Page 93 of Frayed Bonds

“Boyfriend, hey?” He smacks my ass lightly as I lead him up the stairs.

“Shut up Mr. Respectful.” I wine mimicking his tone from earlier. If my father knew what Ambrose and I were doing a few hours ago he wouldn't think he was respectful at all.

“You can put those in here,” I say, opening the door to my studio.

“Wow,” is all he says as he scans the warm orange hues taking over the room as the sun has started to set. He places the cans down in the centre of the room and walks around it completely mesmerised. “The villa doesn’t even have views this stunning.”

I scoff. “I’m serious,” he says looking away from the large windows that overlooks the neighbourhood around my house. He pulls me towards him and wraps his arms around my shoulders so we can both stand and take in the view.

I’ve looked out of these windows countless times. Seen this exact view at nearly every hour of the day, but something about right now. Looking at this with Ambrose I don’t think it’s ever looked this beautiful.

“Can I be your boyfriend?” he asks absentmindedly, clearly still dwelling on what my father said.

“My secret one,” I joke and he pinches my arm.

“I’m being serious, your papá made me realise that I’ve been assuming we’re together but I’ve never actually asked you to be exclusively mine.”

“I’ve honestly been assuming as well, but I’d love for you to be my boyfriend.” He turns me around, wraps his arms around my waist picking me up and spinning me around the room.

His smile is so broad on his face, it’s odd. I haven’t seen Ambrose smile like this since we were teens playing in their backyard. It’s such an innocent happiness and it makes my heart melt because I can see how mutual the feeling is.

“I never said I was your girlfriend, though.” He stops smiling almost instantly.

“Val, I nearly killed Horatio for touching you, I’m willing to lose my brother for you, you're my girlfriend.” His tone is gravely serious. “One more thing, what really happened at the art store? You looked freaked out.”

I fiddle with my fingers not too sure of how to answer it without causing some form of worry. “It was Mattheo, he was there.”

“At the art store?” He furrows his brows.

“Yes, there's more…” I trail off and head for the drawer where I kept all the weird notes. “I’ve gotten a few of these, I’ve been trying to ignore them but I think he showed up because I haven't reacted to them.”

“What? How could you not tell me this?” He takes the letters from me and begins scanning through them.

I shush him and stare at him wide-eyed. “I didn’t want you to worry, it's not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal? Valerie, this is your ex-husband we’re talking about, your crazy abusive ex-husband. Of course, I’m going to fucking worry.” He starts pacing around the room before pulling out his phone. “What did he say? Did he threaten you?”

“N-no, he was just talking about how surprised he was to see us together and he kept asking about my commission. Then you called, and he disappeared. I'm sorry I don't even know where he came from.”

Ambrose sighs and walks in my direction, pulling me into his chest and it's only then that I realise I'm crying. “You can't keep things like this from me. I’d go mad if something happened to you and there was something I could have done to prevent it.”

“I’m sorry,” I say again.

“Adriano is organising for some extra security to keep an eye on you and the house just in case he decides to make an appearance again.”

“Ambrose, that's not necessary.”

“Yes, it is Valerie, very necessary. This guy has threatened you on multiple occasions and has now decided to approach you in person. I can’t just have you sitting around unprotected,” he kisses the top of my head. “Promise me you won’t keep something like this from me again.”

“I promise.”

Chapter thirty-eight

Valerie

Ijump awake in bed, another nightmare. Breathing heavily, I slump backwards onto my mattress. Ever since I saw Mattheo last week, the nightmares have been more intense, and more frequent than before. And to top it off, Ambrose has been in Milan for work with Gus. They got back this morning and to everyone's surprise, he and Gus didn't rip each other's heads off their bodies. I’m glad to know they were able to get along even if it was for such a short period.

I know I won’t be going back to sleep anytime soon so I get out of bed and head downstairs for some water. Maybe watching a movie will tire me out.

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