Page 48 of Stolen Queen

“Is it like that for all men?”

I growl. I don’t want her to find out. “Let’s get something straight here, Ava. While you’re with me, you’re mine. No one else’s.”

She laughs. “I’m not asking because I want to find out. I’m asking out of curiosity.”

As far as I’m concerned, she’ll never truly know. I take her chin in my hand. “Keep your curiosity on me, okay?”

She shrugs. “Okay.” But I can see I’ve handed over some of my power. I’ve shown myself to be jealous. I’ve never been jealous in my life, but there’s no doubt that I’ll rip the arms off anyone who touches her.

“I’ve got to get to work. If you can promise me not to leave, you can have the run of the place. But you can’t leave.”

She smiles. “Okay.”

“I mean it, Ava. You absolutely cannot leave this penthouse.”

“I get it. I won’t leave.”

Ava is goingto be the death of me. If it’s not her father killing me, it will be her and the way she brings me to my knees, literally. I’ve jerked off many times in my life, and while satisfying, it’s never been like it was this morning with Ava. She didn’t even touch me, and yet having her watch me while draped in my blanket was somehow electrifying.

I think about all my previous encounters with women. About how as the years have gone on, I’ve needed more stimulation, more kink, more women to get off. Yet Ava’s simply watching me jerk off was the single most erotic experience of my life to date. It makes no sense. What is it about her? Images flash in my mind… The way her eyes lit up when I taught her to cook. How she trembled under my touch. The taste of her. Fucking hell, she’s the sweetest nectar.

I groan internally that I can’t seem to stop thinking about her. I'm so fucked.

A thwap on the back of my head shocks me back to the present.

“Wake up, Romeo.”

“Hey.” I rub the back of my head where Lana whapped me.

“You alright?” Elio asks from behind his desk.

Heat rises to my face, embarrassed to be caught daydreaming like some lovesick teenager. And frustrated that I can't seem to get my shit together. This isn't like me at all.

"I'm fine," I grumble.

"Now that Sleeping Beauty's back with us," Lana says with a pointed look in my direction, "we need to discuss the Rinella situation."

I stiffen at the mention of Ava's family name. "What's the latest?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

“It’s mostly the same old thing,” Elio sighs.

“He’s worse ever since the engagements with his daughter have been broken.” Lana seems to have softened on the reasonsfor that, but I suspect it has less to do with Elio and Lazaro finding happiness with other women and more to do with her relationship with Henry. He’s softened her a bit, at least when it comes to her family. It still boggles my mind that she’s going to marry the ex-cop sometime in February.

“It doesn’t help that Ava has vanished into thin air.” Elio runs his fingers through his hair. I can see the situation with Ava concerns him where Rinella is concerned. Guilt burns in my gut.

“He doesn’t blame us for that, does he?” I ask, hoping he can’t see my guilt.

“No. At least not to my face,” Elio says. “But it’s put him in more of a pisser mood than he usually is.”

An idea forms in my mind, dark and violent, but effective. "Why don't we just eliminate the problem? Take out Vincenzo and be done with it."

The room goes silent. Lana's eyes widen in disbelief before narrowing dangerously. In a flash, her hand connects with the back of my head again, harder this time.

"Are you out of your mind?" she hisses. "We can't just go around murdering other family heads. That's how you start a fucking war, you idiot."

I rub the sore spot on my skull, scowling. "It was just a suggestion.”

"A terrible one," Lana snaps. "We need to be smart about this, not go in guns blazing like some trigger-happy moron. Use your brain for once, Matteo."

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