Page 78 of Cage of Thorns and Blood

He hangs up and I stare at the phone for a long beat.

In some ways everything should seem brighter and lighter, but in others, it isn’t because when I tell Renata that in a few days or weeks, the danger to her should be dealt with, she might decide she doesn’t need or want me.

I head into the library and move the Jane Austen collection and open the safe behind it. Inside is a box, which I take out. I open it and look inside. The belle epoque diamond and emerald ring sitting on the dark blue velvet shines like a star in the midnight sky.

I grin and snap the box shut.

The ring is worth around one hundred thousand pounds, and I never thought it would be used, but now it will be.

I’m going to propose to Renata, and I’m going to do it right.

Chapter 21

Renata

I grow cold, naked on the bed as I am and draped in fine jewels, so I snuggle under the covers. My eyes grow heavy.

It’s been a crazy and exhausting few weeks. I’m reeling, and I can’t take it all in.

I keep smiling to myself, though. I think Matteo Mancini told me he loved me, and I love him. I know I do.

He’s a messed up, mercurial lunatic, but he’s my messed up, mercurial lunatic.

The sounds of men talking drift up the stairs, and their deep voices lull me, until the darkness takes me.

The bed is shaking. I open my eyes and jerk awake with a jolt.

“Hey, it’s okay, Renata. It’s only me.” Matteo gently brushes a strand of hair from my cheek. “You fell asleep.”

“It’s been a very tiring few days.”

“We need to talk, but it can wait until tomorrow.”

“No, now is good.”

“Renata, baby. Go to sleep.” He pulls the covers back and groans. “Damn, you look amazing draped in all that jewelry.”

I laugh softly, but it’s followed swiftly by a yawn.

Matteo shrugs his clothes off and gets into the bed behind me. His big arms come around me, and he pulls me into him. “Sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

* * *

The sun is bright and shining right on my eyelids. I yawn and blearily open my eyes, taking in Matteo’s room. He must have fallen asleep and forgotten to close the curtains.

I turn to him, and he’s rolled onto his back in the night. His face is toward me, his expression more relaxed than when he’s awake. I let myself take in his beauty.

He says there is danger out there and that I need to stay with him. He says he’s going to marry me. He says I’m his.

Those facts should all terrify me, but as I search my soul for the truth of it all, I find I feel more grounded and settled than I have in ages.

Yesterday, when I thought he was only using me, and I had my grand plan to seek revenge, there was the constant low-level nausea and hum of nerves. Now, it’s gone. For someone so unhinged, he sure does calm me down.

I snuggle up to him, and he lets out a contented half groan and nuzzles into my hair. My pussy is against his thigh, and I press against him, liking the feeling. I’m naked and still dripping in jewels. Two necklaces adorn my throat, one choker-style and the other dipping between my breasts, where the emerald sits prettily against my skin. Bracelets rests on my wrists, and there’s a ring on one hand.

Smiling to myself, I straddle Matteo and place my hands on his chest as I raise up and rub my pussy down the length of his cock. He stirs, and his eyes flicker but don’t open. His dick gets onboard before he does as it hardens.

I rub over him again, and his eyes open. For a moment, he looks up at me all sleep dazed, and then his eyes sharpen.

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