Page 39 of The Cost of Corruption

To her credit, Liv’s smile only grew.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Letizia told Gabriel about your arrival this morning, and then I heard the guys arguing when Matteo went downstairs. I’m not sure they realize how the acoustics work in this house. The sound from the kitchen travels right up to the second-floor office.”

My face turned cold as I felt the blood rushing from my face.

“They were fighting aboutme?” I asked, horrified.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Liv said, waving off my concerns with a flip of her hand. “It didn’t last long. No arguments between the brothers ever do. You’ll never meet anyone more in synch than them, Especially the twins.”

“That must mean Gabriel doesn’t want me here,” I ventured a guess.

I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t even fully understand why I was staying. Especially not now that I was sober and didn’t have the champagne to blame for all my bad decisions.

“Not at first,” Liv admitted with a shrug. “But he came around. Matteo can be very persuasive.”

She didn’t need to tell me. Thanks to his persuasiveness, I was standing in the burned-down ruins of my former life.

“He can also be a fool,” I said, turning my attention back to the work happening in the closet. “What was he thinking? I can’t wear any of this. Even if I liked these kinds of clothes, it’s far too much.”

Liv laughed, a bright sound that lifted my spirits. “I said something similar. I used to be all about the discount rack, but now look at me.” She gestured to her outfit, a stylish asymmetric jumpsuit.

“The style suits you,” I said honestly. “But the rules of my order say I’m supposed to dress modestly…not in whatever that is.”

I pointed toward the scandalously short red dress that one of the women was transferring from the rack.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way,” Liv said with a nonjudgemental smile as she looked me up and down. “But I’m pretty sure your Mother Superior wouldn’t approve of this look either.”

Even though I know she didn’t mean to chastise me, Liv’s words hit me with the force of a speeding freight train. Now that I was sober, there was no hiding from what I’d done. Shame crashed straight into me with more force than a speeding truck. I dipped my head down as hot tears welled up in my eyes.

“I know,” I admitted honestly. “I’ve messed up so badly, I don’t think I could ever be forgiven.”

I was shocked when, instead of agreeing with me, Liv’s arm instantly wrapped around my shoulder, and she started apologizing to me.

“Oh, Chastity. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way at all,” she said, gently guiding me away from the open closet and back toward the bed. Once there, we both sat down on the edge.“Besides, what the hell do you need to be forgiven for? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

Was she kidding? Of course, I had.EverythingI’d done since I’d looked up to see Matteo standing in front of me had been a mistake.

“I…I…”

Oh God, I couldn’t even bring myself to say it aloud.

Liv had no such trouble, though.

“You slept with Matteo,” she said bluntly. “That’s hardly a crime.”

Maybe not. “But it is a sin.”

I glanced up just in time to see Liv roll her eyes. “What’s the bigger sin—one night of pleasure or wasting your whole life just to make your father happy?”

But it wasn’t justone night. “Matteo wants me to stay with him for two weeks.”

“Is that what you want?” Liv asked.

I’d had hours to think about the question, and I still didn’t have an answer. Not a good one, at least.

“Maybe. Probably. I’m not sure.”

“I get it.” She rubbed her hand compassionately up and down my arm as she let out a long breath. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted when I first got together with Gabriel either. There’s something about these D’Angelos that makes it hard to think straight. Especially when they start taking their clothes off.”

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