Page 55 of Empire of Temptation

“Business?” He smirked at me, the expression reminding me of my brother Sergio. “I saw how Valentina looked when she left. That didn’t seem like business.”

“Watch your mouth.” I turned and started back toward my office. I was the boss—I wouldn’t answer to anyone about my actions.Also, I could still smell her pussy on my face and I wanted to jerk off while the memory of her taste was fresh in my mind.

“Oh, now I know why you’re so mad,” Gabriele called behind me. “You saw me talking to her outside.”

I couldn’t let him think this had a grain of truth to it. I was his father, as well as his boss. “Do you honestly believe I am jealous of you?” I scoffed. “Be serious, figlio mio.”

“No, you are.” I heard him following me. “That’s why you were waiting at the door, snarling at me. You didn’t like me flirting with her.”

I tried to be logical about it, to rely on cool intellect rather than emotion. I had no right to be jealous, and Gabriele was closer to Valentina’s age. They made more sense together.

I’ll be so good for you, Luca.

Fuck sense. She was mine—no one else’s.

I stopped at the office door. “If that is what you call flirting, then I’m surprised you get any pussy at all.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “You like her.”

The denial sprang to my lips, but I couldn’t force it out. And that infuriated me. I couldn’t have feelings foranygirl, but especially this one. I was using her to draw out her father.

Aldo emerged from the direction of the kitchen. He popped a slice of pear in his mouth. “Why are you two arguing?”

Gabriele spoke first. “I met Valentina.”

Aldo grinned. “He didn’t like it, did he?”

“I am angry because I told my son to stay on the property, yet my guards let him leave.”

Before Aldo could answer for this lapse in judgment, my mobile buzzed in my pocket. I checked the caller. Unknown number. “Pronto.”

There was a lot of noise in the background. A male voice spoke quietly, as if trying to not be overheard. “Luca? It’s me.”

I froze, every muscle in my body on high alert. “Niccolò?”

“Luca, I’m sorry.”

“Tell me where you are, right fucking now,” I said very carefully into the phone.

A sliding door slammed shut in the background before he said, “I did my best. Forgive me.”

Then he disconnected.

Motherfucker!I took a deep breath and tried the number back, but it didn’t go through. Niccolò probably used a burner to place the call.

Aldo was already speaking on his phone. He handed it to me and I heard Sergio’s anxious voice. “Niccolò called you?”

“Just now, yes. He apologized. Said, ‘I did my best. Forgive me.’ Then he hung up.”

“His best? What is that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it can’t be good.”

“Any idea where he was calling from?”

I considered this. “A lot of noise in the background. A sliding door slammed shut, like a car door. Maybe on a van.”

“Was he in a car?”

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