Page 43 of Phantom Mine

“What’s your name?” I growl. The thought of calling her by a name that isn’t hers as I touch her body is suddenly unbearable to me.

Her eyes darken, moving between mine. I’m not sure what she needs to see in my gaze to make a decision, I’m not sure if she finds it, all I know is that I’m hooked before she’s even said a word.

Then her lips part and she says, “Valentina.”

Her answer is breathy and soft and shoots straight to my dick. My hand tightens on her ass and she moans softly.

“Another lie?” I ask, hooded, heavy eyes dropping to her lips. I need to know.

“Obviously,” she whispers.

A startled gasp escapes her when I yank her to me. She grabs on to my shoulders for support.

“That’s too bad,” My voice vibrates as I peer up at her. “It’s beautiful. It suits you.”

And it does. She looks like a Valentina. Beautiful and lethal at the same time, like a prickly red rose.

Valentina. Valentina. Valentina.

I want to chant it aloud, to see how it feels on my lips and on my tongue. Even if it isn’t her actual name, it’s closer to her real one, that I’m sure of.

She was never a Melody. But she’s a Valentina.

Sweet and pretty and thorny.

Alreadymine.

The muscles of my stomach constrict, the greedy ache to possess her overwhelming now. I grab her other cheek with my free hand, enjoying the way her eyes flutter closed.

If she’s this reactive to an initial caress, what will she be like when I thrust my tongue in that wet pussy of hers and fuck it until she’s riding my face and coming on my mouth?

“I don’t like this outfit,pavona,” I growl, glancing my thumb over her covered slit.

“Blame Enzo,” she gasps at the contact. “He told me to change into it before I came out here.”

A rumble rolls up my chest. So she wasn’t going to wear this for another man’s eyes. Just for me.

I’ll have to give Enzo a raise. He really is my best friend, even when he’s pissed at me.

“Why… Why did you ask for me?”

I drop my hands from her ass and lean back into my chair, chuckling softly when she stumbles forward a step after I release her. Dark, twisted satisfaction swirls proudly in my stomach seeing the way I affect her.

Valentina’s gaze tracks my hand as I reach into the pocket of my suit. The money clip lands on the table next to my chair with a loud metallic noise, the weight indicative of just how much money it contains.

Searching eyes stay on the clip for long moments before her gaze drags back to mine, a probing question pulsing in them. A slow grin stretches across my mouth, making her drag in a heavy breath.

“I want a dance.”

Chapter Thirteen

Valentina

My heart hammers so frantically I fear it may actually be visibly straining against the walls of my chest. Judging by the thickness of the money clip, I’d say there’s more than enough there to keep me dancing for twelve hours and still take home a very generous tip.

My eyes move from the clip to Matteo. Fire ignites low in my gut when I see the way he stares back at me, with a look so searing it could make my body burst into flames. It’s hard for me to remain clear headed, to remember that he’s a Leone, when he stares at me like that.

I clear my throat of the mass that’s suddenly present there. “You said I couldn't do private dances.”

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