Page 19 of Cage of Thorns and Blood

He takes something out of his pocket. The brown leather stamped with a designer logo creaks as he opens it. New leather, I think. He hasn't had it long. He opens the wallet and pulls a thick, embossed card from inside. Holding it between two fingers, he offers it to me.

“In case the sex that's maybe going to be worth all this worry doesn't turn out to be as good as you hope.” He gives me another wicked grin, and I realize he has dimples. “If it turns out to be a disappointment, give me a call.”

Wow, he’s bold.

I don't take the card, and he gives a small shrug of those broad shoulders and leaves it on the balcony next to me, tapping it once with his index finger and then giving me a quick smile as he walks away. I watch him go, and once he's disappeared around the corner, I reach for the card and slip it into my bag. I have no intention of calling him, but it does a girl’s ego good.

Friday isn’t making me as nervous now. There are plenty more fish in the sea. Incredibly handsome fish named David. I’m determined to keep my emotions out of this situation with Matteo.

Use him. Fuck him. Enjoy him. Then ruin his life; that’s the order of events.

Chapter 7

Matteo

My security guards have given me an update on Renata. My private investigator still has her on his books, but for now my security are following her every move.

Renata either regularly spends her time pampering herself, or she’s putting a lot of effort into this date. She’s been to the mall twice. The hair salon, and the nail salon. The woman spends a lot of money on herself. That’s fine. If she were mine, I’d spend a lot of money on her too. She’s like a work of art, and great works of art require upkeep.

The car glides through the streets, and they are unusually quiet for a Friday night. Sometimes, sitting in the luxurious interior of this car, I feel like I own the world. Of course, I don’t, but I own a nice big chunk of it, and soon, if all goes to plan, I’ll own some of the Andrettis fortune as well.

Sometimes, I wonder why I’m so determined to fuck them over. Why not leave all that in the past? Move on. But then I think about Nico sending that fucking attack dog of his to threaten my cousin, Bianca. A woman. That’s against our code, and it’s pissed me off ever since. Although, Aldo and Alberto shouldn’t have been fucking around with the Andretti business shares the way they were.

I sigh and scrub my hand over my face. I want to forget all of that for a while and simply enjoy spending some time with the woman who has become my obsession these past months.

I’m not driving myself tonight as I want to drink, and while a drunk driving offense is the least of my worries, I don’t want to give the police any reason to look into me.

I’ve washed our families reputation sparklingly clean, the way I launder our money, but it’s a dazzling lie on a dank underbelly of crime.

We still do very illegal things, but we simply do them much more secretively.

Yes, best not to get any police attention I don’t want. So tonight, I sit in the back of the Mercedes as my driver takes the wheel. The SUV is behind as always. My driver pulls up outside Renata’s building, and I walk to the door and press the buzzer. The man at the desk answers, and I tell him that I'm here to meet Renata and ask him to call up to her flat. Of course, I could just ring her apartment number, but I'm still acting as if I don't know everything about her.

The man places a call, and a moment later the door buzzes open. I walk into the foyer and take a seat on the leather sofa. I brush my fingers over the material and realize it's not real leather but vinyl. This apartment building is nice, but it's nowhere near as opulent as I would have imagined for Renata. If she were mine, I’d never let her live somewhere with fake leather sofas.

I tap my foot as I wait for her to arrive, and when the elevator dings, I stand. The doors slide open on a silent swoosh, and Renata steps out.

Holy fuck.

I stare at her for a long beat. Wow. The time and money she has spent this week has not gone to waste. She's not dressed up, but she overshadows a woman wearing the finest couture.

Renata stands in front of me looking like a fucking queen in jeans that hug her hips like a caress and are cinched at her waist with a brown belt. Finishing her outfit is a silky shirt, and the way it clings to her full breasts has my mouth watering. She’s undone the top two buttons, and a thick gold necklace rests at her throat.

Her belt and bag are by Hermes and amusingly costs more than her car. She walks toward me, and I take my time to admire the way her hips swing. She isn’t putting on that sexy strut—that's all natural.

She offers me a smile and tilts her head to one side. Her hair is thick and falling over her shoulders in glossy brown waves. I want to wrap my fist in it and bend her over these fake leather sofas and fuck her. Instead, I push down the primal need and offer her a polite smile.

“Shall we?” I suggest.

“Yes, I'm famished.”

I like that about her. Renata doesn't seem to be one of those women who claims not to like food and will only ever order a salad. Francesca was always on a diet, and her life was ruled by what she could and couldn't eat or drink. It made going out an ordeal rather than fun. Not that we ever had much fun. Our marriage was a business arrangement and nothing else. Thank God we never had children. It would have been a tragedy to bring a child into such a loveless marriage, and for them to then lose their mother at such a young age.

Not wanting thoughts of sickness and death clouding my mind this evening, I stride to the door and hold it open for Renata. Once she's through the apartment building doors, I jog down the steps to get ahead of her and then hold the car door open as she slides in.

Her scent caresses me on the soft breeze as she passes by, and I marvel at how every little thing about her has me on the edge of losing control. This could be a wrinkle in my plan. If I keep losing it around her, how am I going to stay cool and focused?

Fuck her, use her, bring her brother down, and discard her.

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