with, someone that we know and trust?

I keep going over different scenarios of how it could have happened, was it before I put it into the cloakroom, or while it was there?

Was the phone in the jacket before I left…has Carlo been into my apartment before I came to Val’s three weeks ago? No, surely I would have felt that phone in the pocket when I packed it if it were. But what if I didn’t?

Fuck.

The more I think about this, the sicker I feel.

Valentino is already dealing with so much and another security threat is the very last thing he should be dealing with right now.

It’s crystal clear that Carlo is only contacting me to rattle Val…. So why would I play into his hands and rattle Val when I know exactly what the asshole is doing?

I’m already so protected that nobody could get to me anyway, and if I tell Valentino about this all it’s going to do is make him stress out even more than he already is.

I roll onto my side to look over the beautiful man sleeping beside me, he’s working so hard to protect me, but who’s protecting him?

8 a.m.

“What are you doing today?” Val asks from his place at the bedroom door.