Page 211 of Phantom Mine

My infatuation with her has only grown over the years, especially since she became a mother. I watched her belly grow with my daughters — Deva, Vittoria, and Medina — I watched her carry and love them every day. I watched her diligently take countless hours of classes and read them books in shaky Italian so they’d hear all three of our languages equally before they were born.

How could Inotfall even more madly in love with her?

She’s simply irresistible.

The driver turns into our street and I nearly let out a cry of relief. Having just barely managed to restrain myself until it came to a stop, I’m out of the car the second it does.

I bound up our steps and burst through our front door. “Leni!” I call, excitement buzzing in my veins.

From the end of the hall, I hear a startled gasp come from the kitchen. It’s closely followed by the sound of the fridge slamming shut.

“Len?” I call, heading towards the kitchen. “Are you down here,cara? I came home early to surprise y—”

I round the corner into the open kitchen and come to a screeching halt.

Valentina is standing in front of the fridge but facing me. Her face is frozen in shock—her eyes are wide, her lips slightlyparted. They’re painted red too, heavy with makeup just like her eyelids.

It’s the first thing I notice because that’s not typically the type of daytime makeup she opts for.

It’s just unusual enough that it distracts me for long seconds from noticing that she's also nearly completely fucking naked.

“Matteo,” she says warmly.

Her greeting is faint beneath the ringing in my ears. She’s in a red lace bra and panties with matching garter belts and stilettos. Slung over her shoulders is a man’s perfectly steamed white dress shirt in a size at least three times too big for her.

In her hand is a can of whipped cream. Her other palm is still wrapped around the handle of the closed fridge.

The scene slowly trickles into focus like pieces of a puzzle coming together and a sick, nauseous feeling burrows its way deep into my chest.

“What the…” Pressure squeezes my ribcage, crushing my breath within my collapsing lungs. “What thefuck?”

Valentina takes an alarmed step back. “Oh shit.”

“What the fuck are you wearing?” I lunge forward and snatch her wrist, using it to yank her into my chest. “Why are you in lingerie?”

The muffled sound of scuffling feet above our heads abruptly stops me. My eyes darken to a dangerous color as I tilt my head up to the ceiling. My body is still as stone. I don’t take a breath as I wait. When the suppressed steps sound again, my head snaps down to pin her with a livid glare.

My voice shakes with rage. “Who do you have upstairs, Valentina?”

She parks an insolent hand on an even more insolent hip. “You can’t seriously believe the picture you’re drawing up for yourself right now.”

“Oh yeah?” I take a dangerous step towards her. “Tell me what I’m supposed to believe then.”

“That the person upstairs is a friend!”

“Afriend?” I spit, erasing the space between us until my chest is bumping hers. Her hard nipples poke through the lace of her bra and scrape against my chest. My irate gaze shifts to the can of whipped cream and then back to her. “This is how you host your friends when I’m away?”

Valentina gulps nervously.

“I promise you—”

“Stop it. Don’t make me any more promises you can’t keep.”

Her eyes flash with frustration. Even faced with her betrayal, seeing her disappointment pains me.

“When you realize just how wrong you were about this, we’re going to have a fight about what you just said.” There’s an undertone of hurt in her voice. “That was mean.”

Sincerity echoes in her words but it’s not enough to reach past the primal jealousy roaring in my blood. Gripping her jaw, I angle her face up to meet mine, noting the unhappy line of her lips.

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